Kathleen Harrison
Kathleen Harrison | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1915–1979 |
| Spouse | John Henry Back (1916–1960) his death |
Kathleen Harrison (23 February 1892 – 7 December 1995) was a prolific English character actress best remembered for her role as Mrs. Huggett (opposite Jack Warner and Petula Clark) in a trio of British post-war comedies about a working class family's misadventures. However, to modern viewers she is better remembered as Mrs. Dilber, Scrooge's charwoman, opposite Alastair Sim in the 1951 film A Christmas Carol.
Life and career
Born in Blackburn, Lancashire, Harrison was one of the first 84 pupils of St Saviour's and St Olave's Church of England School in 1903. She studied at RADA from 1914–1915, then spent some years living in Argentina and Madeira before making her professional acting debut in UK in the 1920s.[1]
Harrison made her stage debut in The Constant Flirt, playing the character Mrs Judd at the Pier Theatre, Eastbourne in 1926. The following year she appeared in London's West End for the first time as Winnie in The Cage[disambiguation needed] at the Savoy Theatre. Her subsequent West End plays included A Damsel in Distress, Happy Families, The Merchant and Venus, Lovers' Meeting, Line Engaged, Night Must Fall—also acting in the 1937 film version—The Winslow Boy and Watch It Sailor!.
She had already made her film debut with a minor role in Our Boys in 1915, when she appeared in the 1931 movie Hobson's Choice. Another 50 films followed, including Gaslight, In Which We Serve, and Caesar and Cleopatra, before making her name in later movies.
Before and during World War II, she played small parts in numerous British films, including The Ghost Train (1941), In Which We Serve (1942), Temptation Harbour (1947), Oliver Twist (1948), and a small but scene-stealing role as Mrs. Dilber in Scrooge (1951) (entitled A Christmas Carol in the US).
The Huggett family
The Huggett family made their first appearance in Holiday Camp (1947). Harrison played the London East End Charwoman Mrs Huggett. The actress continued with the role, alongside Jack Warner as her screen husband, in Here Come the Huggetts, Vote for Huggett and The Huggetts Abroad, as well as a radio serial, Meet the Huggetts, which ran from 1953 to 1962. Although criticised by critics, almost immediately it became one of the most popular programmes of the decade. Five years later, Harrison turned down the title role in writer Jeremy Sandford's acclaimed BBC play Edna, the Inebriate Woman, which later won Patricia Hayes a Best Actress on TV Award. In 1956 Harrison again starred with Warner in the film Home and Away about a working-class family that wins the football pools.
Later career
As her cinema appearances became less frequent, Harrison turned to television. In 1966, she starred on television as Mrs. Thursday, a charlady who inherited £10 million pound and the controlling interest in a company, with Hugh Manning - who later appeared in the soap opera Emmerdale Farm.
Harrison also played Kaney in The Ghoul (1933) and the matriarch in Mrs. Gibbons' Boys (1962), as well as two BBC productions of Charles Dickens's novels, Our Mutual Friend and Martin Chuzzlewit. She later commented that Dickens was her favourite author.
Kathleen Harrison died in 1995 at the age of 103. She had been married to John Henry Back and the couple had 3 children.[1]
Filmography
References
- ^ a b Hayward, Anthony (8 December 1995). "Obituary: Kathleen Harrison". The Independent. Retrieved 18 May 2009.
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External links
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