Rosalind Knight

Rosalind Knight

Born: December 3, 1933
Died: December 19, 2020
in Marylebone, London, England, UK
Born in Marylebone, London, versatile character actress Rosalind Marie Knight was born to theatrical parentage. Her father was the accomplished thespian Esmond Knight. Her mother, the comedienne Frances Clare, often featured in Ivor Novello operettas. Rosalind's interest in theatre was first kindled at the age of six when she and her mother attended a staging of Novello's "The Dancing Years" at Drury Lane. Rosalind was evacuated to the countryside with her nanny during the war years. In 1949, she accompanied her father to the Old Vic Theatre and became enthralled by a production of "The Snow Queen", primarily performed by drama school novices. The following year she won an audition and spent two years at the Old Vic Theatre School. This was succeeded by a lengthy apprenticeship in repertory which led to her gaining further experience as assistant stage manager for the West of England Theatre Company, the Midland Theatre Company in Coventry and the Piccolo Theatre Company in Manchester.

In 1955, she made her first impact on screen as a lady-in-waiting in Laurence Olivier's Richard III (1955), which also featured her father in the cast. A year later, having come to the attention of a movie producer, she played Annabel, one of the schoolgirls, in Blue Murder at St. Trinian's (1957) (decades later, she would return as a teacher in the sequel The Wildcats of St. Trinian's (1980)). This set the tone for a number of subsequent comedic roles which included a couple of early Carry On's and the Tony Richardson-directed Tom Jones (1963), in which she played the giddy Mrs. Harriet Fitzpatrick. While doing the Carry On films she was not under any form of contract and was paid a mere $50 a week. In 1957, Rosalind joined her father in an early BBC adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby (1957) as the spiteful Fanny Squeers. In a later miniseries based on Charles Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit (1964), she was a splendidly shrewish Charity Pecksniff.

During her prolific career, Rosalind relished every opportunity to portray a diverse range of characters, good and bad, from servants to princesses (Alice of Battenberg in The Crown (2016)) to old maids (Aspasia Fitzgibbon in The Pallisers (1974)) to wealthy socialites (Margot Asquith in Nancy Astor (1982)) and unpleasant aristocratic dowagers (Daphne Winkworth in Jeeves and Wooster (1990)). She even essayed a retired prostitute turned landlady in the sitcom Gimme Gimme Gimme (1999). In addition to a staple of period dramas she guested in numerous episodic TV dramas, including Poirot (1989), Dalziel and Pascoe (1996), Heartbeat (1992), Marple (2004), Midsomer Murders (1997) and Sherlock (2010). All the while, she remained heavily engaged in theatrical work with the Old Vic, The Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Court Theatre, her last appearance being the strict, incorruptible governess Mrs. Prism in Shaw's "The Importance of Being Earnest".

Rosalind was married to director/producer Michael Elliott from 1959. In 1976, she helped rebuild and re-open the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, of which her husband was involved as one of five artistic directors. She was also a patron of the Actor's Centre in London and the Ladies' Theatrical Guild (a charity founded in 1891). Rosalind Knight continued to perform as an actress right up to her death on December 19 2020, at the age of 87.

Movies for Rosalind Knight...

Friday Night Dinner: 10 Years and a Lovely Bit of Squirrel
Title: Friday Night Dinner: 10 Years and a Lovely Bit of Squirrel
Character: Horrible Grandma (archive footage)
Released: May 28, 2021
Type: Movie
With exclusive interviews and outtakes, this anniversary special celebrates a decade of Robert Popper's iconic comedy, from celebrity fans to Paul Ritter's infamous squirrel-based catchphrase
bee
Title: The Crown
Character: Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark
Released: November 4, 2016
Type: TV
The gripping, decades-spanning inside story of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the Prime Ministers who shaped Britain's post-war destiny. The Crown tells the inside story of two of the most famous addresses in the world – Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street – and the intrigues, love lives and machinations behind the great events that shaped the second half of the 20th century. Two houses, two courts, one Crown.
bee
The Lady in the Van
Title: The Lady in the Van
Character: Old Nun
Released: October 30, 2015
Type: Movie
The true story of the relationship between Alan Bennett and the singular Miss Shepherd, a woman of uncertain origins who ‘temporarily’ parked her van in Bennett’s London driveway and proceeded to live there for 15 years.
