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Rita Webb is a Actor British born on 25 february 1904 at Willesden (United-kingdom)
Rita Webb (25 February 1904 – 30 August 1981) was an English character actress, mainly in comedy roles. She was the eldest child of Henry Augustus Webb (1880-1926) and Rose Jeannette Keysor. She had a younger brother, Henry Richard Webb, also an actor, and two elder identical twin half-brothers, Leslie and Gordon Durlacher, from her mother's first marriage to Samuel Durlacher. She was the niece of Leonard Keysor, the first Jewish serviceman to win the Victoria Cross in the First World War. A half-brother was the actor George Webb.
Born Olive Webb in Willesden, Middlesex, England, she is best known for her appearances as a stooge for Benny Hill in his long-running Thames Television series. At under five feet tall, with a booming voice and dyed flame-red hair, she was often cast as a blowsey mother-in-law or Cockney type character. Her vital statistics were 48 inch bust, 46 inch waist, 52 inch hips, 4' 10" inches in height and 15 stone (approx. 210 lbs) in weight.
Following her separation from her husband she lived with Al Jeffery "Jeffie", an accomplished banjo player, whom she adored. She was called "Podge" by Jeffie and was proud that she still had all her own teeth. She signed her letters: "Dame Rita Webb" and had refused to be on the This is Your Life TV show. She and her brother were exceptionally close and they talked every night on the telephone until her death.
In the 1960s she made a number of television appearances with Billy Cotton and alongside Arthur Haynes. Her many television credits include several appearances in Spike Milligan's Q series, Dixon of Dock Green, Till Death Us Do Part, Up Pompeii! with Frankie Howerd and Steptoe and Son. She also appeared in supporting roles in many films including To Sir, with Love (1967), The Magic Christian (1969), Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy (1972), Confessions of a Pop Performer (1975) and Come Play with Me (1977).
In 1968 she appeared, in a cameo role, as a wrestling referee, in the Dave Clark television production Hold On, It's the Dave Clark Five.
Rita Webb died in 1981 and her funeral was held at St Paul's Church, Covent Garden, the Actors' Church, after which she was cremated and her ashes scattered in the Garden of Remembrance. She was survived by Jeffie, her brother, Henry and Henry's three children, whom she had regarded as her own.
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Rita Webb
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Birth name Olive Webb
Nationality United-kingdom
Birth 25 february 1904 at Willesden (United-kingdom)
Death 30 august 1981 (at 77 years) at City of Westminster (United-kingdom)
Nationality United-kingdom
Birth 25 february 1904 at Willesden (United-kingdom)
Death 30 august 1981 (at 77 years) at City of Westminster (United-kingdom)
Rita Webb (25 February 1904 – 30 August 1981) was an English character actress, mainly in comedy roles. She was the eldest child of Henry Augustus Webb (1880-1926) and Rose Jeannette Keysor. She had a younger brother, Henry Richard Webb, also an actor, and two elder identical twin half-brothers, Leslie and Gordon Durlacher, from her mother's first marriage to Samuel Durlacher. She was the niece of Leonard Keysor, the first Jewish serviceman to win the Victoria Cross in the First World War. A half-brother was the actor George Webb.
Born Olive Webb in Willesden, Middlesex, England, she is best known for her appearances as a stooge for Benny Hill in his long-running Thames Television series. At under five feet tall, with a booming voice and dyed flame-red hair, she was often cast as a blowsey mother-in-law or Cockney type character. Her vital statistics were 48 inch bust, 46 inch waist, 52 inch hips, 4' 10" inches in height and 15 stone (approx. 210 lbs) in weight.
Following her separation from her husband she lived with Al Jeffery "Jeffie", an accomplished banjo player, whom she adored. She was called "Podge" by Jeffie and was proud that she still had all her own teeth. She signed her letters: "Dame Rita Webb" and had refused to be on the This is Your Life TV show. She and her brother were exceptionally close and they talked every night on the telephone until her death.
In the 1960s she made a number of television appearances with Billy Cotton and alongside Arthur Haynes. Her many television credits include several appearances in Spike Milligan's Q series, Dixon of Dock Green, Till Death Us Do Part, Up Pompeii! with Frankie Howerd and Steptoe and Son. She also appeared in supporting roles in many films including To Sir, with Love (1967), The Magic Christian (1969), Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy (1972), Confessions of a Pop Performer (1975) and Come Play with Me (1977).
In 1968 she appeared, in a cameo role, as a wrestling referee, in the Dave Clark television production Hold On, It's the Dave Clark Five.
Rita Webb died in 1981 and her funeral was held at St Paul's Church, Covent Garden, the Actors' Church, after which she was cremated and her ashes scattered in the Garden of Remembrance. She was survived by Jeffie, her brother, Henry and Henry's three children, whom she had regarded as her own.
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Filmography of Rita Webb (24 films)
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The Boys (1991)
, 2h3Directed by Sidney J. Furie
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Comedy
Themes Films about capital punishment
Actors James Woods, Richard Todd, John Lithgow, Robert Morley, Joanna Gleason, Dudley Sutton
Roles Mrs. Lee
Rating71%
A night watchman at a garage is found murdered, and four teddy boys are put on trial for the crime. Witnesses and suspects give differing accounts of the lead-up to the crime, and the truth emerges.
