Miriam KarlinOBE (23 June 1925 – 3 June 2011) was an English actress whose career lasted for more than 60 years. She was known for her role as Paddy inThe Rag Trade, a 1960sBBC and 1970sLWT sitcom,^[1] and in particular for the character'scatchphrase "Everybody out!" Her trademark throughout her career was her deep, rough, and husky voice.

Miriam Karlin OBE
Karlin inA Clockwork Orange (1971)
Born	Miriam Samuels (1925-06-23)23 June 1925 Hampstead, London, England
Died	3 June 2011(2011-06-03) (aged 85) London, England
Alma mater	Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1946–2009
Organisations	Royal Shakespeare Company Anti-Nazi League British Humanist Association Equity
Family	Michael Samuels (brother)

BornMiriam Samuels^[2] inHampstead,North London, she was brought up in anOrthodox Jewish family; members of her extended family were among those who were later murdered atAuschwitz. She was the daughter of Céline (née Aronowitz) andHarry Samuels, a barrister, who specialised in industrial and trade union law.

Her elder brother wasMichael Samuels (1920–2010), a historical linguist responsible for theHistorical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary.^[3]

When performing in one of her first radio shows,Terry-Thomas'sTop of the Town, Karlin based some of the zany characters that she invented and played on people who had appeared before therent tribunal chaired by her father.^[4][5]

After training atRADA, Karlin made her stage debut for theEntertainments National Service Association (ENSA) in wartime shows, and subsequently appeared inrepertory theatre and cabaret. She appeared in the West End inWomen of Twilight (1951–52),The Bad Seed (1955),The Diary of Anne Frank (1956–57),The Egg (1957–58),Fings Ain’t Wot They Used T’Be (1960–61),Fiddler on the Roof (1967–69),Bus Stop (1976),Torch Song Trilogy (1985-86) andSeparate Tables (1993), among others.^[6]

She made her film debut inDown Among the Z Men (1952), as well as featuring inA Touch of the Sun,Room at the Top,The Millionairess,Heavens Above!,Ladies Who Do,The Small World of Sammy Lee,The Bargee,Just like a Woman,A Clockwork Orange andMahler (byKen Russell). In 1954, she had the part of a Martian alien in the BBC radio seriesJourney into Space.^[7]

In 1960, she appeared opposite SirLaurence Olivier in thefilm adaptation ofJohn Osborne's playThe Entertainer.^[8] She performed in the stage version ofFiddler on the Roof atHer Majesty's Theatre, starring the Israeli actorTopol. In 1972, she appeared in the title role inMother Courage and her Children at thePalace Theatre,Watford, in a production notable for the force of her performance, and its faithfulness to theBrechtianVerfremdungseffekt.^[4]

In television, she became known for playing the belligerentshop steward Paddy inThe Rag Trade, aBBC sitcom set in a textile factory, between 1961 and 1963.^[9] Her character would take advantage of the slightest opportunity to call a strike; her trademark was blowing a whistle and shouting "Everybody out!" The show was revived by rival channelITV in 1977.^[1]

In 1966, she appeared as a regular team member in the Australian satirical seriesThe Mavis Bramston Show. She also appeared in the TV filmJekyll & Hyde (1990) starringMichael Caine.^{[citation needed]}

Karlin performed on stage for theRoyal Shakespeare Company atStratford-upon-Avon, theAldwych Theatre, and theBarbican Centre. She appeared in a national tour of84 Charing Cross Road. In 1990, she became the first woman to play the title role inHarold Pinter'sThe Caretaker, in a production at theSherman Theatre, Cardiff. From 1992 to 1994, she appeared as a Jewish ghost, Yetta Feldman, in the BBC sitcomSo Haunt Me, alongsideTessa Peake-Jones andGeorge Costigan.^[10]

In 2008, at the age of 83, she appeared in Stewart Permutt'sMany Roads to Paradise at theFinborough Theatre in London.^[11]

Karlin, who never married,^[12] lived inSouth London. A self-proclaimedatheist,^[13] she was a lifelong campaigner for Jewish and left-wing political causes, as well as ananti-fascist activist.^[14]

A member of theAnti-Nazi League, she was prominent in protests againstHolocaust denierDavid Irving, and campaigned to expose theNazi sympathies of the Austrian politicianJörg Haider.^[14]

She was an active member of the actors' union,Equity,^[1] and was appointed anOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)^[15] in 1975 for her union and welfare work. Karlin was a Distinguished Supporter of theBritish Humanist Association, a patron of both theBurma Campaign UK (which campaigns for democracy and human rights inBurma) andDignity in Dying (which campaigns for changes to laws onassisted dying) and a trustee of the Eddie Surman Trust (anHIV charity).^[16]

She admitted to a lifelong battle withanorexia andbulimia that began in 1956 and lasted more than 48 years. She often claimed that her peripheral neuropathy was a side effect of a chronic eating disorder and years of laxative and appetite suppressant abuse.

In late 2005, while filming anAgatha Christie TV mystery,By the Pricking of My Thumbs, Karlin was told that she had cancer and that part of her tongue would have to be removed. She died on 3 June 2011, aged 85.^[2]

• Karlin, Miriam (2007). Jan Sargent (ed.).Some Sort of a Life. London:Oberon Books.ISBN 978-1-84002-780-8. (Autobiography)

• Miriam Karlin atIMDb
• The Miriam Karlin Archive is held at theUniversity of Bristol Theatre Collection.