bee
The Lost World Cup
Title: The Lost World Cup
Released: September 5, 2011
Type: Movie
The film reconstructs the mysterious story of the 1942 Patagonia World Soccer championship, never acknowledged by the official sports organizations, and which for decades have remained shrouded in legend without the winner ever being known.
bee
Title: Friday Night Dinner
Character: Cynthia Goodman
Released: February 25, 2011
Type: TV
Two siblings share their Friday night dinners at their parents home and, somehow, something always goes wrong.
bee
Title: Sherlock
Character: Grace
Released: July 25, 2010
Type: TV
A modern update finds the famous sleuth and his doctor partner solving crime in 21st century London.
bee
The Alchemistic Suitcase
Title: The Alchemistic Suitcase
Character: Lady
Released: January 1, 2009
Type: Movie
A nervous and unsettling young boy takes a mysterious old suitcase across London... to a twisted and surreal conclusion.
bee
The Shell Seekers
Title: The Shell Seekers
Character: Mrs. Croftway
Released: October 18, 2007
Type: Movie
Penelope Keeling, a sixty-four-year-old daughter of a famous artist, reflects on her life, and the fate and choices that defined it, when she arrives in the Mediterranean to stay with her headstrong daughter. Shifting through time, and falling into place like the pieces of a jigsaw, the truth of Penelope's rich, heartbreaking and surprising life unfolds.
bee
About a Boy
Title: About a Boy
Character: Lindsey's Mum
Released: April 26, 2002
Type: Movie
Will Freeman is a good-looking, smooth-talking bachelor whose primary goal in life is avoiding any kind of responsibility. But when he invents an imaginary son in order to meet attractive single moms, Will gets a hilarious lesson about life from a bright, but hopelessly geeky 12-year-old named Marcus. Now, as Will struggles to teach Marcus the art of being cool, Marcus teaches Will that you're never too old to grow up.
bee
Title: Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story
Character: Hag Woman
Released: December 2, 2001
Type: TV
bee
Title: Gimme Gimme Gimme
Released: January 8, 1999
Type: TV
Linda La Hughes (Kathy Burke) shares a flat with Tom Farrell (James Dreyfus). Linda is overweight, loudmouthed and not particularly attractive. She thinks she's gorgeous and irrestible, however. She's also sex mad and obsessed with men. Tom is an aspiring actor. He's got an agent, but finds it difficult to get parts. He doesn't like Linda much, in spite of (or perhaps because of) the fact that they share a flat. She isn't completely comfortable with his homosexuality, perhaps because she finds it difficult to live with a man who doesn't find her sexually attractive.
bee
Gunslinger's Revenge
Title: Gunslinger's Revenge
Character: Miss Willow
Released: December 18, 1998
Type: Movie
The idealistic lifestyle of an old West farmer, his Indian wife, and half-breed son is interrupted when the boy's old gunslinger father returns. They are not happy with his return despite the old gunslinger's intention to retire. Things take a turn for the worse when another gunslinger arrives in town, trying to force a battle with the father.
bee
Title: Berkeley Square
Character: Great Aunt Effie
Released: May 9, 1998
Type: TV
Three young women from very different backgrounds meet, become friends and share experiences when they all gain positions as nannies in the wealthy households of London's exclusive Berkeley Square.
bee
Title: Midsomer Murders
Character: Eleanor Macpherson
Released: March 23, 1997
Type: TV
The peacefulness of the Midsomer community is shattered by violent crimes, suspects are placed under suspicion, and it is up to a veteran DCI and his young sergeant to calmly and diligently eliminate the innocent and ruthlessly pursue the guilty.
bee
Title: Midsomer Murders
Character: Mother Jerome
Released: March 23, 1997
Type: TV
The peacefulness of the Midsomer community is shattered by violent crimes, suspects are placed under suspicion, and it is up to a veteran DCI and his young sergeant to calmly and diligently eliminate the innocent and ruthlessly pursue the guilty.
