 |
Thelma Ruby | |
|---|---|
| Born | Thelma Wigoder 25 March 1925 |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1944–present |
| Known for | performing in Fiddler on the Roof at London's West End theatre |
| Spouse | Peter Frye 1970-1991 (his death) |
Thelma Ruby, also known as Thelma Ruby-Frye (born 23 March 1925), is a British actress. Born Thelma Wigoder, she grew up in an Orthodox Jewish family in Leeds. Her mother, Ruby, was an actress; [1] her father, Louis, from Lithuania, was a dentist.
Ruby was born at Chapel Allerton in Leeds. [2] She was educated at Leeds Girls' High School [2] [3] and, after evacuation with her mother to the United States during the Second World War, at Finch College in New York City. [1]
Returning to Britain in 1944, Ruby joined the Entertainments National Service Association and performed to British troops. [1]
In 1958 she acted in Bernard Kops' play, The Hamlet of Stepney Green, at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith in London, with Harold Lang, John Fraser, John Barrard and George Selway also in the cast. [4] She also had a role in the British film Live Now, Pay Later in 1962. [5] Her West End theatre roles included performing as Golde in Fiddler on the Roof alongside Topol in 1984. [6] [7]
In 1996 she appeared in ITV's Coronation Street as Lily Dempsey, a friend of Phyllis Pearce. [2]
From 1980, she and her husband, Peter Frye, adapted and performed in the play Momma Golda about the life of Golda Meir, Israel's first and only woman Prime Minister. [1] [6] In 2018, at the age of 93, she performed extracts from Momma Golda in a one-woman show at the King's Head Theatre in London. [6]
In 2017 she played Alice in the ITV sitcom Bad Move . [8] In 2024, she appeared in Back to Black. [9]
Ruby, who lives in Wimbledon, London [10] and is a member of Wimbledon Synagogue, [7] was married to Canadian-born actor Peter Frye from 1970 until his death in 1991. [1] She has a step-daughter from Peter Frye's first marriage. [7]
In 2024, Ruby publicly criticised the expansion of the Wimbledon tennis championships which she lives nearby. [11] She said she would chain herself to tree in protest. [12]
Jane Seymour is a British actress. After making her screen debut as an uncredited extra in the 1969 musical comedy Oh! What a Lovely War, Seymour moved to roles in film and television, including a leading role in the television series The Onedin Line (1972–1973) and the role of psychic Bond girl Solitaire in the James Bond film Live and Let Die (1973).
Dame Maureen Diane Lipman is an English actress, columnist and comedian. She trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and her stage work has included appearances with the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. She was made a dame in the 2020 Queen's Birthday Honours for services to charity, entertainment and the arts.
Golda Meir was an Israeli politician who served as the fourth prime minister of Israel from 1969 to 1974. She was Israel's first and only female head of government and the first in the Middle East.
Bonita Melody Lysette Langford is an English actress, dancer and singer. She came to prominence as a child star in the 1970s, when she had a notable role in the TV series Just William.
Susan Hampshire, Lady Kulukundis, is an English actress. She is a three-time Emmy Award winner, winning for the television dramas, The Forsyte Saga in 1970, The First Churchills in 1971, and for Vanity Fair in 1973. Her film credits include During One Night (1961), The Long Shadow (1961), The Three Lives of Thomasina (1963), Night Must Fall (1964), Wonderful Life (1964), The Fighting Prince of Donegal (1966), The Trygon Factor (1966), The Violent Enemy (1967), Malpertuis (1971), Living Free (1972), Neither the Sea Nor the Sand (1972) and Bang! (1977).
Alexandra Elizabeth Kingston is an English actress. Active from the early 1980s, Kingston became noted for her television work in both Britain and the US in the 1990s, including her regular role as Dr. Elizabeth Corday in the NBC medical drama ER (1997–2004) and her title role in the ITV miniseries The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders (1996), which earned her a BAFTA nomination for Best Actress.
Kay Mellor was an English actress, scriptwriter, producer and director. She was known for creating television series such as Band of Gold, Fat Friends, and The Syndicate, as well as co-creating CITV's children's drama Children's Ward (1989–2000).
The Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) was an organisation established in 1939 by Basil Dean and Leslie Henson to provide entertainment for British armed forces personnel during World War II. ENSA operated as part of the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes. In 1946 it was re-named to Combined Services Entertainment (CSE) operating under the Services Sound and Vision Corporation (SSVC), until 2 March 2020, when the SSVC re-branded to the British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS), with the CSE likewise re-branding as BFBS Live Events.
Mark Preston Curry is an English actor as well as a television and radio presenter. He is best known for his career on the British-television children's show Blue Peter (1986–1989) as a host, as well as his run as host on ITV British gameshow Catchphrase (2002).
Sheridan Caroline Sian Smith OBE is an English actress, singer and television personality. Smith came to prominence after playing a variety of characters on sitcoms such as The Royle Family (1999–2000), Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps (2001–2009), Gavin & Stacey (2008–2010), and Benidorm (2009). She co-starred as Joey Ross in the drama series Jonathan Creek between 2009 and 2013, and went on to receive acclaim for starring in a succession of television dramas, such as Mrs Biggs (2012), Cilla (2014), The C Word (2015), Black Work (2015), The Moorside (2017), Cleaning Up (2019), and Four Lives (2022). Her film credits include Tower Block (2012), Quartet (2012), The Huntsman: Winter's War (2016), and The Railway Children Return (2022).
Louisa Claire Lytton is an English actress, best known for portraying the role of Ruby Allen in the BBC soap opera EastEnders and Beth Green in the ITV police procedural series The Bill (2007–2009). She also appeared as a contestant on the fourth series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2006 and represented the UK at the Eurovision Dance Contest 2008, finishing ninth. Her theatre credits include playing Betty Rizzo in the UK touring production of the musical Grease (2017) and Jenny in 2:22 A Ghost Story (2023).
Thelma Barlow is an English television actress and writer, known for her roles as Mavis Wilton in the long-running ITV soap opera Coronation Street and as Dolly Bellfield in the BBC One sitcom dinnerladies.
Gaynor Kay Mellor, known professionally as Gaynor Faye, is an English actress and writer. She played Judy Mallett in television soap opera Coronation Street from 1995 until 1999 and Megan Macey in Emmerdale from 2012 until 2019.
Eva Fontaine is an English actress, known for her role as Faith Walker in the BBC soap opera Doctors between 2001 and 2006. The role gave her nominations in 2004 and 2006 for the British Soap Award for Best Actress.
Lara Pulver is an English actress. She has played Erin Watts in the BBC spy drama Spooks and Irene Adler on BBC's TV adaptation Sherlock. She won the 2016 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical in the West End's revival of the Broadway musical Gypsy.
Cush Jumbo is a British actress and writer. She is best known for her leading role as attorney Lucca Quinn in the CBS drama series The Good Wife (2015–2016) and the Paramount Plus spin-off series The Good Fight (2017–2021) and most recently June Lenker in the Apple TV+ series Criminal Record (2024).
Gemma Elizabeth Whelan is an English actress and comedian known for portraying Yara Greyjoy in the HBO fantasy-drama series Game of Thrones and as her stand-up character Chastity Butterworth. She also plays Kate in all 4 series of the comedy Upstart Crow (2016–2018), Detective Eunice Noon on the first series of The End of the F***ing World (2017), Geraldine on the third series of Killing Eve (2020), and DCI Kerry Henderson in both series of DI Ray (2022–2024).
Golda is a 2023 biographical drama film directed by Guy Nattiv and written by Nicholas Martin. The film depicts the actions of Golda Meir, the 4th Prime Minister of Israel, during the Yom Kippur War. It stars Helen Mirren, Camille Cottin and Liev Schreiber.
Amelia Eve Gibson is an English actress. She is best known for portraying Kelly Neelan in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street (2019–2022), and Ruby Sunday in the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who (2023–present).
Peter Frye was a Canadian actor, screenwriter and film director.
| Authority control databases: Artists |
|---|