Venom (1981)
, 1h33Directed by Tobe Hooper, Piers Haggard
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Thriller, Horror
Themes Films about animals, Films about children, Films about snakes
Actors Klaus Kinski, Oliver Reed, Nicol Williamson, Sarah Miles, Sterling Hayden, Susan George
Roles Mrs. Loewenthal
Rating57%
An international criminal enlists Ruth Hopkins' maid and chauffeur in a scheme to kidnap her asthmatic ten-year-old son Philip for ransom. As the plot begins to unfold, Philip has just brought home a snake from a local importer, unaware that his new pet has been accidentally switched with a deadly black mamba destined for a toxicology lab. The lab reports the mix-up, and a police officer is dispatched to the Hopkins residence, only to be shot by the panicking chauffeur. The London townhouse is surrounded by police, trapping the criminals, the child, and his grandfather inside with the mamba, which is now loose in the ventilation system.
The London Connection (1979)
, 1h40Directed by Robert Clouse
Origin USA
Genres Adventure
Themes Children's films
Actors Jeffrey Byron, Larry Cedar, Roy Kinnear, Lee Montague, Mona Washbourne, David Kossoff
Roles Cockney Woman
Rating57%
The description on the back of the Disney home video release reads: "An exciting adventure begins for a young American government agent after he witnesses the kidnapping of a noted European scientist in London. The only item left behind in this startling incident is a gold ring, inscribed with an address that leads the youth into a massive conspiracy of international proportions. A baffling series of clues and a high-speed boat chase in the Port of London add up to a superlative Disney mystery thriller!"
, 1h25Directed by Paul Morrissey
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Thriller, Comedy, Horror, Crime
Themes Sherlock Holmes films, Buddy films
Actors Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Penelope Keith, Denholm Elliott, Joan Greenwood, Hugh Griffith
Rating45%
The film begins in a theater, where a pianist (Moore) begins to play a piano accompaniment to the actual film being shown in the theater.
Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978)
, 1h39Directed by Blake Edwards
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Thriller, Comedy, Comedy thriller, Action, Crime
Actors Peter Sellers, Herbert Lom, Andrew Sachs, Dyan Cannon, Robert Webber, Graham Stark
Roles Woman at Window
Rating65%
Philippe Douvier (Robert Webber), a major businessman and secretly the head of the French Connection, is suspected by his New York Mafia drug trading partners of weak leadership and improperly conducting his criminal affairs. To demonstrate otherwise, Douvier's aide Guy Algo (Tony Beckley) suggests a show of force with the murder of Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau (Peter Sellers). Unfortunately for Douvier, his first attempt at bombing him fails; and the subsequent attempt by Chinese martial artist 'Mr. Chong' (an uncredited appearance by the founder of American Kenpo, Ed Parker) is thwarted when Clouseau successfully fights him off, believing him to be his (Clouseau's) valet Cato (Burt Kwouk) who has orders to keep his employer alert with random attacks. That night, Douvier poses as an informant to lure Clouseau into a trap, but the Chief Inspector's car and clothes are stolen by transvestite criminal Claude Russo (Sue Lloyd), who is killed by Douvier's men. Subsequently Douvier and the French public believe Clouseau is dead and, as a result of this assumption, Clouseau's former boss, ex-Commissioner Charles Dreyfus (Herbert Lom), is restored to sanity and is released from the lunatic asylum to perform the investigation.
Come Play with Me (1977)
, 1h34Origin United-kingdom
Genres Comedy, Musical theatre, Musical, Pornographic
Themes Films about sexuality, Erotic films, Musical films
Actors Alfie Bass, Irene Handl, Ronald Fraser, Tommy Godfrey, Sue Longhurst, Cardew Robinson
Roles Rita
Rating38%
Cornelius Clapworthy (Harrison Marks) and his sidekick Maurice Kelly (Alfie Bass) are two elderly forgers responsible for flooding the UK with fake banknotes. On the run from their gangster boss Slasher (Ronald Fraser) and effeminate, cross dressing government official Podsnap (Ken Parry) the pair escape to the Scottish Highlands and posing as musicians hide out at Bovington Manor, a B&B run by Lady Bovington (Irene Handl).
, 1h31Directed by Norman Cohen
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Comedy
Themes Films about music and musicians, Films about sexuality, Erotic films, Musical films
Actors Robin Askwith, Anthony Booth, Doris Hare, Sheila White, Bill Maynard, Peter Cleall
Rating43%
Frenzy (1972)
, 1h56Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Thriller, Comedy, Horror, Crime
Themes Medical-themed films, Serial killer films, Films about psychiatry
Actors Jon Finch, Alec McCowen, Barry Foster, Billie Whitelaw, Anna Massey, Barbara Leigh-Hunt
Roles Mrs. Rusk
Rating73%
In London, a serial killer is raping women and strangling them with neckties. Most of the film takes place in Covent Garden, which at the time was still the wholesale fruit and vegetable market district. Fairly early in the film, the audience sees that fruit merchant Robert Rusk (Barry Foster) is in fact the murderer. However, circumstantial evidence has already built up around his friend Richard Blaney (Jon Finch).
