Rosalind Knight
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- December 3, 1933
- Died
- December 19, 2020 (aged 87)
- Birthplace
- Marylebone, London, England, UK
Biography
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.
Known For
Filmography
Friday Night Dinner: 10 Years and a Lovely Bit of Squirrel
Movie · as Horrible Grandma (archive footage)
The Crown
TV · as Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark · 2 eps
The Lady in the Van
Movie · as Old Nun
The Lost World Cup
Movie
Friday Night Dinner
TV · as Cynthia Goodman · 3 eps
Sherlock
TV · as Grace · 1 ep
The Alchemistic Suitcase
Movie · as Lady
The Shell Seekers
Movie · as Mrs. Croftway
Cheeky
Movie · as Pam
About a Boy
Movie · as Lindsey's Mum
Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story
TV · as Hag Woman · 2 eps
Gimme Gimme Gimme
TV · as Beryl Merit · 13 eps
Gunslinger's Revenge
Movie · as Miss Willow
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
Movie · as Mrs. D'Urberville
What's a Carry On?
Movie · as Miss Felicity Wheeler (archive footage) (uncredited)
Berkeley Square
TV · as Great Aunt Effie · 10 eps
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
TV · as Mrs. D'Urberville · 2 eps
Midsomer Murders
TV · as Eleanor Macpherson, Mother Jerome · 1 ep
Dalziel and Pascoe
TV · as Brigid Stewart · 1 ep
Solitaire for 2
Movie · as Receptionist
Pleasure
Movie · as Madame Desneuves
Wycliffe
TV · as Mrs. Prentice · 1 ep
Harry Enfield and Chums
TV · as Lady Fotherington Carstairs · 1 ep
Royal Celebration
Movie · as Mrs. Maynard
Swords at Teatime
Movie · as Shirley
Afraid of the Dark
Movie · as Edith
Heartbeat
TV · as Edith Benton · 1 ep
In Suspicious Circumstances
TV · as Agnes · 1 ep
Jeeves and Wooster
TV · as Dame Daphne · 1 ep
A Sense of Guilt
TV · as Natasha Blor · 2 eps
Agatha Christie's Poirot
TV · as Georgina Morley · 1 ep
Judith Krantz's Till We Meet Again
TV · as Marquise de St. Fraycourt · 2 eps
Claws
Movie · as Mrs Hargreaves
Prick Up Your Ears
Movie · as RADA Judge
Watching
TV · as Mrs. Lloyd Roberts · 1 ep
The Good Doctor Bodkin-Adams
Movie · as Nurse Stronach
Mapp & Lucia
TV · as La Contessa Amelia Faraglione · 1 ep
I Thought You'd Gone
TV · 7 eps
Sherlock Holmes
TV · as Countess of Morcar · 1 ep
Diana
TV · as Mrs Eggins · 1 ep
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
TV · as Countess of Morcar · 1 ep
Up the Elephant and Round the Castle
TV · as Mrs London · 2 eps
The Disappearance of Harry
Movie · as Dr Abbeydale
Nancy Astor
TV · as Margot Asquith · 2 eps
The Kindness of Mrs Radcliffe
Movie · as Matron
The Wildcats of St Trinian's
Movie · as Miss Walsh
The Lady Vanishes
Movie · as Evelyn Barnes
That's Carry On!
Movie · as Miss Felicity Wheeler (archive footage)
It Could Happen to You
Movie · as Mrs Ramlin
Eskimo Nell
Movie · as Lady Longhorn
The Old Curiosity Shop
Movie · as Mrs. George
Playhouse
TV · as Mrs. Mattison, Matron · 1 ep
Baby Blues
Movie · as Sister Maidenhead
Crown Court
TV · as Felicity Price · 1 ep
Start the Revolution Without Me
Movie · as Helene de Sisi
Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?
Movie · as Critic Bentley
On the Eve of Publication
Movie · as Barbara
Diamonds for Breakfast
Movie · as Museum Visitor in Pink Dress (uncredited)
Nicholas Nickleby
TV · as Miss Snevellicci · 2 eps
Not in Front of the Children
TV · as Biddy · 2 eps
Martin Chuzzlewit
TV · 10 eps
The Wednesday Play
TV · as Barbara · 1 ep
As You Like It
Movie · as Celia
Tom Jones
Movie · as Mrs. Fitzpatrick
The Beverly Hillbillies
TV · 1 ep
The Kitchen
Movie · as Daphne
There Was a Crooked Man
Movie · as Nurse
Doctor in Love
Movie · as Doctor (uncredited)
Carry On Teacher
Movie · as Miss Felicity Wheeler
Carry On Nurse
Movie · as Student Nurse Nightingale
The Horse's Mouth
Movie · as Art Student (uncredited)
Fortune Is a Woman
Movie · as (uncredited)
Blue Murder at St. Trinian's
Movie · as Annabel
Nicholas Nickleby
TV · as Miss Fanny Squeers · 2 eps