bee
Title: Dalziel & Pascoe
Released: March 16, 1996
Type: TV
British crime drama based on the "Dalziel and Pascoe" series of books by Reginald Hill, set in the fictional Yorkshire town of Wetherton. The unlikely duo of politically incorrect elephant-in-a-china-shop-copper Detective Superintendent Andrew Dalziel (pronounced Dee-ell) and his more sensitive and university educated sidekick Detective Sargent, later Detective Inspector, Peter Pascoe is always on hand to solve the classic murder mystery, while maintaining a down to earth wit and humour.
bee
Solitaire for 2
Title: Solitaire for 2
Character: Receptionist
Released: February 10, 1995
Type: Movie
Katie can read minds. Being desirable, the male minds she reads are all thinking of one thing. She always responds by hitting them and storming off without explanation. Daniel is an expert in body language and interprets this as a sign she wants to be pursued. Since Daniel spends most of his time, when not terrorizing his students, pursuing women, Katie gets ever more exasperated that he is treating her exactly as he treats every presentable female from the motorcycle cop to the squeegee girl. She cannot read minds when her eyes are covered, or when minds are thinking in a foreign language, so she misinterprets Sandip's desire for hunger. She also holds Daniel responsible for his subconscious desire for his friend's wife (Caroline).
bee
Pleasure
Title: Pleasure
Character: Madame Desneuves
Released: October 25, 1994
Type: Movie
Alan Bleasdale's modern re-telling of Madame Bovary. A tale of passion, greed, revenge, and of course pleasure, set in France. Starring Line of Duty's Adrian Dunbar, Jennifer Ehle and James Larkin. In the French city of Rouen, the beautiful, young but bored Emma seeks to escape her dull married life. Her dreams are answered, and her comfortable, peaceful existence soon tarnished when she answers a lonely-hearts ad. She meets Gustave, a unsuccessful toy salesman, and potential con man. Together they begin a passionate affair, where they indulge in illicit sex and illegal scams. But parallel to their exhilarating affair, the police are on the hunt for a mysterious masked robber known only as Le Terroriste. As the stakes rise, and a betrayal means Emma finding herself alone, her own talents for deception develop into an overwhelming and obsessive desire for her to get her revenge.
bee
Title: Wycliffe
Character: Mrs. Prentice
Released: July 24, 1994
Type: TV
Wycliffe is a British television series, based on W. J. Burley's novels about Detective Superintendent Charles Wycliffe. It was produced by HTV and broadcast on the ITV Network, following a pilot episode on 7 August 1993, between 24 July 1994 and 5 July 1998. The series was filmed in Cornwall, with a production office in Truro. Music for the series was composed by Nigel Hess and was awarded the Royal Television Society award for the best television theme. Wycliffe is played by Jack Shepherd, assisted by DI Doug Kersey and DI Lucy Lane. Each episode deals with a murder investigation. In the early series, the stories are adapted from Burley's books and are in classic whodunit style, often with quirky characters and plot elements. In later seasons, the tone becomes more naturalistic and there is more emphasis on internal politics within the police.
bee
Royal Celebration
Title: Royal Celebration
Character: Mrs. Maynard
Released: September 26, 1993
Type: Movie
A bittersweet drama about a street party held in a suburban London square to mark the 1981 Royal Wedding. After two years of the Thatcher administration there is recession and unrest, but the economic boom is just around the corner. Meanwhile, there's the fairytale wedding of Charles and Diana to celebrate.
bee
Swords at Teatime
Title: Swords at Teatime
Character: Shirley
Released: April 14, 1992
Type: Movie
Michael climbs on to the roof of the block of flats where he lives with his mother, and finds a world of make-believe, duels, and chickens existing over their heads.
bee
Title: Heartbeat
Character: Edith Benton
Released: April 10, 1992
Type: TV
Set during the 1960s in the fictional North Yorkshire village of Aidensfield, this enduringly popular series interweaves crime and medical storylines.
bee
Afraid of the Dark
Title: Afraid of the Dark
Character: Edith
Released: October 10, 1991
Type: Movie
A little boy, obsessed with blindness and violence, slowly gets trapped in his own delusions.
