Rita Tushingham (born 14 March 1942) is a British actress. She is known for her starring roles in films including A Taste of Honey (1961), The Leather Boys (1964), The Knack ...and How to Get It (1965), Doctor Zhivago (1965), and Smashing Time (1967). For A Taste of Honey, she won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress, and Most Promising Newcomer at both the BAFTA Awards and Golden Globe Awards. Her other film appearances include An Awfully Big Adventure (1995), Under the Skin (1997), Being Julia (2004), and Last Night in Soho (2021).
Tushingham was born on 14 March 1942 in the Garston area of Liverpool, where her father was a grocer who ran three shops. [1] She grew up in the Hunt's Cross district of the city. She attended the Heatherlea School in Allerton and the La Sagesse School in Grassendale (which later became part of St Julie's Catholic High School) and studied shorthand and typing at a secretarial school. She wanted to be an actress from an early age and trained at the Shelagh Elliott-Clarke School before working as an assistant stage manager at the Liverpool Playhouse. [2]
Tushingham's screen debut was in A Taste of Honey (1961). In 2020, she said of the film: "We shocked audiences without intending to. I only learned later that Paul and I did the first interracial kiss on screen. ... A lot of the reaction was, 'People like that don’t exist' – by which they meant homosexuals, single mothers and people in mixed-race relationships. But they did." A Taste of Honey was banned in several countries. [3]
Other performances by Tushingham have included Girl with Green Eyes (1964), The Leather Boys (1964), The Knack ...and How to Get It (1965), Doctor Zhivago (1965), The Trap (1966), Smashing Time (1967), The Bed Sitting Room (1969), and The 'Human' Factor starring George Kennedy and John Mills (1975). She also co-starred as Margaret Sheen in the TV film Green Eyes (1977).
In the 1960s, Tushingham performed several plays for the English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre: The Changeling (1961), The Kitchen (1961), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1962), Twelfth Night (production without décor, 1962) and The Knack (1962).
Tushingham has won a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award, and was a member of the jury at the 22nd Berlin International Film Festival in 1972 [4] and at the 40th Berlin International Film Festival in 1990. [5]
Her later roles include the film Being Julia (2004), starring Annette Bening, and on television in "The Sittaford Mystery" (2006), an episode of Marple . She appeared in Season 2 of the BBC Three zombie drama In The Flesh as Mrs Lamb, broadcast in May 2014. In 2020 she appeared in the BBC One adaptation of The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie.
Clips from Tushingham's performance in The Leather Boys appeared in The Smiths' music video for the single "Girlfriend in a Coma", in 1987. [6] She is also mentioned in the Franz Ferdinand song "L. Wells", the Cleaners From Venus song "Ilya Kuryakin Looked at Me" and the Television Personalities song "Favourite Films". In 1999, she was featured on This Is Your Life . [7]
Tushingham married photographer Terry Bicknell in 1962. They had two daughters, Dodonna and Aisha, before divorcing in 1976. [3] In 1981, she married Iraqi cinematographer Ousama Rawi, spending eight years in Canada with him before they separated. They were not legally divorced until 1996. She later divided her time between Germany and London with German writer Hans-Heinrich Ziemann, her partner since 1994. As of 2020 [update] she lives alone in London, near her daughter Aisha and her grandchildren. [3]
In April 2005, at the age of 33, Tushingham's daughter Aisha was diagnosed with breast cancer. She recovered and later gave birth to a son. Tushingham subsequently became an activist for breast cancer health and support. [8] She is a prominent supporter of Cancer Research UK's Relay For Life and has given a number of interviews to raise breast cancer awareness. [9]
In July 2009, Tushingham received an Honorary Fellowship from Liverpool John Moores University for "outstanding and sustained contributions to the performing arts". [10] In a 2020 interview, she described herself as a "lifelong football fan" and a Liverpool F.C. supporter. [3]
