Rose Lilian Hill (5 June 1914 – 22 December 2003) was an English

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

and

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libre ...

tic soprano, who remains best known for her role as Madame Fanny La Fan in the British television series '' 'Allo 'Allo!''. She was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Biography

Hill was born in London and won a scholarship to the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jaz ...

. She started her career as a soprano in 1939, singing at the Sadler's Wells Opera (later

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in Englis ...

) in London; soubrette and lyric soprano roles such as Despina in

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

's opera '' Così fan tutte''. For the Glyndebourne Festival she sang Barbarina in Mozart's ''

The Marriage of Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' ( opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It pre ...

''. In 1948 she sang Lucy in the world premiere of

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

's adaptation of ''

The Beggar's Opera ''The Beggar's Opera'' is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of sa ...

''. Hill's career in television and film started with the 1958 film '' The Bank Raiders'' and ended in 1994 with a guest appearance in ''

A Touch of Frost A, or a, is the first Letter (alphabet), letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name ...

''. Hill played various roles, including Miss La Creevy, in the Royal Shakespeare Company's play '' The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby'' (November 1980) at the Aldwych Theatre, an epic eight-hour stage adaptation of

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

' novel '' Nicholas Nickleby'' with Roger Rees, Emily Richard, Timothy Spall, John Woodvine,

Edward Petherbridge Edward Petherbridge (born 3 August 1936) is an English actor, writer and artist. Among his many roles, he portrayed Lord Peter Wimsey in the 1987 BBC television adaptations of Dorothy L. Sayers' novels, and Guildenstern in Tom Stoppard's '' ...

Ben Kingsley Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji; 31 December 1943) is an English actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning five decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and tw ...

, Fulton Mackay, David Threlfall, Bob Peck and Christopher Benjamin. In June 1981 Hill reprised her roles in ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby'' for the Royal Shakespeare Company with Alun Armstrong and Ian McNeice added to the cast, Ben Kingsley and Timothy Spall having left the production. This version was filmed by Channel 4 in 1982 and broadcast as four two-hour episodes on consecutive nights in November 1982. In 1989 she played a witness to a kidnap in The Bill (Thames). Her longest-running role as an actress was as Madame Fanny La Fan in the British sitcom '' 'Allo 'Allo!'', in which she featured from 1982 to 1992. She also played Stanley Holloway's wife in the 1968 comedy series ''Thingumybob'', and appeared briefly in the '' Dad's Army'' episode " Uninvited Guests", where she played an elderly ARP warden by the name of Mrs Cole. Her film credits included roles in '' A Shot in the Dark'' (1964), ''

Every Home Should Have One ''Every Home Should Have One'' is a 1970 British comedy film directed by Jim Clark and starring Marty Feldman. It was released in the United States in theatres and on home video under the title ''Think Dirty''. The overall concept is in direct ...

'' (1970), ''

Tiffany Jones ''Tiffany Jones'' was a British comic strip that ran in syndication between 1964 and 1977 and was published in ''Daily Sketch''. The series centred on a young woman who travelled to London to become a fashion model. It is notable for being cre ...

'' (1973), and '' House of Whipcord'' (1974). Flanders and Swann wrote a song for Rose Hill called "A Word on My Ear".Donald Swann, Revues (1948–1956)
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Death

She spent her final years in Denville Hall, a retirement home for actors, until her death in 2003; her Allo 'Allo!'' castmate Carmen Silvera also resided there.

Filmography

References

Obituary: ''The Independent''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Rose 1914 births 2003 deaths English television actresses English film actresses English operatic sopranos Actresses from London Singers from London Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama 20th-century English actresses English stage actresses 20th-century British women opera singers British comedy actresses