bee
Title: Jeeves and Wooster
Character: Dame Daphne
Released: April 22, 1990
Type: TV
Jeeves and Wooster is a British comedy-drama series adapted by Clive Exton from P.G. Wodehouse's "Jeeves" stories. It aired on the ITV network from 1990 to 1993, starring Hugh Laurie as Bertie Wooster, a young gentleman with a "distinctive blend of airy nonchalance and refined gormlessness", and Stephen Fry as Jeeves, his improbably well-informed and talented valet. Wooster is a bachelor, a minor aristocrat and member of the idle rich. He and his friends, who are mainly members of The Drones Club, are extricated from all manner of societal misadventures by the indispensable valet, Jeeves. The stories are set in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1930s.
bee
Title: Agatha Christie's Poirot
Character: Georgina Morley
Released: January 8, 1989
Type: TV
From England to Egypt, accompanied by his elegant and trustworthy sidekicks, the intelligent yet eccentrically-refined Belgian detective Hercule Poirot pits his wits against a collection of first class deceptions.
bee
Claws
Title: Claws
Character: Mrs Hargreaves
Released: October 4, 1987
Type: Movie
A tale of cat lovers, the social circle they inhabit and the power struggles between them.
bee
Prick Up Your Ears
Title: Prick Up Your Ears
Character: RADA Judge
Released: April 17, 1987
Type: Movie
When the young, attractive Joe Orton meets the older, more introverted Kenneth Halliwell at drama school, he befriends the kindred spirit and they start an affair. As Orton becomes more comfortable with his sexuality and starts to find success with his writing, Halliwell becomes increasingly alienated and jealous, ultimately tapping into a dangerous rage.
bee
Title: Mapp & Lucia
Released: April 14, 1985
Type: TV
Comedy, set during the 1930s, of social rivalry between two women in a small English town. New arrival Lucia (Geraldine McEwan, as Emmeline "Lucia" Lucas) creates challenges to the established local social dominance of Miss Elizabeth Mapp (Prunella Scales).
bee
Title: I Thought You'd Gone
Released: July 27, 1984
Type: TV
bee
Title: Sherlock Holmes
Character: Countess of Morcar
Released: April 24, 1984
Type: TV
Sherlock Holmes uses his abilities to take on cases by private clients and those that the Scotland Yard are unable to solve, along with his friend Dr. Watson.
bee
Title: Up the Elephant and Round the Castle
Released: November 30, 1983
Type: TV
Up the Elephant and Round the Castle was an ITV sitcom which aired from 1983 to 1985, starring comedian Jim Davidson, who played the role of Jim London. The show spawned a sequel, Home James, which was also made by Thames Television. Home James ran from 1987 to 1990. "Up the Elephant and Round the Castle" also gave early exposure to Anita Dobson. The show was made for the ITV network by Thames Television.
bee
The Disappearance of Harry
Title: The Disappearance of Harry
Character: Dr Abbeydale
Released: December 8, 1982
Type: Movie
Harry Webster (David Lyon) is an apparently normal husband and father who resides in contemporary Nottingham, England, which was once host to a flourishing textile industry. One day, Harry leaves his house and vanishes. A note he left behind alludes to a double life he no longer wishes to lead. His wife Liz (Annette Crosbie) conducts a search for her husband. Her findings raise a disturbing question: Did Harry have anything to do with a series of recent factory bombings?
bee
The Wildcats of St. Trinian's
Title: The Wildcats of St. Trinian's
Character: Miss Walsh
Released: September 10, 1980
Type: Movie
The girls of St. Trinian's decide they are being asked to do too much work so they go on strike.
bee
The Lady Vanishes
Title: The Lady Vanishes
Character: Evelyn Barnes
Released: April 30, 1979
Type: Movie
On the eve of World War II, zany heiress Amanda Kelly travels by train to Switzerland. While passing through Germany, she meets a sweet elderly lady, who suddenly vanishes. Distraught, she questions her fellow passengers who claim that the woman was never there. Unsure if it's all in her mind or if there's a more sinister plot afoot, Amanda teams up with photographer Robert Condon to discover the truth.
bee
That's Carry On!
Title: That's Carry On!
