Louise English
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Louise English (born London, England) is a British actress perhaps best known as Benny Hill’s leading lady and the featured performer with Hill’s Angels on The Benny Hill Show[1], and for her many leading roles in musical theatre productions.
| Louise English | |
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| Occupation | Actress, Singer, Dancer |
Contents |
[edit] Early Life and Education
Louise's mother, Elizabeth (Liz) English was an actress, singer and dancer who appeared in Evening Stars, a review that toured with Benny Hill during his early show business career. She also appeared in Oliver! with Ron Moody and later worked for the BBC. Her father was a well-known orchestra conductor.
Louise began dancing when she was two-and-a half years old. As a young girl, Louise won a scholarship and attended the Stella Mann School of Dancing in London for ten years where besides passing examinations in classical ballet and modern dance, she also completed her academic schooling achieving an extremely high standard in French and German. She also attended the famous Anna Scher Theatre School and turned down the opportunity to attend the Royal Ballet School, preferring to concentrate on the acting side of her career [2].
[edit] Early career
Louise began her career at an early age when, while at ballet school, she was chosen to appear in the classic children’s film Bugsy Malone in the role of the ballerina. Soon after, she was selected as Butlin's Holiday Princess and then won a beauty contest sponsored by British Leyland and Weekend Magazine.
While still in school, she auditioned for a place with Pan's People, a nationally touring dance troupe, and was offered a contract. She accepted and, only a couple days after completing her schooling, began a year with the group that was filled with appearing on television, cabaret, theatre, trade shows, modelling at fashion shows and appearing in television commercials.
And after wowing the audience at an Isle of Wight showcase, it was obvious that singing was to become an important part of Louise's career as well. She formed her own group, Patches, which enjoyed great success at London clubs.
[edit] Television Fame
Louise soon had a chance to present her acting, singing and dancing talent to a world-wide audience as she was chosen by Benny Hill to be one of the original members of the famous Hill's Angels on The Benny Hill Show and quickly earned a role as the featured performer.
Louise's outstanding comic timing allowed her to more than hold her own with one of the true masters of comedy in sketches Benny Hill wrote especially to feature her as his leading lady. She was also the featured guest performer in many song and dance numbers, and her renditions of classic songs including "La Vie en Rose," "Pour Un Flirt Avec Toi," "Paradise," and "Milord" quickly became favourites of fans throughout the United States and more than 140 other countries.
Her extraordinary talent and great beauty garnered her guest star appearances on many television shows including playing the role of Lucia Morella in two series of the popular BBC series Brush Strokes and filming the pilot for the BBC game show Full Swing.
Louise was also a featured guest star on the Central TV entertainment specials Elkie and Our Gang with Elkie Brooks and Gemma Craven, Saturday Royal, and Entertainment Express (all choreographed by Nigel Lythgoe); Dream Alley and Starburst.
Additional TV credits include Fresh Fields, Lytton’s Diary, Full House, Chance in a Million, Give Us a Clue, and Don’t Rock the Boat; all for Thames TV, and guest appearances on the Mike Yarwood Show. She has also appeared in EastEnders.[3], [4]
[edit] Theatre, Feature Films, Musicals and Pantomime
Louise honed her acting skills in repertory theatre; starring in cabaret in England, the Channel Islands and Bangkok; and performing Shakespeare, and was soon asked to appear in feature films including The Wicked Lady with Faye Dunaway, Denholm Elliott, John Gielgud and Oliver Tobias; and The House of the Long Shadows with Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, John Carradine and Peter Cushing.
On stage she has appeared in many leading roles including: Absent Friends, Suddenly at Home, Tommy Boy, Don't Dress For Dinner, Bedside Manners, Shadow of Doubt and many others.
Louise is a veteran of many highly successful national tours including nine-months as the lead in Mike Harding's hilarious comedy Fur Coat and No Knickers, Ted Willis' play Tommy Boy, Tom Lehrer's Tom Foolery, Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband and Russ Abbott's Madhouse. She also traveled to Stockholm to perform as the lead in Neil Simon's I Ought To Be In Pictures.
She has showcased her acting, dancing, and singing skills in many musicals including playing the highly acclaimed title role in Gypsy at the Crucible Theatre, selling out every performance. She stole the show as Bella Spellgrove on the cast-recorded CD of Sherlock Holmes - The Musical, and amazed audiences with her lovely soprano voice in Maxwell - The Musical, Italian Idol - The Musical and many others.
The Adelphi Theatre in the West End of London is a place that holds very fond memories for Louise, for when she was a girl she used to sit in the orchestra pit and watch her father conduct Charlie Girl. And the Adelphi Theatre was the site of her breakthrough West End performance as she earned great acclaim playing Sally Smith in the much-loved musical Me and My Girl, breaking all box office records.
