Rosalind Knight | |
---|---|
Born |
Marylebone, London, England, UK |
3 December 1933
Nationality | British |
Occupation | Actress |
Spouse(s) |
Michael Elliott (1959–1984) (two daughters) |
Rosalind Knight (born 3 December 1933) is an English actress. Her career has spanned over 60 years on stage, screen, and television. Her film appearances include Blue Murder at St Trinian's (1957), Carry On Nurse (1959), Carry On Teacher (1959), Tom Jones (1963), and About a Boy (2002). She played Beryl in the BBC sitcom Gimme Gimme Gimme (1999–2001).
Knight was born in Marylebone, London. She is the daughter of Esmond Knight and his first wife, Frances Clare, and the stepdaughter of actress Nora Swinburne. Being from a theatrical family, she was introduced to theatre at an early age. She was inspired by a visit to the bombed-out Old Vic Theatre in 1949 with her father to see performances of The Snow Queen and As You Like It. After studying there for two years under Glen Byam Shaw and George Devine, she was offered a position as Assistant Stage Manager at the Midland Theatre Company in Coventry. From Coventry, she moved to Ipswich Repertory Company where Joe Orton was a fellow ASM.
Two years later she joined a touring group, the West of England Theatre Company, for an eight-month stint. She was spotted by a producer, which led to her being cast as a schoolgirl in Blue Murder at St Trinian's in 1957. That same year, she starred with her father, playing father and daughter, in the BBC production of Nicholas Nickleby. An earlier film role, albeit uncredited, was as a lady-in-waiting in Laurence Olivier's film Richard III (1955), which also starred her father. She performed in two early Carry On films. In Carry On Nurse, she played Nurse Nightingale and in Carry On Teacher she played Felicity Wheeler, a prim school inspector whose amorous hopes toward Kenneth Connor's wimpy science master are continually thwarted.