Vanda Godsell

Vanda Godsell
Godsell in This Sporting Life
Born	(1922-11-17)17 November 1922 Bognor Regis, Sussex, England
Died	2 April 1990(1990-04-02) (aged 67) Hammersmith, London, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1949–1983

Vanda Godsell (17 November 1922 – 2 April 1990) was an English actress. Hal Erickson writes in Allmovie, "Vanda Godsell specialised in playing disheveled housewives, busybody landladies and blowsy domestics." She appeared as Mrs Weaver in This Sporting Life (1963), Mrs Pitt in Bitter Harvest (1965), and Mrs Goodge in The Wrong Box (1967).

Early life

She was born in Bognor Regis into the Godsell family, best known for its brewery based in Stroud. Her father was an officer in the Navy and served in the Battle of Jutland, whilst her mother, Muriel, was the sister of novelist and actress Naomi Jacob. Godsell's sister Felicia was also an actress, and her other sister was an editor in the publishing world.

Career

Godsell began acting when she joined the Bristol Repertoire aged 14, making her film debut in 1953 in Flannelfoot starring Ronald Howard. She also appeared in Hell Is a City, A Shot in the Dark, The Earth Dies Screaming, The Wrong Box, Bitter Harvest, Who Killed the Cat 1966 and The Pink Panther Strikes Again. She portrayed Mrs Anne Weaver in This Sporting Life. On television, she appeared in shows such as The Saint, Coronation Street, Minder, Dixon of Dock Green, The Newcomers, Gideon's Way, Bless This House, I Didn't Know You Cared, In Loving Memory, and Taxi!. She appeared as Blanche DuBois in a critically acclaimed version of A Streetcar Named Desire in the West End.

Godsell played a small part as Margaret in a 1958 episode of Dial 999 in association with ZIV Television.

Selected filmography

• Flannelfoot (1953) as Angela Neilson
• The Large Rope (1953) as Amy Jordan
• The Brain Machine (1955) as Mae Smith
• Timeslip (1955) as Stenographer (uncredited)
• Hour of Decision (1957) as Eileen Chadwick
• Innocent Sinners (1958) - Bertha Mason as Lovejoy's Mother
• Horrors of the Black Museum (1959) as Miss Ashton
• Dial 999 (TV series), ('Ghost Squad', episode) (1959) as Margaret Saunders
• No Safety Ahead (1959) (uncredited)
• In the Wake of a Stranger (1959) as Hetty McCabe
• Hell Is a City (1960) as Lucky Lusk
• Sword of Sherwood Forest (1960) as The Prioress
• The Man Who Was Nobody (1960) as Mrs. Ferber
• Payroll (1961) as Doll
• Konga (1961) as Bob's Mother
• Shadow of the Cat (1961) as Louise Venable
• The Frightened City (1961) as Sophie Peters
• Night Without Pity (1961) as Tart
• The Pot Carriers (1962) as Mrs Red Band
• Candidate for Murder (1962) as Betty Conlon
• Waltz of the Toreadors (1962) as Mrs. Emma Bulstrode, Dress Shop Proprietor
• Term of Trial (1962) as Mrs Thompson (uncredited)
• This Sporting Life (1963) as Mrs Anne Weaver
• The Wrong Arm of the Law (1963) as Annette
• 80,000 Suspects (1963) as Mrs Agnes Davis
• Bitter Harvest (1963) as Mrs Pitt
• The Victors (1963) as Nurse (uncredited)
• A Shot in the Dark (1964) as Madame LaFarge
• Clash by Night (1964) as Mrs Grey-Simmons
• The Earth Dies Screaming (1964) as Violet Courtland
• Dateline Diamonds (1966) as Mrs Jenkins
• The Wrong Box (1966) as Mrs Goodge
• Who Killed the Cat? (1966) as Eleanor Trellington
• A Touch of the Other (1970) as Angela
• The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976) as Mrs Leverlilly

External links

• Vanda Godsell at IMDb
• BBC profile