In June 2022, Tushingham was the guest for BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs . Her choices included "You'll Never Walk Alone" by Gerry and the Pacemakers, "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" by Ella Fitzgerald and "Bridge over Troubled Water" by Simon & Garfunkel. Her book choice was Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable and her requested luxury item was a photograph of her family inside a book of Matt cartoons wrapped in a mosquito net. [11]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1961 | A Taste of Honey | Josephine "Jo" | |
1963 | A Place to Go | Catherine Donovan | |
1964 | The Leather Boys | Dot | |
1964 | Girl with Green Eyes | Kate Brady | |
1965 | The Knack ...and How to Get It | Nancy Jones | |
1965 | Doctor Zhivago | Tanya Komarova | |
1966 | The Trap | Eve | |
1967 | Smashing Time | Brenda | |
1968 | Diamonds for Breakfast | Bridget Rafferty | |
1969 | The Guru | Jenny | |
1969 | The Bed Sitting Room | Penelope | |
1972 | Straight on Till Morning | Brenda Thompson | |
1974 | Fischia il sesso | Carol Houston | |
1974 | Situation | Rita | |
1975 | Rachel's Man | Leah | |
1975 | The "Human" Factor | Janice | |
1977 | Bread, Butter and Marmalade | Vera De Virdis | |
1977 | Black Journal | Maria | |
1978 | Mysteries | Martha Gude | |
1982 | Spaghetti House | Kathy Ceccacci | |
1986 | A Judgment in Stone | Eunice Parchman | |
1986 | Flying | Jean Stoller | |
1989 | Resurrected | Mrs. Deakin | |
1989 | Hard Days, Hard Nights | Rita | |
1992 | Paper Marriage | Lou | |
1992 | Rapture of Deceit | Dora | |
1994 | Gospel According to Harry | Myrna | |
1995 | An Awfully Big Adventure | Aunt Lily | |
1996 | The Boy from Mercury | May Cronin | |
1997 | Under the Skin | Mum | |
1999 | Swing | Mags Luxford | |
2000 | Out of Depth | Margaret Nixon | |
2004 | Being Julia | Aunt Carrie | |
2007 | Puffball | Molly | |
2007 | The Hideout | Paula Hardyn | |
2008 | Broken Lines | Rae | |
2008 | Telstar: The Joe Meek Story | Essex Medium | |
2009 | The Calling | Sister Gertrude | |
2011 | Seamonsters | Rose | |
2012 | Outside Bet | Martha | |
2013 | The Wee Man | Rita Thompson | |
2017 | My Name Is Lenny | Reenie Joyce | |
2020 | The Owners | Ellen Huggins | |
2021 | Last Night in Soho | Peggy Turner | |
2022 | Boudica | Green Druid | |
2024 | The American Garden |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1964 | The Human Jungle | Joy South | Episode: "The Man Who Fell Apart" |
1973 | Armchair Theatre | Grace | Episode: "Red Riding Hood" |
1974 | No Strings | Leonora | 6 episodes |
1977 | Green Eyes | Margaret Sheen | TV film |
1980 | Ladykillers | Charlotte Bryant | Episode: "Don't Let Them Kill Me on Wednesday" |
1982 | The Confessions of Felix Krull | Mrs. Twentyman | All 5 episodes |
1984 | Seeing Things | Dr. Jessica Edwards | Episode: "Seeing R.E.D." |
1985 | ABC Weekend Special | Mrs. Prysselius | Episode: "Pippi Longstocking" |
1989 | The Legendary Life of Ernest Hemingway | Alice B. Toklas | TV film |
1988 | Bread | Celia Higgins | 11 episodes |
1998 | Spending Nights with Joan | Bette Davis | TV film |
2002 | Helen West | Margaret Mellors | Episode: "Shadow Play" |
2002 | The Stretford Wives | Marilyn Massey | TV film |
2003 | Life Beyond the Box: Margo | Celia Fishwick | TV film |
2005 | New Tricks | Elise | Episode: "Creative Problem Solving" |
2006 | Agatha Christie's Marple | Miss Elizabeth Percehouse | Episode: "The Sittaford Mystery" |
2006 | Angel Cake | Millie | TV film |
2011 | Bedlam | Grace | Episode: "Inmates" |
2014 | In the Flesh | Mrs. Lamb | 3 episodes |
2016 | Neil Gaiman's Likely Stories | Effie Corvier | Episode: "Feeders and Eaters" [12] |
2018 | Vera | Audrey Latham | Episode: "Home" [13] |
2018 | Still Open All Hours | Annie | Episode: "Christmas Special" |
2019 | The Pale Horse | Bella Webb | All 3 episodes |
2021 | Ridley Road | Nettie Jones | All 4 episodes |
2022 | The Responder | June Carson | 2 episodes |
2024 | The Marlow Murder Club | Mrs. Eddingham | 2 episodes |
Tushingham was made Honorary Associate of London Film School.
