Beatrice 'Betty' Marsden was born in West Derby, Liverpool
on the 24th of February 1919 and later grew up in near poverty in
Somerset. Her music teacher recognised her talent at the age of six, and
became her guardian, and Betty appeared at Bath Pavilion aged 11 as the
First Fairy in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. She made her London debut
later that year as the Prince in 'The Windmill Man' at Victoria Palace, a
fairy play with music.
Gaining a scholarship for six years to the
Italia Conti Stage School, she first acted in the West End in 'Closing
at Sunrise' at the Royalty Theatre, Soho in 1935 and made her first film
appearance under the name Beatrice Marsden in the British drama film
'The Rat' (1937) followed by 'The Sky Raiders (1938), a crime thriller.
Betty then toured with ENSA to entertain the troops during the Second
World War and it was at this time that she met her husband, an army
doctor from Edinburgh, Dr Jimmy Wilson Muggoch. She had been an
understudy in a West End play when the leading actress fainted after
just one line, and she took over. This would begin a long stage career
for Betty, who went on to star in a vast number of plays including
twelve years of intimate reviews, starting at the Irving Club and
including such hits as 'After The Show', 'Airs On A Shoestring' and
'From Here and There'. Remarkable, unique, unforgettable Betty Marsden was considered one of Britain's most talented comedy actresses.
Other theatre work included productions of
'What The Butler Saw' by Joe Orton and 'On The Brighter Side', starring
Stanley Baxter. Betty was due to appear in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical
'Jeeves' in 1975, however her character was cut before the opening
night and the resulting production was a notorious flop. In 1964, Betty
also starred in a comedy play called 'Everybody Loves Opal' which also
featured Liz Fraser and Warren Mitchell. Sadly the reviews were awful
and the play closed after just four days! In 1958 she co-starred with
colleague Kenneth Williams in the pantomime
'Cinderella' at the London Coliseum. Betty played the Fairy Godmother
opposite Tommy Steele, Yana and Jimmy Edwards
Betty also
enjoyed a long career in film appearing in films such as 'Ramsbottom
Rides Again' (1956), 'The Boys' (1962), 'The Wild Affair' (1963), 'The
Leather Boys' (1964), 'The Best House In London' (1969), 'Eyewitness' (1970),
'Britannia Hospital' (1982) and 'The Dresser' (1983). On television, Betty
turned up in all manner of productions in the 1950s including 3
episodes of 'BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1951-53), 3 episodes of 'The
Pickwick Papers' (1952) and 4 episodes of 'I'm Not Bothered' (1956). The
following year she appeared in all 5 episodes of 'Mainly Maynard' with
Bill Maynard and then played various characters in 'On The Bright Side'
(1959-60) with Stanley Baxter.
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| 'Carry On Camping' |
Following a a fairly brief yet memorable cameo appearance as Mata Hari in 'Carry On Regardless' (1961), Betty got a starring role opposite Terry Scott in 'Carry On Camping' (1969). As Harriet Potter, she will forever be remembered for her tandem riding and hyena-like laugh. Other roles included parts in 'Before The Fringe' (1967), 'Callan' (1969), 'Doctor in Charge' (1973), 'Blake's 7' (1981), 'The Cabbage Patch' (1983), 'French and Saunders' (1987), 'Inspector Morse' (1990), 'The Darling Buds of May' (1992) and 'Maigret' (1993). Betty's last screen acting credit saw her teamed up with her old 'Carry On Regardless' co-star Kenneth Connor for an episode of 'The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes' (1994), starring Jeremy Brett. The episode was broadcast in 1994, Kenneth having sadly passed away in the November of the previous year.
Betty continued to act right up until her death. She had moved to the actors' home, Denville Hall in the Spring of 1998 and died at the bar in July of that year, at the age of 79. She had been suffering from heart problems.
Dilys Laye recounted a story about Betty during the recording of an audio commentary for 'Carry On Camping'. "Apparently Betty had always claimed to want to "die with a gin in my hand". I think she probably just about managed that."
see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2023/07/a-history-of-liverpool-thespians-rupert.html
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