Beryl Elizabeth Reid, (17 June 1919 – 13 October 1996), was a British actress of stage and screen. She won the 1967

Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre. The award is given to actresses for quality lead ...

for ''

The Killing of Sister George ''The Killing of Sister George'' is a 1964 play by Frank Marcus that was later adapted into a 1968 film directed by Robert Aldrich. Stage version Sister George is a beloved character in the popular radio series ''Applehurst'', a district nurse ...

'', the 1980 Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for '' Born in the Gardens'', and the 1982 BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for ''

Smiley's People ''Smiley's People'' is a spy novel by British writer John le Carré, published in 1979. Featuring British master-spy George Smiley, it is the third and final novel of the " Karla Trilogy", following ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' and '' The Hon ...

''. Her film appearances included ''

The Belles of St. Trinian's ''The Belles of St Trinian's'' is a 1954 British comedy film, directed by Frank Launder, co-written by Launder and Sidney Gilliat, and starring Alastair Sim, Joyce Grenfell, George Cole, Hermione Baddeley. Inspired by British cartoonist R ...

'' (1954), ''

'' (1968), ''

The Assassination Bureau ''The Assassination Bureau Limited'' (also known as ''The Assassination Bureau'' in the United States) is a 1969 British Technicolor black comedy adventure film, produced by Michael Relph, directed by Basil Dearden, and starring Oliver Reed, Di ...

'' (1969), and '' No Sex Please, We're British'' (1973).

Early life

Born in

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester, England, Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. ...

in 1919,Jonathan Cecil, "Reid, Beryl Elizabeth (1919–1996)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Sept 200
available online
Retrieved 30 August 2020. Reid was the daughter of Scottish parents and grew up in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

, where she attended

Withington Withington is a suburb of Manchester, England. Historically part of Lancashire, it lies from Manchester city centre, about south of Fallowfield, north-east of Didsbury and east of Chorlton-cum-Hardy. Withington has a population of just ...

and Levenshulme High Schools. As a child, she established a lifelong friendship with Nancy Wrigley, the daughter of the prominent classical soprano, Dame

Isobel Baillie Isobel Baillie, (9 March 189524 September 1983), ''née'' Isabella Douglas Baillie, was a Scottish soprano. She made a local success in Manchester, where she was brought up, and in 1923 made a successful London debut. Her career, encouraged by ...

. Years later, Reid fondly recalled how Baillie would "tell us the most wonderful things...you can imagine nine-year old girls goggle-eyed at six princes serenading her in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

Career

Leaving school at 16, she made her debut in 1936 as a music hall performer at the Floral Hall,

Bridlington Bridlington is a coastal town and a civil parish on the Holderness Coast of the North Sea in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is about north of Hull and east of York. The Gypsey Race enters the North Sea at its harbour. The 2011 ...

. Before and during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, she took part in variety shows and pantomimes. She had no formal training but later worked at the National Theatre and the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

. Her first big success came in the BBC radio show ''

Educating Archie ''Educating Archie'' was a BBC Light Programme comedy show which was broadcast for nearly ten years between June 1950 and February 1960, mostly at lunchtime on Sundays. The programme featured ventriloquist Peter Brough and his doll Archie Andr ...

'' as naughty schoolgirl Monica and later as the Brummie, "Marlene." Her many film and television roles as a character actor were usually well received. She reprised her

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual c ...

-winning performance of a

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio drama ...

star in ''

'' for the 1968 screen version and was nominated for the

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Drama. The tour of the play was not a success; people in shops refused to serve her and other performers due to the gay characters in the play. She was the subject of ''

This Is Your Life This Is Your Life may refer to: Television * ''This Is Your Life'' (American franchise), an American radio and television documentary biography series hosted by Ralph Edwards * ''This Is Your Life'' (Australian TV series), the Australian versio ...

'' in 1976 when she was surprised by

Eamonn Andrews Eamonn Andrews, (19 December 1922 – 5 November 1987) was an Irish radio and television presenter, employed primarily in the United Kingdom from the 1950s to the 1980s. From 1960 to 1964 he chaired the Radio Éireann Authority (now the RTÉ A ...

in the car park of Thames Television's Teddington Studios. In both ''

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' is a 1974 spy novel by British author John le Carré. It follows the endeavours of taciturn, aging spymaster George Smiley to uncover a Soviet mole in the British Secret Intelligence Service. The novel has receive ...

'' (1979) and ''

'', (1982) Reid played

Connie Sachs Connie Sachs is a fictional character created by John le Carré. Sachs plays a key supporting role in the Karla Trilogy, ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'', ''The Honourable Schoolboy'', and ''Smiley's People''. Biography Sachs is an eccentric alcoho ...

. For ''Smiley's People'' she won a BAFTA for Best Actress on Television. Between 1981 and 1983, Reid co-presented the Children's TV programme ''Get up and Go'' for

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

, her co-presenter "Mooncat" being a green, talking, puppet cat. Stephen Boxer was her human co-star. After she left the show, it became titled simply ''Mooncat and Co''. Reid wrote an autobiography in 1984, ''So Much Love''. So Much Love, 1984, Hutchinson & Co Hardback, ISBN 0-09-155730-5 She played the part of an elderly feminist and political subversive in the 1987 television drama, ''

The Beiderbecke Tapes ''The Beiderbecke Tapes'' is a two-part British television drama serial written by Alan Plater and broadcast in 1987. It is the second serial in '' The Beiderbecke Trilogy'' and stars James Bolam and Barbara Flynn as schoolteachers Trevor Cha ...

''. She appeared in many situation comedies and variety programmes on TV including BBC TV's long running

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Br ...

show, '' The Good Old Days''.

Personal life and death

She married twice, but had no children. An authorised biography, ''Roll Out the Beryl'', was published by Fantom Films on 22 August 2016. Written by Kaye Crawford, it was the first biography to be written of the actress and coincided with the twentieth anniversary of her death. Reid died at the age of 77 from severe

osteoarthritis Osteoarthritis (OA) is a type of degenerative joint disease that results from breakdown of joint cartilage and underlying bone which affects 1 in 7 adults in the United States. It is believed to be the fourth leading cause of disability in the ...

and

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

(according to some obituaries, she had developed

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severit ...

) at a hospital in Wexham,

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-e ...

on 13 October 1996, after complications following knee replacement surgery for

arthritis Arthritis is a term often used to mean any disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, swelling, and decreased range of motion of the affected joints. In som ...

Filmography

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Reid, Beryl 1919 births 1996 deaths Actresses from Manchester Best Actress BAFTA Award (television) winners Deaths from pneumonia in England English film actresses English people of Scottish descent English stage actresses English television actresses Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Buckinghamshire People from Hereford 20th-century English actresses Laurence Olivier Award winners Tony Award winners 20th-century British businesspeople