She’s probably best known, however, for her television work. As well as appearances in shows such as The Seven Faces of Jim, Danger Man, Are You Being Served?, L for Lester and, in recent years, Doctors and Hell’s Kitchen, she’ll always be remembered for playing Alma in Coronation Street and Bev in Bad Girls.
MEMORIES
‘As a revue I was in, Six of One, stumbled to its close in the summer of 1963, I was to have a gap of three weeks before going into the already acclaimed musical She Loves Me, at the Lyric Theatre, taking over from Rita Moreno. I had also been hired to play Cleo in the film Carry On Cleo, which, of course, was to turn out to be a real landmark for me. But my agent had made a ghastly mistake. It transpired that the filming of Cleo actually started on the same day that I was to go into She Loves Me. By the time we found out it was already too late to drop out of one of them decently, even if I had wanted to. So lucky old me, not just eight shows a week, but two productions at the same time.
‘I remain extraordinarily grateful to the Carry Ons. At the time they were just another job, but they had such visual impact that the images from them remain in people’s minds. It always surprises me that I receive just as many letters about Cleo, which was just one film made almost forty years ago, as I do about the Street. In spite of other people’s kind opinions I have never thought I was any good in Cleo.’
‘I really was naked in that bath – apart from bits of plaster over my nipples which looked pretty silly. Although tastefully shot from the back, this was very unusual in the early sixties. It seemed perfectly normal to me of course. I was an old chorus girl, more used to being undressed most of the time than dressed.’
AMANDA BARRIE – from her autobiography, It’s Not A Rehearsal
BARRON, MR
Played by Charles Hawtrey
Seen in Doctor, Mr Barron spends much of his time asleep on Fosdick Ward. When his wife, Mildred, told him she was expecting, he went into deep shock and was admitted to Borough County Hospital suffering a phantom pregnancy. Deciding to play along with his nonsense, Dr Tinkle sends him to pre-natal classes, which he finds humiliating, but by the end of his spell in hospital his wife gives birth and he becomes the proud father of a little boy.
BARRON, MRS
Played by Gwendolyn Watts
Mildred Barron is the pregnant wife of Mr Barron. When she told her husband they were expecting, he went into shock and was admitted to Borough County Hospital suffering a phantom pregnancy. Seen in Doctor visiting her hubby.
BARRY, HILDA
Role: Grandma Grubb in Loving
Born in California in 1896, Hilda Barry spent her early career in the theatre before becoming a regular face on the screen from the mid-1950s.
On television she made several appearances in Dixon of Dock Green as well as The Flying Doctor, The Prisoner, Special Branch, Quatermass and, latterly, Angels. Her film credits included The Drayton Case, John of the Fair, Never Back Losers, Poor Cow, On the Buses, Steptoe and Son Ride Again and her last picture, The Confessional.
She died in 1977, aged eighty.
BARRY, MR & MRS
Unseen characters in Constable, the Barries live at 35 Nathaniel Road. While they’re away visiting their first grandchild in Canada, their neighbour, Miss Horton, reports an intruder entering their property, but it’s a false alarm because it’s only their daughter, Sally, returning early from a trip to Cornwall.
BARRY, SALLY
Played by Shirley Eaton
Befriended by PC Potter in Constable, Sally is an attractive blonde whom Potter encounters while investigating a possible break-in at 35 Nathaniel Road. Upset, Sally had been visiting her fiancé’s family in Cornwall when she rowed with her beloved Eric.
BARTLETT, RICHARD
Role: Gunner Drury in England
Richard Bartlett, who’s semi-retired from the industry, spent many years performing on stage, while appearing sporadically on television and in films during the 1970s.
On the small screen he was seen in Robin’s Nest and Minder, as well as playing Nigel in 1977’s Follow Me and General Vishishmou in The Tomorrow People. Other film credits include Loving Feeling and The Pink Panther Strikes Again.
BASIC JAPANESE
The book, written by R. Morrison, is read by Francis Courtenay during an idle moment in Regardless.
BATT, BERT
Assistant Director on Teacher and Matron
Born in Islington, London, in 1930, Bert Batt entered the film industry straight from elementary school. Taking the advice of his father, he wrote to Gainsborough Studios, two miles down the road from where he lived, and within weeks was hired as a gofer, earning twenty-five shillings a week.
In 1946 he became a third assistant but his career was interrupted two years later by National Service. Back in civvies in 1950, he joined Pinewood Studios and completed ten years’ service under contract before going freelance. His long career has encompassed over seventy films, including True As A Turtle, Rockets Galore!, Make Mine Mink, Zulu, The Dirty Dozen, The Spiral Staircase, The Man Who Would Be King, The Sea Wolves and, in 1998, Les Misérables.
Batt has also worked in television, including the 1990 Jeeves and Wooster comedy series.
BATTLEAXE
Played by Judith Furse
Seen in Cabby, this aggressive woman – who’s a widow – is picked up by Charlie Hawkins in his taxi. As Charlie piles her suitcases into the car, it looks like she’s taking everything but the kitchen sink.
BAWDEN, JAMES
Camera Operator on Doctor, Up The Khyber, Camping, Again Doctor, Up the Jungle, Loving, At Your Convenience and Matron
James Bawden, who was born in the Scottish town of Motherwell in 1920, began working as a camera operator in the early 1950s on films such as The Long Memory, Desperate Moment and The Million Pound Note.
Apart from a period working on the popular cult television series The Avengers, he’s worked primarily in films with other credits including The Square Peg, Doctor in Love, Crooks Anonymous, Quest for Love, The Eagle Has Landed, The Wild Geese and, in 1982, Witness for the Prosecution.
BAXTER, JOE
Played by Ian Lavender
Goes on holiday to the Riverside Caravan Site with his wife, Norma, and her huge pet dog, Ollie, which is the bane of his life. Seen in Behind.
BAXTER, NORMA
Played by Adrienne Posta
With her frizzy blonde hairdo, Norma is the wife of Joe Baxter. Seen in Behind holidaying at the Riverside Caravan Site with her spouse and their huge pet dog, Ollie, who seems more important to her than Joe.
MEMORIES
‘First and foremost for me was Peter Rogers and Gerry Thomas, two of the nicest men you could wish to meet. The shooting was tough, a rigid budget and a six-week shoot with no overtime. It was non-stop but a continual laugh and some of the days were hysterical.
‘The cast were great. Kenneth Williams never stopped talking, much of