Up the Chastity Belt (1972)
, 1h34Origin United-kingdom
Genres Comedy
Actors Frankie Howerd, Graham Crowden, Bill Fraser, Norman Beaton, David Prowse, Roy Hudd
Roles Maid Marian
Rating51%
Howerd played dual roles as King Richard the Lionheart and cowardly peasant Lurkalot (his character in Up Pompeii was the slave Lurcio). The plot served as an excuse to serve up the usual collection of puns and double entendres that characterised most British film comedy in the 1970s, but did feature Eartha Kitt singing "A Knight for My Nights" and Hugh Paddick (of Julian and Sandy fame in the Round the Horne BBC radio series) as a notable Robin Hood, leader of a band of men who were camp homosexual rather than merry.
Percy (1971)
Directed by Ralph Thomas
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Comedy
Themes Films about sexuality, Erotic films
Actors Hywel Bennett, Denholm Elliott, Elke Sommer, Britt Ekland, Cyd Hayman, Janet Key
Roles Mrs. Hedges
Rating45%
Up Pompeii (1971)
, 1h30Origin United-kingdom
Genres Comedy
Themes Films set in Africa
Actors Frankie Howerd, Michael Hordern, Barbara Murray, Patrick Cargill, Lance Percival, Julie Ege
Roles Cassandra
Rating60%
Lurcio (Frankie Howerd) becomes the inadvertent possessor of a scroll bearing all the names of the proposed assassins of Nero (Patrick Cargill). The conspirators need to recover the scroll fast, but it has fallen into the hands of Lurcio's master, Ludicrus Sextus (Michael Hordern) who mistakenly reads the contents of the scroll to the Senate. Farcical attempts are made to retrieve the scroll before Pompeii is eventually consumed by the erupting Vesuvius.
The Magic Christian (1969)
, 1h32Directed by Joseph McGrath
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Comedy
Actors Peter Sellers, Ringo Starr, John Cleese, Raquel Welch, Christopher Lee, Caroline Blakiston
Roles Woman in Park (uncredited)
Rating58%
Sir Guy Grand (Peter Sellers), an eccentric billionaire, together with his newly adopted heir (formerly a homeless derelict), Youngman Grand (Ringo Starr), start playing elaborate practical jokes on people. A big spender, Grand does not mind handing out large sums of money to various people, bribing them to fulfill his whims, or shocking them by bringing down what they hold dear. Their misadventures are designed as a display of father Grand to his adoptive charge that "everyone has their price"—it just depends on the amount one is prepared to pay. They start from rather minor spoofs, like bribing a Shakespearean actor (Laurence Harvey) to strip during a stage performance of Hamlet, and convincing a traffic warden (Spike Milligan) to take back a parking ticket and eat it (delighted by the size of the bribe, he eats its plastic cover too) and proceed with increasingly elaborate stunts involving higher social strata and wider audiences. As their conversation reveals, Grand sees his plots as 'educational' ("Well, you know, Youngman, sometimes it's not enough merely to teach. One has to punish as well").
The Nine Ages of Nakedness (1969)
, 1h35Origin United-kingdom
Genres Comedy
Themes Films about sexuality, Erotic films
Actors Charles Gray, Rita Webb, Sue Bond, Cardew Robinson, Julian Orchard, Oliver MacGreevy
Rating46%
‘World famous photographer of nudes’ Harrison Marks visits an Indian Pornstar in Harley Street. While most male viewers imagine that Marks seems to have a dream job, his life taking pictures of naked ladies isn’t without its downside, as depicted in the slapstick opening credits in which clumsy models knock over Marks' cameras, he gets a pie in the face for trying to touch up one of his subjects, and accidentally snapping a girl in a park causes him to be chased by her boyfriend Burt (Howard Nelson). Worried that his ancestors bad luck is rubbing off on him, Marks tells the psychiatrist stories about how his ancestors have also suffered misfortune through the ages-mainly because of their involvement with nude women and ‘the arts’.
Zeta One (1969)
, 1h22Directed by George Maynard
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Science fiction, Comedy, Fantasy
Actors James Robertson Justice, Charles Hawtrey, Anna Gaël, Dawn Addams, Valerie Leon, Brigitte Skay
Roles Clippie
Rating39%
Une race de femmes de la planète Angvia, dans une autre dimension, viennent sur terre pour kidnapper des femmes afin de repeupler leur planète.
, 1h35Directed by Saul Swimmer
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Comedy, Musical theatre, Musical
Themes Musical films
Actors Peter Noone, Stanley Holloway, Mona Washbourne, Pamela Cundell, Marjorie Rhodes, Lance Percival
Roles woman in pub (uncredited)
Rating47%
Herman inherits a prize greyhound called Mrs. Brown and aims to race the dog and win the derby. Herman and his group, The Hermits play gigs to raise money for the race entry fees. The Hermits travel from Manchester to London for more concerts, and at the London dog race, Herman falls for Judy, who is also Mrs. Brown's daughter.