English actress
Rosalie Crutchley
Born (1920-01-04 ) 4 January 1920Died 28 July 1997(1997-07-28) (aged 77) Occupation actress Years active 1947–1997 Spouse(s) Peter Ashmore (1946–?) (divorced) (2 children)Dan Cunningham (1939–?) (divorced)Children Jonathan Ashmore Catherine Ashmore
Rosalie Sylvia Crutchley (4 January 1920 – 28 July 1997) was a British actress. Trained at the Royal Academy of Music , Crutchley was perhaps best known for her television performances, but had a long and successful career in theatre and films, making her stage debut as early as 1932,[1] and her screen debut in 1947.[2]
She had dark piercing eyes and often played foreign or rather sinister characters.[3] She also played many classical roles, including Juliet in Shakespeare 's Romeo and Juliet , Hermione in The Winter's Tale , and Goneril in King Lear .
Crutchley died at The Harley Street Hospital in London in 1997.
Career
Crutchley was born in London on 4 January 1920.[4] She trained at the Royal Academy of Music.[4]
Her screen debut was as a violinist who is murdered in Take My Life (1947).[3] She played Madame Defarge twice in adaptations of A Tale of Two Cities , in both the 1958 film , and in the 1965 television serialisation of the same story.[2]
She played Catherine Parr in the 1970 TV series, The Six Wives of Henry VIII , and played the same character in its sequel, Elizabeth R (1971).[4] She had previously portrayed Henry's first wife Catherine of Aragon in the 1953 film The Sword and the Rose .[5]
Other roles included Mrs Sparsit in Hard Times (ITV, 1977), and Electra (1974).[6] She also starred in the 1979 BBC TV production of Testament of Youth , playing the role of the Principal of Somerville College, Oxford.[7] She was in the films Quo Vadis (1951), as Acte , the former mistress of the Emperor Nero (Peter Ustinov ), and The Haunting (1963), as the sinister housekeeper Mrs. Dudley.[2]
Crutchley also appeared in film adaptations of two A.J. Cronin novels, The Spanish Gardener (1956) and Beyond This Place (1959), and played the flinty maiden aunt in the TV adaptation of Brendon Chase (1980–81).[2] She had two guest roles in Casualty , in 1992 and 1995. She also had a short, but memorable, appearance in the film Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994).[4]
She appeared in only one film musical, Man of La Mancha (1972), based on the successful stage production , as Don Quixote 's housekeeper.[8] In the role, her less-than-good singing voice was used for intentionally comic effect in the song "I'm Only Thinking of Him".
Her last appearance was in the pilot episode of the TV detective series, Midsomer Murders , playing Lucy Bellringer.[2] This was shown in 1997, shortly before her death.[9]
Crutchley died in London on 28 July 1997.[4]
Personal life
She was married twice, first to actor Dan Cunningham in 1939 and secondly to actor Peter Ashmore in 1946.[10] Both marriages ended in divorce. She had two children, the physicist Jonathan Ashmore and Catherine Ashmore, the theatrical photographer.
[11]
Filmography
Film
Television
Year
Title
Role
Notes
1947
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet
Juliet Capulet
TV film
1947
The Infernal Machine
The Sphinx
TV film
1948
The Tragedy of King Lear
Goneril
TV film
1949
Crime Passionel
Olga
TV film
1949
Ladies in Waiting
Janet Garner
TV film
1955
The Messenger
Mary
TV film
1955
Madeleine
Madeleine
TV film
1955
London Playhouse
Tina Bordereau
Episode: "A Garden in the Sea"
1956
Colonel March of Scotland Yard
Annette
Episode: "Death in Inner Space"
1956
Romney
Margaret Vaughn
TV film
1956
The Gambler
Polina Alexandrovna
TV film
1956
Nom-de-Plume
Elisa
Episode: "The Ten Strangers"
1956
Assignment Foreign Legion
Lucette
Episode: "The Outcast"
1956, 1964
Armchair Theatre
Mary Charrington, Miriam
Episodes: "Black Limelight", "Cradle Song"
1957
Eye Witness
Ruth
TV film
1958
Television World Theatre
Andromache
Episode: "Women of Troy"
1959
The Hill
Mary Magdalene
TV film
1959
The Flying Doctors
Jean Dawson
Episode: "The Shock"
1959
Play of the Week
Elsa
Episode: "The Last Hours"
1960
The Soldier and the Woman
Rachel
TV film
1961
BBC Sunday-Night Play
Donna Lucia D'Alvadorez
Episode: "Charley's Aunt"
1961
The Complaisant Lover
Mary Rhodes
TV film
1961
The Pursuers
Vi Webber
Episode: "The George Webber Story"
1962
The Winter's Tale
Hermione
TV film
1962
The Franchise Affair
Marion Sharpe
6
1962
Maigret
Aimee Malik
Episode: "The Dirty House"
1963
Suspense
Anna Blake
Episode: "Thunder on Sycamore Street"
1963
The Human Jungle
Naomi Leigh Brooke
Episode: "A Woman with Scars"
1963
Sergeant Cork
Victoria Melrose
Episode: "The Case of the Sleeping Coachman"
1964
The Full Man
Lady MacBeth
Episode: "Tragedy"
1964
Festival
Mrs. Sarti
Episode: "The Life of Galileo"
1964
The Count of Monte Cristo
Hermine Danglars
Regular role
1965
Hit and Run
Georgina Prestley
Episodes: "Accident", "Enquiry", "Arrest", "Trial"
1965
A Tale of Two Cities
Madame Defarge
TV series
1965
Armchair Mystery Theatre
Anna
Episode: "The Madam"
1965
The Mask of Janus
Madame Navachine
Episode: "Rendezvous"
1965–1966
The Wednesday Play
Mrs. Liddel, Pauline Tenterden, Caridad Mercader
Episodes: "Alice", "The Connoisseur", "The Executioner"
1967
The Paradise Makers
Inga Swynnerton
Episodes: "1.1", "1.2", "1.4", "1.6"
1967
Sanctuary
Sister Euphrasia
Episode: "The Face of Hunger"
1967
The Prisoner
Queen
Episode: "Checkmate"
1967–1968
Theatre 625
Maria, Madame Calas
Episodes: "The Single Passion", "The Fanatics"
1968
City '68
Enid Somerset
Episode: "The Visitors"
1968
Cold Comfort Farm
Judith Starkadder
TV miniseries
1969
The Possessed
Varvara Stavrogin
TV miniseries
1969
ITV Sunday Night Theatre
Hannah Pritchard
Episode: "The Wicked Stage"
1969
Parkin's Patch
Miss Craig
Episode: "The Deserter"
1970
Manhunt
Hortense
Episode: "What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?"