Doctor Zhivago is a 1965 epic historical romance film directed by David Lean with a screenplay by Robert Bolt, based on the 1957 novel by Boris Pasternak. The story is set in Russia during World War I and the Russian Civil War. The film stars Omar Sharif in the title role as Yuri Zhivago, a married physician and poet whose life is altered by the Russian Revolution and subsequent civil war, and Julie Christie as his love interest Lara Antipova. Geraldine Chaplin, Tom Courtenay, Rod Steiger, Alec Guinness, Ralph Richardson, Siobhán McKenna, and Rita Tushingham play supporting roles.
Julie Frances Christie is a British actress. Christie's accolades include an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She has appeared in six films ranked in the British Film Institute's BFI Top 100 British films of the 20th century, and in 1997, she received the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement.
Dame Julia Mary Walters, known professionally as Julie Walters, is an English actress. She is the recipient of four British Academy Television Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, two International Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and an Olivier Award.
Hunt's Cross is a suburb of Liverpool, England. It is located on the southern edge of the city, bordered by the suburbs of Woolton, Allerton, Speke and the town of Halewood in the neighbouring Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley.
Billie Honor Whitelaw was an English actress. She worked in close collaboration with Irish playwright Samuel Beckett for 25 years and was regarded as one of the foremost interpreters of his works. She was also known for her portrayal of Mrs. Baylock, the demonic nanny in the 1976 horror film The Omen.
Sylvia May Laura Syms was an English stage and screen actress. Her best-known film roles include My Teenage Daughter (1956), Woman in a Dressing Gown (1957), for which she was nominated for a BAFTA Award, Ice Cold in Alex (1958), No Trees in the Street (1959), Victim (1961), and The Tamarind Seed (1974).
Dora May Broadbent,, known as Dora Bryan, was a British actress of stage, film and television.
John Mervyn Addison was a British composer best known for his film scores.
Raymond Michael Brooks is an English television and film actor.
The Knack …and How to Get It is a 1965 British comedy film directed by Richard Lester and starring Rita Tushingham, Ray Brooks, Michael Crawford, and Donal Donnelly. The screenplay by Charles Wood is based on the 1962 play The Knack: A Comedy in Three Acts by Ann Jellicoe. The film is considered emblematic of the Swinging London cultural phenomenon. It was the first movie appearance of Jane Birkin and Charlotte Rampling.
Walter Lassally was a German-born British cinematographer. He won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography in 1965 for the film Zorba the Greek.
Smashing Time is a 1967 British satirical comedy film directed by Desmond Davis starring Rita Tushingham and Lynn Redgrave. It is a satire on the 1960s media-influenced phenomenon of Swinging London. It was written by George Melly.
A Taste of Honey is a 1961 British New Wave drama film directed by Tony Richardson and starring Rita Tushingham, Dora Bryan, Robert Stephens and Murray Melvin. It is an adaptation of the 1958 play of the same name by Shelagh Delaney. Delaney wrote the screenplay with Richardson, who had directed the original Broadway production of the play in 1960. As with the play, the film is an exemplar of a social realist genre of British media known as kitchen sink realism.
Desmond Stanley Tracey Davis was a British film and television director, best known for his 1981 version of Clash of the Titans.
Straight On till Morning is a 1972 British thriller film directed by Peter Collinson and starring Rita Tushingham, Shane Briant, James Bolam, Katya Wyeth and John Clive. It was made by Hammer Film Productions. The screenplay concerns a reserved young woman who finds herself attracted to a handsome stranger, unaware of his psychotic tendencies.
The 15th British Academy Film Awards, given by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 1962, honoured the best films of 1961.
Antony Gibbs was an English film and television editor with more than 40 feature film credits. He was a member of the American Cinema Editors (ACE).
Shelagh Delaney FRSL was an English dramatist and screenwriter. Her debut work, A Taste of Honey (1958), has been described by Michael Patterson as "probably the most performed play by a post-war British woman playwright".
Woodfall Film Productions was a British film production company established in the late 1950s. It was established by Tony Richardson, John Osborne and Harry Saltzman to make a screen adaptation of Osborne's hit play Look Back in Anger. The film version, directed by Richardson and produced by Saltzman, was released in 1959.
Paul Danquah, born Joseph Paul Walcott, was a British film actor, known particularly for his role in the film A Taste of Honey (1961), adapted from the 1958 play of the same name written by Shelagh Delaney. He later became a barrister and a bank consultant. His father was the Ghanaian statesman J. B. Danquah.
And we are delighted to honour her today for her outstanding and sustained contributions to the performing arts.