Beryl Reid

Beryl Reid
Reid in 1974
Born	Beryl Elizabeth Reid (1919-06-17)17 June 1919 Hereford, Herefordshire, England, UK
Died	South Buckinghamshire, England, UK
Cause of death	pneumonia and osteoporosis
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1940–1994

Beryl Elizabeth Reid, OBE (17 June 1919 – 13 October 1996) was a British actress of stage and screen. She won the 1967 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for The Killing of Sister George, the 1980 Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for Born in the Gardens, and the 1982 BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for Smiley's People. Her film appearances included The Belles of St. Trinian's (1954), The Killing of Sister George (1968), The Assassination Bureau (1969) and No Sex Please, We're British (1973)

Early life

Born in Hereford, Herefordshire in 1919, Reid was the daughter of Scottish parents, and grew up in Manchester, where she attended Withington and Levenshulme High Schools.

Career

Leaving school at 16, she made her debut in 1936 as a music hall performer at the Floral Hall, Bridlington. Before and during the Second World War, she took part in variety shows and pantomimes. She had no formal training but later appeared at the Royal National Theatre in London as a comedy actress. Her first big success came in the BBC radio show Educating Archie as naughty schoolgirl Monica and later as the Brummie, "Marlene".

Her many film and television roles as a character actor were usually well received. She reprised her Tony Award-winning performance of a lesbian soap opera star in The Killing of Sister George for the screen version and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Drama. The tour of the play was not a success, people in shops refused to serve her and other performers due to the gay characters in the play.

She was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1976 when she was surprised by Eamonn Andrews in the car park of Thames Television’s Teddington Studios.

In both Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Smiley's People Reid played Connie Sachs. For Smiley's People she won a BAFTA for Best Actress on Television. She also wrote an autobiography, So Much Love, which was well received. She played the part of an elderly feminist and political subversive in the 1987 television drama, The Beiderbecke Tapes.

Always a big personality, character actress, gifted in comedy, she appeared in many situation comedy and variety programmes on TV including BBC TV's long running music hall show, The Good Old Days.

She married twice but had no children.

Death

Beryl Reid died on 13 October 1996 from pneumonia and osteoporosis at a South Buckinghamshire hospital following knee surgery. She was 77 years old.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1954	The Belles of St Trinian's	Miss Wilson
1956	The Extra Day	Beryl
1960	Two-Way Stretch	Miss Pringle
1962	The Dock Brief	Doris Fowle, his late wife
1968	Inspector Clouseau	Mrs. Weaver
1968	Star!	Rose
1968	The Killing of Sister George	June 'George' Buckridge	Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
1969	The Assassination Bureau	Madame Otero
1970	Entertaining Mr Sloane	Kath
1970	The Beast in the Cellar	Ellie Ballantyne
1971	Psychomania	Mrs. Latham
1972	Father, Dear Father	Mrs. Stoppard
1972	Dr. Phibes Rises Again	Miss Ambrose, Harry's Cousin
1973	No Sex Please, We're British	Bertha Hunter
1977	Joseph Andrews	Mrs. Slipslop
1978	Rosie Dixon - Night Nurse	Matron
1978	Carry On Emmannuelle	Mrs Valentine
1979	Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy	Connie Sachs	Episode "Smiley Tracks the Mole" Nominated—British Academy Television Award for Best Actress
1980	Rhubarb Rhubarb	Home Owner's Wife
1981	Late Flowering Love		segment "Invasion Exercise on the Poultry Farm"
1982	Doctor Who: Earthshock	Briggs	(Episodes Two, Three, Four)
1982	Smiley's People	Connie Sachs	(Episode No. 1.3) British Academy Television Award for Best Actress
1983	Yellowbeard	Lady Lambourn
1983	The Wind in the Willows	Ms. Carrington Moss
1983	The Irish R.M.	Mrs Knox of Aussolas Castle
1984	Minder	Ruby Hubbard	Series 5, Episode 4 "The Second Time Around"
1985	The Doctor and the Devils	Mrs. Flynn
1985	Bergerac	Miss Broome	Series 4, Episode 4 "Low Profile"
1985	The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole	May Mole	(5 episodes)
1987	The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole	Grandma Mole	(6 episodes)
1987	The Beiderbecke Tapes	Sylvia	(1 episode)

External links

• Beryl Reid at the Internet Broadway Database
• Beryl Reid at the British Film Institute's Screenonline
• Beryl Reid at the Internet Movie Database
• Beryl Reid's appearance on This Is Your Life