Margaret Nolan

Margaret Nolan:

† Oct 29 1943 - Oct 5 2020 


Prodigiously busty blonde actress and glamour model who features prominently in some classic and not-so-classic British cinema of the '60s and '70s. The iconic opening titles of 'Goldfinger' (1964) feature scenes from the film projected on to her gold-painted body and lamé bikini, and she appears early in the film as Bond's Miami masseuse, and at the other end of the spectrum she is imprinted on the collective psyche as Dawn Brakes in 'Carry On Girls' (1973), wrestling with Miss Fircombe beauty contest rival Barbara Windsor, but wearing a silver bikini this time.        

 'Carry On Girls' (1973)

With Wilfrid Brambell in 'A Hard Day's Night' (1963)

Despite all the cheesecake and Carry Ons, she definitely proved comfortable with speaking roles and gave creditable performances in more serious TV favourites like the tough gangster serial 'Fox' and things like 'The Sweeney', 'The Persuaders' and 'Budgie'. More often than not, though, it was cheeky dollybird roles that beckoned, such as 'Q9', 'Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads', 'Steptoe & Son' and even the third-ever episode of 'Last of the Summer Wine' from 1973.     

As old flame Jackie in 'Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads'

With Valerie Leon in 'No Sex Please, We're British' (1975)

In recent years, she has taken up photo-montage, mainly working with glamour images of herself, which is an intriguingly empowering twist on a career defined by the male gaze. 

 

'Yeah Yeah Yeah (On White)'.
Photo-montage by Margaret Nolan, 2013

  


Margaret Nolan-imdb

John Quayle

John Quayle: 

Good heavens! It's Malcolm! Terry and June's best friend. Or the harassed groom from the excruciatingly brilliant wedding/blind date 'Rising Damp' episode, 'Pink Carnations'. Tall, rangy and very middle-class, he was also seen on television ranging from the decent ('Doomwatch', 'The Fall & Rise Of Reginald Perrin', Steptoe & Son') to the doubtful ('The Jim Davidson Show', 'Kelly Monteith', 'Nanny', and 'Mind Your Language').

As a youngster, he also played cabin boy hero Jim Hawkins in the BBC's 1951 version of 'Treasure Island'.       

John Quayle - imdb profile

Henry Woolf

Henry Woolf: 

† Jan 20 1930 – Nov 12 2021

Brilliantly combining the sinister and the absurdly hilarious for 60 years - his unctious growl and leering manner are unmistakable. He went to Hackney Downs school with Harold Pinter and is still closely associated with the work of his lifetime friend, but is better known to the wider public for his roles in 'Rutland Weekend Television' (he was, of course, Arthur Sultan, the Surrey Mystic in 'The Rutles'), 'Sykes', 'Dr Who' and 'Steptoe and Son'. His connection to the British avant garde is more evident in his parts in Peter Brook's 'Marat/Sade' and 'The Bedsitting Room', but to many British children of the '70s he's the scary man from the schools programme, 'Words & Pictures'.

Henry Woolf - imdb profile

Geoffrey Chater

Geoffrey Chater: 

† March 23 1921 – October 16 2021*

The very image of the establishment, he has played ministers, lawyers, bankers and doctors since the early 1950s. His film credits include impressive entries such as 'Gandhi', 'If', 'Barry Lyndon', and 'O Lucky Man', as well as unlikely oddments like Reg Varney's drag-act monstrosity 'The Best Pair of Legs in The Business'. His appearances on British TV include semi-regular roles in 'Callan', 'Devenish' and 'Mapp & Lucia', plus endless parts in everything from 'Jason King', Steptoe & Son' and 'Some Mothers Do Ave Em' to 'Brideshead Revisited', 'Harry Enfield' and 'Dad's Army'.

 

Edit: October 19, 2021. Sad to hear that the redoubtable Geoffrey Chater has passed away at the great age of 100. An excellent innings.  

Geoffrey Chater - imdb profile

Madeline Smith

Madeline Smith: 

Biba salesgirl turned actress who played endless dollybird, saucepot, and vamp roles from the late '60s to the early '80s. Cartoonishly busty and cute, she features briefly in 'Live & Let Die' (1973) - it's her zip and Roger Moore's magnetic watch - and more prominently (ahem) in 'Up Pompeii' (1971), 'Theatre Of Blood' (1973), 'The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins' (1971), 'Taste The Blood Of Dracula' (1970), 'Carry On Matron' (1972) etc. Her television CV covers 'Jason King', 'The Two Ronnies', 'Steptoe & Son', and so on, until she retired from acting in the '80s.

In the mildly saucy Hammer horror 'The Vampire Lovers' (1970)

Madeline Smith - imdb profile