1970
The Six Wives of Henry VIII
Catherine Parr
Episode: "Catherine Parr"
1970
Crime of Passion
Helene Jeygu
Episode: "Helene"
1970–1971
Jackanory
Storyteller
TV series
1971
Elizabeth R
Catherine Parr
Episode: "The Lion's Cub"
1973
Country Matters
Mrs. Sadgrove
Episode: "The Higgler"
1973
Hadleigh
Kate
Episode: "The Goddaughter"
1973
The Return
Mrs. Park
TV series
1974
Carrie's War
Hepzibah Green
Main role
1974
Fall of Eagles
Miehen
Episode: "Tell the King the Sky Is Falling"
1974, 1976
Play of the Month
Clytaemnestra, Mrs. Bagot
Episodes: "Electra", "Trilby"
1975
Churchill's People
Hildis
Episode: "The Conquerors"
1975
Affairs of the Heart
Mrs. Costello
Episode: "Daisy"
1975
North & South
Mrs. Thornton
TV miniseries
1976
Bill Brand
Mrs. Martin
Episode: "Tranquility of the Realm"
1977
Drama
Jocasta
Episode: "Oedipus Tyrannus by Sophocles"
1977
The Peppermint Pig
Aunt Sarah
TV series
1977
Hard Times
Mrs. Sparsit
TV miniseries
1978, 1984
Play for Today
Mrs. Howard, Laura
Episodes: "Destiny", "Moving on the Edge"
1979
Horse in the House
Gwen Davis
Episodes: "Right of Way: Parts 1 & 2"
1979
Testament of Youth
Miss Penrose
TV miniseries
1980, 1982
BBC2 Playhouse
Miss Snell, Beth
Episodes: "Gentle Folk", "Passing Through"
1980–1981
Brendon Chase
Aunt Ellen
TV series
1981
Cribb
Mrs. Innocent
Episode: "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle"
1982
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Simone
TV film
1982
Smiley's People
Mother Felicity
Episodes: "1.5", "1.6"
1982
The Agatha Christie Hour
Mrs. Thompson
Episode: "The Red Signal"
1983
Chessgame
Mary Jenkins
Episodes: "Enter Hassan", "The Alamut Ambush"
1983–1985
By the Sword Divided
Margaret
Main role
1983–1984
Crown Court
Eloise Hunter
Episodes: "Mother's Boy: Part 1", "The Son of His Father: Part 1"
1984
The Testament of John
Mary
TV film
1985
Sherlock Holmes
Mrs. Lexington
Episode: "The Norwood Builder"
1986
The Theban Plays by Sophocles
Eurydice
Episode: "Theban Plays: Antigone"
1986
Agatha Christie's Miss Marple: The Murder at the Vicarage
Mrs. Price-Ridley
TV film
1986
The Alamut Ambush
Mary Jenkins
TV film
1987
Worlds Beyond
Mrs. Pringle
Episode: "The Black Tomb"
1987
Great Performers
Teresa
Episode: "Monsignor Quixote"
1987
Dramarama
Miss Brady
Episode: "Badger on the Barge"
1988
Beryl Markham: A Shadow on the Sun
Mrs. Markham
TV film
1988
The Franchise Affair
Mrs. Sharpe
TV series
1989
Mystery!: Campion
Lisa
Episodes: "Death of a Ghost: Parts 1 & 2"
1989
Screen One
Gladys
Episode: "She's Been Away"
1990
God on the Rocks
Rosalie Frayling
TV film
1991
Dark Season
Mrs. Polzinski
Episodes: "1.1", "1.2", "1.3"
1992
Anglo Saxon Attitudes
Stephanie Houdet
TV miniseries
1992, 1995
Casualty
Dodie Mitchell, Frances Newton
Episodes: "Cascade", "Sacrifice"
1993
Screen Two
Mrs. Birt
Episode: "Femme Fatale"
1993
Agatha Christie's Poirot
Madame Deroulard
Episode: "The Chocolate Box"
1993
Lovejoy
Evie Smyton
Episode: "Taking the Pledge"
1993
Heartbeat
Florence Stockwell
Episode: "Endangered Species"
1994
Under the Hammer
Olga Krupenskya
Episode: "The Virgin of Vitebsk"
1994
A Skirt Through History
Florence Nightingale
Episode: "An Experiment"
1994
Cadfael
Juliana Aurifaber
Episode: "The Sanctuary Sparrow"
1995
A Village Affair
Lettice Deverel
TV film
1995
Wycliffe
Agnes Currow
Episode: "Wild Oats"
1997
Midsomer Murders
Lucy Bellringer
Episode: "The Killings at Badger's Drift"
References
External links
1955–1975 1976–2000 2001–present
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