She was asked back for a special eight-week run of Me and My Girl and then was asked to perform the role of Sally Smith for an additional year at the Adelphi Theatre.
Louise also starred in the national tour of My Dearest Ivor, an original musical that honoured the legendary Ivor Novello. In this wonderful show, she played eight roles and sang ten songs!
Not content with singing, dancing and performing comedy, Louise sank her acting teeth into meaty dramatic roles as Bella Manningham in the Victorian thriller, Gas Light; as Sybil Chase in Private Lives; and as Liz in Shadow of Doubt.
Louise is a British pantomime favourite and has starred as the principal girl or boy in over ten pantomimes throughout the UK including: Babes in the Wood, Aladdin, Jack and the Beanstalk, Dick Whittington, The Bells of Notre Dame and a record-breaking run as Snow White. [5], [6]
[edit] Since 2000
During 2000, Louise starred as Lady Chiltern in the UK tour of An Ideal Husband and as the lead in the Christmas pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk at the Hall for Cornwall.
During 2001, Louise earned rave reviews for her portrayal of Grace Farrell in Annie - The Musical, with Vicki Michelle. And Louise was delighted to reprise her wonderful role as Sally Smith in the smash hit Christmas production of Me and My Girl at the Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham.
Louise once again earned raves for her performance as Grace Farrell in the 2002 Annie The Musical tour with Su Pollard. She also enjoyed starring as the fairy tale princess Snow White during the 2002-2003 Christmas pantomime season, once again setting a box office record.
Not one to bask in her successes, Louise tread the boards during the summer of 2003 as Anne Norbury in William Fairchild's The Sound of Murder; as Molly Forsyth in William Douglas Home's comedy The Secretary Bird; and as Vivien Norwood in Francis Durbridge's thriller, House Guest, all at the Theatre Royal Windsor.
Later that same year she starred as Sally in Bedside Manners with television favourite John Inman at the Bournemouth Pier Theatre. As an additional treat for her fans, Louise reprised her tremendous success as Grace Farrell, earning rave reviews during a sold-out 2003 UK and Ireland tour of Annie - The Musical.
Louise traveled to Singapore during 2004 to play Teresa Phillips in How The Other Half Loves, an acclaimed farce by Alan Ayckbourn. She then reprised her hugely successful role as Grace Farrell in Annie The Musical in Kuala Lumpur and in a sold-out UK national tour.
Louise returned to Kuala Lumpur in 2005 to star as Nancy in the smash hit Oliver! The Musical at the Genting International Showroom. She reprised her signature role as Grace Farrell in Annie The Musical 2005, touring the UK and Ireland, and then played the roles of Mrs Darling and the Marilyn Monroe-esque Magical Mermaid in the Christmas pantomime Peter Pan at the Manchester Opera House.
During 2006, Louise reprised her signature role as Grace Farrell in a UK tour of Annie The Musical and starred as Mrs Darling and The Mermaid in Peter Pan at the Wycombe Swan Theatre. [7], [8]
Louise played The Forest Fairy in Snow White at the Hawth Theatre, Crawley during the 2007-2008 Christmas pantomime season.
She is currently starring as Irene Molloy in an eight-month UK and Ireland Tour of Hello, Dolly! (musical) that runs through August 2008.
[edit] References
Hannam, John (28 September 1979), “Louise Is The Pick Of The Bunch”, Isle of Wight Weekly Post
Hannam, John (4 October 1979), “Isle of Wight Showcase”, The Stage and Television Today
“Mum Has The Last Word”, Titbits: 28, 3 January 1981
Hannam, John (21 January 1983), “Showcase Girl All Set To Come Back A Star”, Isle of Wight Weekly Post
Brunton, John (12 March 1983), “How Benny Took An Angel Under His Wing”, Titbits: 23
Hannam, John (20 March 1987), Louise Set For West End Debut, pp. 26
“West End Panto Role For Brush Strokes Star”, Hello Magazine, 5 January 1991
Hannam, John (5 January 1991), “Louise's Fans Include Burt Reynolds”, Isle of Wight Weekly Post
“Tot Louise's Dancing Feat”, Birmingham Post: 14, 2001
"Louise English Interview". John Hannam Meets. 2002-11-24.
“Full of Grace and Loving It”, Teesside Evening Gazette, 2 September 2005, <http://icteesside.icnetwork.co.uk/0300entertainment/0600theatre/tm_objectid=15925036&method=full&siteid=50080-name_page.html>
