Margaret Ann Nolan (29 October 1943 – 5 October 2020) was an English actress, visual artist and
glamour model
A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Though ...
Carry On
Carry On may refer to:
* ''Carry On'' (franchise), a British comedy media franchise
*Carry-on luggage or hand luggage, luggage that is carried into the passenger compartment
* ''Carry On'' (film), a 1927 British silent film
* ''Carry On'' (novel), ...
'' films, and also regularly appeared on screen from the 1960s to the 1980s.
Early life
Nolan was born in
Hampstead
Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...
, London. Her mother Molly (née O'Sullivan) was an English nurse and her father Jack was an Irish army clerk. They spent the duration of the Second World War in
County Waterford
County Waterford ( ga, Contae Phort Láirge) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is part of the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region. It is named ...
in Ireland until the war ended in 1945 before returning to Hampstead. Nolan began training as a teacher but began dating
Tom Kempinski
Thomas Michael John Kempinski (born 24 March 1938) is an English playwright and actor best known for his 1980 play ''Duet for One'', which was a major success in London and New York City, and much revived since. Kempinski also wrote the screenp ...
, who was acting with the
National Theatre Company
The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. In ...
at the time, who persuaded her to begin a career in acting.
Career
Modelling career
Margaret Nolan began her career as a model. As her glamour modelling career took off, she was briefly known as Vicky Kennedy in the early 1960s.
Acting career
Nolan reverted to her birth name as soon as she began to find acting roles, appearing in numerous television shows, theatre productions and films. The latter included '' A Hard Day's Night'' with
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
, ''
Ferry Cross the Mersey
"Ferry Cross the Mersey" is a song written by Gerry Marsden. It was first recorded by his band Gerry and the Pacemakers and released in late 1964 in the UK and in 1965 in the United States. It was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic, reaching ...
'' with
Gerry and the Pacemakers
Gerry and the Pacemakers were a British beat group prominent in the 1960s Merseybeat scene. In common with the Beatles, they came from Liverpool, were managed by Brian Epstein, and were recorded by George Martin. Their early successes alongsid ...
, and
Marcel Carné
Marcel Albert Carné (; 18 August 1906 – 31 October 1996) was a French film director. A key figure in the poetic realism movement, Carné's best known films include '' Port of Shadows'' (1938), ''Le Jour Se Lève'' (1939), '' The Devil's Envoys ...
's ''
Three Rooms in Manhattan
''Three Rooms in Manhattan'' (french: Trois chambres à Manhattan) is a black-and-white 1965 French drama film filmed in New York City. It is based on the 1946 novel "Trois Chambres à Manhattan" (which has been translated into English as "Three ...
''. Nolan also appeared in one of the first episodes of the television spy thriller ''
The Saint
The Saint may refer to:
Fiction
* Simon Templar, also known as "The Saint", the protagonist of a book series by Leslie Charteris and subsequent adaptations:
** ''The Saint'' (film series) (1938–43), starring Louis Hayward, George Sanders an ...
'' with
Roger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore (14 October 192723 May 2017) was an English actor. He was the third actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, playing the character in seven feature films between 19 ...
.
Nolan played the role of Dink, Bond's masseuse, in the
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
film '' Goldfinger'' released in 1964. She was also painted gold and wore a gold bikini for
Robert Brownjohn
Robert Brownjohn (August 8, 1925 – August 1, 1970) was an American graphic designer known for blending formal graphic design concepts with wit and 1960s pop culture. He is best known for his motion picture title sequences, especially '' From R ...
's title-sequence, advertisements and soundtrack-cover (not
Shirley Eaton
Shirley Jean Eaton (born 12 January 1937) is an English actress, author and singer. Eaton appeared regularly in British films throughout the 1950s and 1960s, and gained her highest profile for her iconic appearance as Bond Girl Jill Masterson in ...
as in the narrative of the film). This led to photographs in ''
Playboy
''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother.
K ...
'' magazine's ''James Bond's Girls'' edition of November 1965. In the film ''
Carry On at Your Convenience
''Carry On at Your Convenience'' is a 1971 British comedy film, the 22nd release in the Carry On (film series), series of 31 ''Carry On'' films (1958–1992), and was the first box office failure of the series. This failure has been attributed ...
'' (1971), composer Eric Rogers referenced Nolan's ''Goldfinger'' affiliation by using its three-note motif on a close-up of her. Nolan appeared on the front cover of both the US and UK versions of the 2005 book ''Robert Brownjohn: Sex and Typography''. In 2012, Nolan gave her first interview concerning her experiences as the model. Asked if the imagery liberates or celebrates womanhood, Nolan responded that:
It does celebrate the physical form. If I'd been nude it might have been about liberation because up to that point you wouldn't have seen a nude woman in a publicly visible thing like that. I could have been very pretentious and said this is liberating. But because I was dressed-up anyway I didn't get that sense.
It became the first film-title to be shown in installation at
MoMA
Moma may refer to:
People
* Moma Clarke (1869–1958), British journalist
* Moma Marković (1912–1992), Serbian politician
* Momčilo Rajin (born 1954), Serbian art and music critic, theorist and historian, artist and publisher
Places
; Ang ...
, New York (2012).
On appearing in
Michael Pertwee
Michael Henry Pertwee (24 April 1916, Kensington, London – 17 April 1991, Camden, London) was an English playwright and screenwriter. Among his credits were episodes of '' The Saint'', ''Danger Man'', '' Alfred Hitchcock Presents'', '' B-A ...
