Rula Lenska (born Rosa Marie Lubienska, 30 September 1947) is an English actress of Polish descent. She mainly appeared in United Kingdom productions, but also appeared in a United States television advert that presented her as a celebrity, even though she was not widely known there at the time. She is a former wife of British actor Dennis Waterman.

Biography

She has been married twice, first to actor Brian Deacon (4 June 1977 – 1987), with whom she had one daughter, Lara Parker (née Lara Deacon), and secondly, to actor Dennis Waterman, from 3 January 1987 until 31 March 1998. Both marriages ended in divorce. She and Waterman met on the set of Minder in 1982. Her marriage to Waterman ended because of his violent behaviour towards her and in March 2012 he caused controversy with some comments on that aspect of their relationship: "‘It’s not difficult for a woman to make a man hit her. She certainly wasn’t a beaten wife, she was hit and that’s different." Rula Lenska said that she was relieved that he had now admitted beating her.

Waterman's daughter, Hannah Waterman, was starring in EastEnders at the same time Lenska made her guest appearances, although they did not share any scenes together. In 2009 she sought compensation from the Polish government for the Communist state's seizure of her family's Polish estate.