Character: Felicity Wheeler
Released: January 1, 1977
Type: Movie
Celebrating twenty years of classic Carry On films, two of the films’ best-loved stars, Kenneth Williams and Barbara Windsor return to Pinewood film studios to unwrap some rib-tickling moments from the series. From the original, military mayhem of Carry On Sergeant, through to the really ancient archaeological gags of Carry On Behind, our saucy hosts get their titters out for this laugh-a-second gallop through the most successful series of British comedy films ever made.
bee
It Could Happen to You
Title: It Could Happen to You
Character: Mrs Ramlin
Released: November 11, 1976
Type: Movie
An educational film about the perils associated with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). The drama is interspersed with scenes of a medical adviser directly addressing the camera giving advice and information about STDs.
bee
The Old Curiosity Shop
Title: The Old Curiosity Shop
Character: Mrs. George
Released: November 7, 1975
Type: Movie
A kindly shop owner whose overwhelming gambling debts allow a greedy landlord to seize his shop of dusty treasures. Evicted and with no way to pay his debts, he and his granddaughter flee.
bee
Eskimo Nell
Title: Eskimo Nell
Character: Lady Longhorn
Released: January 17, 1975
Type: Movie
Three young men, a scriptwriter, a producer and a director are called in by Benny U Murdoch, an exotic movie producer. He wants to make a new erotic movie starring a big woman - the "Eskimo Nell" of the title. However problems start from the beginning, the scriptwriter is a virgin, a lover of penguins and hasn't a clue on how to write an erotic movie, each of the three main backers want a different type of movie - a western, an erotic and a kung-fu movie with different people in the main part. However problems really start for the three when Benny runs off with all the money and they have to make three different versions of the same film and try not to let the backers and stars know what has happened. And this is made harder when there is a clean-up-filth society breathing down their necks....
bee
Title: Within These Walls
Released: January 4, 1974
Type: TV
Within These Walls is a British television drama programme made by London Weekend Television for ITV and shown between 1974 and 1978. It portrayed life in HMP Stone Park, a fictional women's prison. Unlike the later women-in-prison TV series Prisoner and Bad Girls, Within These Walls tended to centre its storylines around the prison staff rather than the inmates. The lead character was the well-groomed, genteel governor Faye Boswell, and episodes revolved around her attempts to liberalise the prison regime while managing her personal life at home. Another prominent character was her Chief Officer, Mrs. Armitage. Googie Withers left after three series; in Series Four her character was replaced as governor by Helen Forrester, who in turn left to be replaced in the final Series Five by Susan Marshall. The creator and writer of the programme, David Butler, played the prison chaplain, the Rev Henry Prentice, in some episodes. As of November 2011 Network DVD have released all five series in the UK, with the exception of "Nowhere for the Kids", an episode from Series Two which appears to have been wiped from the archives.
bee
Baby Blues
Title: Baby Blues
Character: Sister Maidenhead
Released: December 6, 1973
Type: Movie
Lavinia has been yearning and trying for ten years to conceive, and finally gives birth to a live baby. However, she finds that things are not as she dreamed and envisaged, and she suffers from depression after the birth,beginning to have dangerous feelings of love towards her child.
bee
Start the Revolution Without Me
Title: Start the Revolution Without Me
Character: Helene de Sisi
Released: February 4, 1970
Type: Movie
Two sets of identical twins are accidentally switched at birth. One pair, Phillipe and Pierre DeSisi, are aristocratic and haughty, while the other, Charles and Claude Coupé, are poor and dim-witted. On the eve of the French Revolution, both sets find themselves entangled in palace intrigue.
bee
On the Eve of Publication
Title: On the Eve of Publication
Character: Barbara
Released: November 27, 1968
Type: Movie
TV play by David Mercer. First in a trilogy concerning Marxist novelist Robert Kelvin. The occasion is a dinner party, Kelvin is concerned with a summation of his life, addressed in his head to his lover, Emma.
bee
Title: Nicholas Nickleby
Released: February 11, 1968
Type: TV
bee
Title: The Wednesday Play
Character: Barbara
Released: September 30, 1964
Type: TV
The Wednesday Play is an anthology series of British television plays which ran on BBC1 from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually written for television, although adaptations from other sources also featured. The series gained a reputation for presenting contemporary social dramas, and for bringing issues to the attention of a mass audience that would not otherwise have been discussed on screen.