's farce ''She's Done It Again'' at London's
Garrick Theatre
The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, named after the stage actor David Garrick. It opened in 1889 with ''The Profligate'', a play by Arthur Wing Pinero, and another Pinero play ...
in 1969, Nolan was described as combining "a long list of physical attractions with a talent that has contributed to the success of many films and television plays". She was known for five BBC series with
Spike Milligan
Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British Colonial India, where h ...
and in 2013 published a short essay on her time working with him. Nolan gave a live reading of the work at the
Poetry Society
The Poetry Society is a membership organisation, open to all, whose stated aim is "to promote the study, use and enjoyment of poetry". The society was founded in London in February 1909 as the Poetry Recital Society, becoming the Poetry Society ...
in Covent Garden, reviewed by ''What's On London'' as a "deeply-personal memoir... her performance simply magical." She spoke of her awareness of Milligan's depressive character but also of their friendly working relationship; noting that "Professionally, he taught me that timing is what makes things funny. Timing is crucial." Nolan was cast in several
Carry On films
The ''Carry On'' series of 31 British comedy films were released between 1958 and 1978, produced by Peter Rogers with director Gerald Thomas. The humour of ''Carry On'' was in the British comic tradition of music hall and bawdy seaside postcard ...
including ''
Carry On Girls
''Carry On Girls'' is a 1973 British comedy film, the 25th release in the series of 31 ''Carry On'' films (1958–1992). The film features regulars Sid James, Barbara Windsor, Joan Sims, Kenneth Connor, Bernard Bresslaw and Peter Butterwor ...
'' (1973). The film contains the scene of Nolan (in a silver bikini) and
Barbara Windsor
Dame Barbara Windsor (born Barbara Ann Deeks; 6 August 193710 December 2020) was an English actress, known for her roles in the ''Carry On'' films and for playing Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera, ''EastEnders''. In 2011, Nolan's work as a comedy actress was recognised with her name included on Gordon Young's ''Comedy Carpet'' installation in front of
Blackpool Tower
Blackpool Tower is a tourist attraction in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which was opened to the public on 14 May 1894. When it opened, Blackpool Tower was the List of tallest buildings in the British Empire and the Commonwealth, tallest man m ...
. Also in 2011, Nolan returned to the screen after a gap of nearly three decades. She starred in a role especially written for her by Ann Cameron, in Yvonne Deutschman's ''The Power of Three''.
In 2019,
Edgar Wright
Edgar Howard Wright (born 18 April 1974) is an English filmmaker. He is known for his fast-paced and kinetic, satirical genre films, which feature extensive utilisation of expressive popular music, Steadicam tracking shots, dolly zooms and a ...
cast her in his 2021 film ''
Last Night in Soho
''Last Night in Soho'' is a 2021 British psychological horror film directed by Edgar Wright and co-written by Wright and Krysty Wilson-Cairns. It stars Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, Rita Tushingham, Michael Ajao, Terence St ...
''. It was Nolan's final film appearance.
Art career
In 1991, Nolan moved to
Andalusia
Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...
in Spain to a rural farmhouse in the mountains where she practiced
permaculture
Permaculture is an approach to land management and settlement design that adopts arrangements observed in flourishing natural ecosystems. It includes a set of design principles derived using whole-systems thinking. It applies these principle ...
. It was here that she became a visual artist.
As a visual artist, Nolan produced graphic and sometimes grotesque photo-montages assembled from cut-outs of her early publicity photographs. These pieces concern "a unique and personal dialogue intrinsically related to a view of a woman and how a woman is viewed." She exhibited in London at venues including the Brick Lane Gallery (2009), The Misty Moon Gallery (2013) and Gallery Different (2013), whilst a screen-print is held by Kemistry Gallery. In 2007, Nolan moved back to London.
In 2009, early publicity shots of Nolan inspired screen-prints by Brighton-based graffiti artist Hutch. Nolan's work in photo-montage was also selected for the front cover of ''Playerist'' poetry magazine (No. 2, 2012). In 2013, her artworks featured in the group show ''equals: exploring feminism through art and conversation'' at Blankspace Manchester; the press release quoting that: "Her voice carries alongside universal debate on socio-sexual hierarchies in the age of mass media."
Personal life and death
Nolan was married to English playwright
Tom Kempinski
Thomas Michael John Kempinski (born 24 March 1938) is an English playwright and actor best known for his 1980 play ''Duet for One'', which was a major success in London and New York City, and much revived since. Kempinski also wrote the screenp ...
in 1967 and divorced in 1972. She had two sons.
Nolan died of cancer on 5 October 2020 at her home in
Belsize Park
Belsize Park is an affluent residential area of Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden (the inner north-west of London), England.
The residential streets are lined with mews houses and Georgian and Victorian villas. Some nearby localities ar ...
, London, at age 76, three weeks before her 77th birthday. She had sought to write a memoir with
Paul Stenning
Paul David Stenning (born 12 June 1976) is an English author, ghostwriter and poet. He has written twenty-nine books, of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and biography. The best-known of his books is ''The Robert Pattinson Album'', a biography of R ...
.
Filmography
Nolan's acting career covers works in television and cinema.The filmography section (unless otherwise stated) is supported by the following sources :
*
*
*
*
*
Film
Television
Theatre
References
Bibliography
* Hadoke, T (2020) Margaret Nolan obituary ' Guardian Media Group
* King, E (2005) ''Robert Brownjohn: Sex and Typography 1925–1970'' UK: King . US: Princeton
* Mele, C (2020) ' The New York Times Company
* Ross, R (1996) ''The Carry On Companion'' Batsford
* Ross, R (1999) Carry On' Uncensored'' Boxtree
* Ross, R (2011) Carry On' Actors'' Apex
* Sheridan, R (2007) ''Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema'' Reynolds and Hearn
* Slidel, M (2012) ' Playerist No. 2, Martin Slidel
* Snelgrove, K (2008) ''Official Carry On Facts, Figures and Statistics'' Apex
* Webber, R (2008) ''Fifty Years of Carry On'' Century