Sheila White

Sheila White
  
† Oct 18 1950 – Sep 7 2018*
  

Probably still best known from the ever-popular screen version of 'Oliver!' (1968) in which she played Nancy's good hearted friend Bet, the name of pretty and talented actress and singer Sheila White is not as familiar as perhaps it should be.   

As Paula, seen here with Barry Evans, in 'Here We
Go Round The Mulberry Bush' (1967)

As well as 'Oliver!', she appears in quite a few films, including the pretty rotten (not through her fault) 'The Ghost Goes Gear' (1966) with Nicholas Parsons and the Spencer Davis Group, 'Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush' (1967) with Barry Evans, 'Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter' (1968), 'Villain' (1971), 'Alfie Darling' (1976) and 'Silver Dream Racer' (1980), Walt Disney's 'The Spaceman and King Arthur' (1979), she also played the non-saucy role of Rosie Noggett in various Robin Askwith 'Confessions' films.

As the insatiable Empress Messalina, about to
get down to business in 'I, Claudius'

On TV, there is high-end popular drama like 'I, Claudius', the pre-raphaelite artists bonkbuster 'The Love School' and 'Poldark' alongside a good mixture of lighter fare, variety and comedy. She was quite memorable as Arthur's singer protégée in 'Minder', and is credited as originating the Rodney Bewes comedy series 'Dear Mother... Love Albert' in which she also starred for a couple of seasons. To this, add boatyard sitcom 'Don't Rock The Boat', the Paul Shane talent agency comedy 'Very Big Very Soon' and a brief stint in 'EastEnders' as adopted Sharon Watts's hard-hearted birth mother, Carol. 

Making a bid for French 'Ye-Ye' pop stardom.

She also had a bit of post-'Oliver!' success in France as a pop star in the clean-cut Pet Clark mould. Check her out in this Gallic TV curiosity. My Tailor is Rich.   (Apparently, that's the first phrase you learn from an English textbook in French schools.) 

*As of Sep 12, 2018, Sheila White's passing has not been notified to the press/imdb/wikipedia, but the sad news has been confirmed by her agent. 

Sheila White-imdb

Lance Percival

Lance Percival: 

† 26 July 1933 – 6 January 2015

The unmistakable, agile and angular features of John Lancelot Blades Percival - that long crooked nose and the teeth seemingly trying to escape from under his jutting upper lip - combined with his quickfire delivery and timing to make him a comedy star of the '60s. He featured in a string of middling movies as a sure pair of hands for dimwit and klutz roles. He's in 'Carry On Cruising' (1962) of course, as the bilious ship's cook (Charles Hawtrey pulled out with only a few days until filming), and there was a solid run of jokey parts through the early part of  the decade. 

'The Big Job' (1965)

The lucky break with the 'Carry On…' team probably helped his profile, but possibly not as much as his regular appearances on television's 'That Was The Week That Was', where he was a natural fit for the satirical skits and he became a household name for his topical calypso numbers. One of these, 'Shame and Scandal in the Family', was a Top 40 hit in 1965. As the decade wore on, his combination of wacky charm and anti-establishment credentials saw him in demand for pop-music tie-ins, like voice-over work on the Beatles animated adventures (he was Paul and Ringo) which led to him voicing Old Fred in 'Yellow Submarine' (1968). Less memorably, he also featured in Herman's Hermits 'Mrs Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter' the same year. 


An interesting aside is the Italian thriller 'The Weekend Murders' (1970) which saw him in a leading role, albeit stylised and semi-comic. Shame and scandal was to follow however, when the Kent-born actor was involved in a road accident on the A20 in which his Jaguar XJ6 was alleged to be racing with another similar car. An unfortunate Rainham man was killed in the resulting smash.        

'The Weekend Murders' (1970)

Whether or not the accident had anything to do with it, work post '70 was a bit less fun. There were movie roles in 'Up Pompeii' (1971) and its follow-ups, and similar British smutty comedies of the period: 'Our Miss Fred' (1972), leading to 'Confessions from a Holiday Camp' (1977) and 'Rosie Dixon: Night Nurse' (1978). All rather poor. 

With Danny LaRue in 'Our Miss Fred' (1972)

TV work kept coming, though rather intermittently by the '80s, and these days he makes a living on the after-dinner speaking circuit.  

Update 9/1/15: Sorry to hear that Lance Percival died on January 6 after a long illness.   

Lance Percival - imdb

Robert Longden

Robert Longden: 

The distinctively camp, adenoidal tones of actor Robert Longden have been heard in some minor classics of British TV. His whimsical annunciation (somewhere between Georgina Hale and Julian Clary) and strangely boyish manner means he tends to appear in eccentric pieces, notably Alan Plater's Beiderbecke trilogy, in which he played Mr Pitt, the quietly subversive planning officer. 

 

Other TV roles date from the early '70s to the '00s, and include: 'The Fenn Street Gang', Sapper Copping in 'Danger UXB' (pictured above), 'Peter Cook & Co', 'Wood & Walters', 'Boon', 'The Gentle Touch', a string of TV movie whodunits and the unavoidable 'Casualty' and 'Doctors'. His showreel would suggest that he's keeping fairly busy, but I don't think he quite hooked as many primetime shows as he deserved. 

He was in a few feature films, mostly mildly embarrassing, such as 'Adolf Hitler: My Part In His Downfall' (1974), 'Confessions of a Window Cleaner' (1974) and 'Escort Girls' (1975).   

He's still acting on the stage, it seems, and not just pantomime dames. He also found time to write the cult Melville-meets-St Trinian's play, 'Moby Dick: The Musical'. 


Robert Longden - imdb