Vanda Godsell

Vanda Godsell
Godsell in This Sporting Life
Born	(1922-11-17)November 17, 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 – 11 April 1990) was an English actress. Hal Erickson writes in Allmovie, "Vanda Godsell specialized 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), Mrs. Goodge in The Wrong Box (1967)

Early life

She was born near Bristol into the well known 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 but her other sister was an editor in the publishing world.

Career

She began acting when she joined the Bristol Repertoire aged 14. Her career lasted for fifty years, 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 and The Pink Panther Strikes Again. Many of these films were directed or produced by Blake Edwards. Vanda portrayed Mrs. Anne Weaver in This Sporting Life. On television, she appeared in shows like The Saint, Coronation Street, Minder, Dixon of Dock Green, Bless This House, In Loving Memory and Taxi!. She appeared as Blanche DuBois in a critically acclaimed version of A Streetcar Named Desire in the West End.

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
• 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
• 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