Betty Huntley-Wright (3 December 1911 – 27 May 1993) was a British actress and vocalist. Daughter of the comic actor

Huntley Wright Huntley Wright (7 August 1868 – 10 July 1941) was an English stage and film actor, comedian, dancer and singer, best known for creating roles in many important Edwardian musical comedies. His career spanned more than half a century, beginnin ...

, she had a long career on stage, chiefly in comedy and

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speakin ...

, and in film, radio and television. Later she also ran an antiques business in London.

Biography

Early years

Huntley-Wright was born Betty Jessie Wright in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the London Borough o ...

, London, one of three children of the comic actor

and his wife, the actress Mary Fraser. She was educated at

High School and studied for the stage under Julian Kimbell (singing), Anton Dolin and the Cone School (dancing).Gaye, Freda (ed). ''Who's Who in the Theatre'', 14th Jubilee Edition, London: Pitman, 1967 She made her first appearance on the stage at the Regent Theatre,

Kings Cross, London Kings Cross is a district on either side of Euston Road, in north London, England, north of Charing Cross. It is bordered by Barnsbury to the north, Clerkenwell and Islington to the east, Holborn to the south and Euston to the west. It is ser ...

, in 1928, as Chris Haversham in ''The Eye of Siva'', and her first appearance in the West End, at His Majesty's Theatre in July 1929, as Freda in

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its ...

Bitter Sweet Bittersweet, bitter-sweet, or bitter sweet may refer to: Biology * A vine in the nightshade family, ''Solanum dulcamara'' * Some species of vines in the genus ''Celastrus'', including American bittersweet (''C. scandens'') and Oriental bitters ...

''.

Acting career

In the early 1930s, Huntley-Wright performed in comedies and operetta in London and on tour. In 1933 she played Madeleine in a revival of '' Madame Pompadour'', in which her father had made a great success in 1923. In the mid-1930s she extended the range of her career, playing an English and French season in Paris in 1935, and building up a repertoire of principal boy roles in

s, including Jack in ''

Jack and the Beanstalk "Jack and the Beanstalk" is an English fairy tale. It appeared as "The Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean" in 1734 4th edition On Commons and as Benjamin Tabart's moralized "The History of Jack and the Bean-Stalk" in 1807. Henry Co ...

'' (1934) and Aladdin in ''

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; ar, علاء الدين, ', , ATU 561, ‘Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights'' (''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of ...

'' (1939). From 1939 to 1942 she was a member of the BBC Repertory Company, formed to broadcast drama from studios away from London and wartime bombing. In 1942 she toured in ''Baby Mine'' and appeared again as Aladdin. Two years later, she was touring with the

Carl Rosa Opera Company The Carl Rosa Opera Company was founded in 1873 by Carl Rosa, a German-born musical impresario, and his wife, British operatic soprano Euphrosyne Parepa-Rosa to present opera in English in London and the British provinces. The company premiered ...

as Olympia, the doll, in ''

The Tales of Hoffmann ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' (French: ) is an by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on three short stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, who is the protagonist of the story. It was Offenbach's final work; he died i ...

''. Huntley-Wright's post-war engagements continued to feature annual pantomimes and comedies in London and on tour. In 1957 she took over the part of Madame Dubonnet in the long-running musical '' The Boy Friend''. In films, Huntley-Wright's career started in 1933 with ''

Naughty Cinderella ''Naughty Cinderella'' is a 1933 British comedy film directed by Jean Daumery and starring John Stuart, Winna Winifried and Betty Huntley-Wright. It was produced as a quota quickie by Warner Bros. at the company's Teddington Studios in Londo ...

'' and '' Little Miss Nobody''. At the end of the war, she made further films, including '' Meet Sexton Blake'' (1945), '' The First Gentleman'' (1948) ''

Just Joe ''Just Joe'' is a 1960 British comedy film directed by Maclean Rogers, and starring Leslie Randall, Joan Reynolds, Michael Shepley, and Anna May Wong. The unassuming Joe (Leslie Randall) discovers his heroic side when he becomes involved with ...

'' (1960), ''

Carry On Loving ''Carry On Loving'' is a 1970 British comedy film, the 20th release in the series of 31 ''Carry On'' films (1958–1992). It features series regulars Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, Hattie Jacques, Terry Scott and ...

'' (1970; part of the '' Carry On'' series), and many television appearances in a wide range of roles from Alice Ford in ''

The Merry Wives of Windsor ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' or ''Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare first published in 1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597. The Windsor of the play's title is a ref ...

'' to roles in ''

Bulldog Breed ''Bulldog Breed'' is a British television sitcom which first aired on ITV in 1962.Self p.12 Tom Bowler is ambitious young man who ends up causing chaos wherever he goes. Actors who appeared in individual episodes in guest roles include William ...

'', ''

Steptoe and Son ''Steptoe and Son'' is a British sitcom written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson about a father-and-son rag-and-bone business in 26a Oil Drum Lane, a fictional street in Shepherd's Bush, London. Four series were broadcast by the BBC in black and w ...

'', '' Softly, Softly'', ''

Fawlty Towers ''Fawlty Towers'' is a British television sitcom written by John Cleese and Connie Booth, broadcast on BBC2 in 1975 and 1979. Two series of six episodes each were made. The show was ranked first on a list of the 100 Greatest British Televisio ...

'' (as Mrs Twitchen in the episode titled " Gourmet Night") and ''

All Gas and Gaiters ''All Gas and Gaiters'' is a British television ecclesiastical sitcom which aired on BBC1 from 1966 to 1971. It was written by Pauline Devaney and Edwin Apps, a husband-and-wife team who used the pseudonym of John Wraith when writing the pilot ...

''.

Personal life

Huntley-Wright was twice married and twice divorced. Her first husband was the French actor-manager Claude Sainval (1911–94; original name: Claude McConnel). Her second was the British actor

John Arnatt John Edwin Arnatt (9 May 1917 – 21 December 1999) was a British actor. Early life and education John Arnatt was born in Petrograd, Russia on 9 May 1917. His parents were Francis and Ethel Marion (née Jephcott) Arnatt. He attended Epworth ...

(1917–99). Together with her daughter, the actress Bridget McConnel, Huntley-Wright developed her interest in antique thimbles into a business, forming a collectors club, the Thimble Society of London, in 1981. They also ran a small antiques business in London, trading at various times in the West End,

Portobello Road Portobello Road is a street in the Notting Hill district of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in west London. It runs almost the length of Notting Hill from south to north, roughly parallel with Ladbroke Grove. On Saturdays it is ...

and

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. She died of heart disease in Camden, London, in 1993, aged 81.GRO death certificate

Selected filmography

* '' Little Miss Nobody'' (1933) * '' Waltzes from Vienna'' (1934) * ''

The Last Waltz ''The Last Waltz'' was a concert by the Canadian-American rock group The Band, held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. ''The Last Waltz'' was advertised as The Band's "farewell concert a ...

'' (1936) * '' Meet Sexton Blake'' (1945) * '' The First Gentleman'' (1948) * ''

'' (1960) * ''

'' (1970; part of the '' Carry On'' series)

Notes

External links

*
Photograph of Betty Huntley-Wright as an older woman
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huntley-Wright, Betty 1911 births 1993 deaths Actresses from London English stage actresses Musicians from Hampstead Actors from Hampstead English film actresses English television actresses 20th-century English actresses 20th-century English singers 20th-century English women singers 20th-century British businesspeople