Rosalie Crutchley | |
|---|---|
 Crutchley inFreud: The Secret Passion (1962) | |
| Born | Rosalie Sylvia Crutchley (1920-01-04)4 January 1920 London, England |
| Died | 28 July 1997(1997-07-28) (aged 77) Marylebone, London, England |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1947–1997 |
| Spouse(s) | Peter Ashmore (1946–?; divorced) Dan Cunningham (1939–?; divorced) |
| Children | 2, includingJonathan Ashmore |
Rosalie Sylvia Crutchley (4 January 1920 – 28 July 1997) was a British actress. Trained at theRoyal Academy of Music, she was perhaps best known for her television performances, but had a long and successful career in theatre and films, making her stage debut in 1932[1] and her screen debut in 1947.[2]
Crutchley had dark piercing eyes and often played foreign or rather sinister characters.[3] She also played many classical roles, including Juliet inShakespeare'sRomeo and Juliet, Hermione inThe Winter's Tale and Goneril inKing Lear.
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 inTake My Life (1947).[3] She playedMadame Defarge twice in adaptations ofA Tale of Two Cities, in both the1958 film and in the1965 television serialisation of the same story.[2]
She playedCatherine 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 filmThe Sword and the Rose.[5]
Other roles included Mrs Sparsit inHard Times (ITV, 1977) andElectra (1974).[6] She also starred in the 1979 BBC TV production ofTestament of Youth, playing the role of the Principal of Somerville College, Oxford.[7] She was in the filmsQuo Vadis (1951), asActe, the former mistress of the EmperorNero (Peter Ustinov) andThe Haunting (1963), as the sinister housekeeper Mrs Dudley.[2]
Crutchley also appeared in film adaptations of twoA.J. Cronin novels,The Spanish Gardener (1956) andBeyond This Place (1959) and played the flinty maiden aunt in the TV adaptation ofBrendon Chase (1980–81).[2] She had two guest roles inCasualty, in 1992 and 1995. She also had a short, but memorable, appearance in the filmFour Weddings and a Funeral (1994).[4]
She appeared in only one film musical,Man of La Mancha (1972), based onthe successful stage production, asDon 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 final acting role 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]
She was married twice, firstly to actorDan Cunningham in 1939 and secondly to actorPeter Ashmore in 1946.[10] Both marriages ended in divorce. She had two children, one of whom is the physicistJonathan Ashmore.[11]
Crutchley died at The Harley Street Hospital in London in 1997 at the age of 77.[4]
| 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 | 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" |