bee
Title: Martin Chuzzlewit
Released: January 19, 1964
Type: TV
When old Martin Chuzzlewit disinherits his grandson, he falls prey to a host of rapacious relatives.
bee
Tom Jones
Title: Tom Jones
Character: Mrs. Fitzpatrick
Released: August 24, 1963
Type: Movie
Tom loves Sophie and Sophie loves Tom. But Tom and Sophie are of differering classes. Can they find a way through the mayhem to be true to love?
bee
As You Like It
Title: As You Like It
Character: Celia
Released: March 21, 1963
Type: Movie
One of the earliest hits for the newly established RSC, Michael Elliott’s sparkling version of Shakespeare's comedy is still remembered with joy by a generation of theatre-goers. The design was dominated by a huge oak tree, but the production is most memorable for Vanessa Redgrave’s luminous Rosalind, supported by Max Adrian and Ian Bannen.
bee
Title: The Beverly Hillbillies
Released: September 26, 1962
Type: TV
Jed Clampett's swamp is loaded with oil. When a wildcatter discovers the huge pool, Jed sells his land to the O.K. Oil Company and at the urging of cousin Pearl, moves his family to a 35-room mansion in Beverly Hills, California.
bee
The Kitchen
Title: The Kitchen
Character: Daphne
Released: August 14, 1961
Type: Movie
In the business end of a kitchen, a polyglot staff strives to cope with a superhuman task. A microcosm of the world, the kitchen looms around and encloses its workers; they include Peter, the German cook, who is in love with waitress Monica, and constantly asks her to leave her husband. The pressure of the day becomes unendurable, and when Peter realises that Monica does not mean to divorce her husband his grief and pain cause him to run berserk!
bee
There Was a Crooked Man
Title: There Was a Crooked Man
Character: Nurse
Released: August 31, 1960
Type: Movie
When a law-abiding demolition expert is duped by a gang of criminals into helping them he is caught and jailed. When he is released he goes straight and then notices a leading citizen in his town is cheating his neighbours.
bee
Doctor in Love
Title: Doctor in Love
Character: Doctor (uncredited)
Released: July 12, 1960
Type: Movie
Doctors Burke and Hare leave the confines of St Swithins for the world of general practice, stopping off on the way as patients at the Foulness Anti-cold Unit. Hare then takes up a position as junior in a well-healed G.P.'s surgery while Burke continues to sow his doctorial wild oats.
bee
Carry On Teacher
Title: Carry On Teacher
Character: Felicity Wheeler
Released: August 20, 1959
Type: Movie
Prepare for Six of the Best as the Carry On team cause chaos in the school yard. When a well-loved headmaster decides to retire, his scheming pupils have other ideas. The cunning boys unleash a campaign of practical jokes, armed with gin, itching power and bombs!
bee
Carry On Nurse
Title: Carry On Nurse
Character: Student Nurse Nightingale
Released: January 30, 1959
Type: Movie
Set in Haven Hospital where a certain men's ward is causing more havoc than the whole hospital put together. The formidable Matron's debut gives the patients a chill every time she walks past, with only Reckitt standing up to her. There's a colonel who is a constant nuisance, a bumbling nurse, a romance between Ted York and Nurse Denton, and Bell who wants his bunion removed straight away, so after drinking alcohol, the men decide to remove the bunion themselves!
bee
Blue Murder at St. Trinian's
Title: Blue Murder at St. Trinian's
Character: Annabel
Released: December 1, 1957
Type: Movie
With their headmistress under lock and key in her majesty's prison, the St Trinian's girls find themselves under the protection of the army. However, when the sixth form take a fancy to winning a trip to Italy through means fair or foul, the army discover this is one battle they can't win. Let loose in Europe, it is not long before St Trinian's have succeeded in endangering European relations.
bee
Title: Nicholas Nickleby
Released: October 18, 1957
Type: TV
bee
Fortune Is a Woman
Title: Fortune Is a Woman
Character: (uncredited)
Released: March 13, 1957
Type: Movie
An insurance man discovers his ex-girlfriend and her husband's art-forgery/arson scam.