Sue Longhurst
Encyclopedia
Sue Longhurst is an English
actress, most famous for appearing in several X-rated
comedies in the 1970s.
, and was initially a music teacher, but was soon posing for magazines, record sleeves, book covers & TV commercials, as well as spending 18 months advertising Player's
cigarettes.
She made her acting debut, aged 27, in 1971 in Hammer Horror's Lust for a Vampire
, playing a schoolgirl at a boarding school. Longhurst also made an appearance in the 1971 film Straw Dogs, as an uncredited stunt double for actress Susan George
during the dramatic fire scene. Her second major movie role came in the 1973 production The Secrets of A Door-To-Door Salesman, followed by Keep It Up Jack, directed by Derek Ford
.
Longhurst's first film of 1974 was The Over-Amorous Artist, but as well as movies she had supporting roles in comedy sketch shows with Dick Emery
and Charlie Drake
as well as small parts in sitcoms like Please Sir. For a brief time she was also a hostess on ITV
gameshow The Golden Shot
where she appeared with celebrity guests Barbara Windsor
and Sid James
, replacing "dizzy" Anne Aston
. She also features briefly in the Hylda Baker
sitcom Not On Your Nellie
(1974), in an episode entitled “The Apartment” in which Baker’s character has to stay in the Chelsea flat of a famous model (Longhurst). While Longhurst’s character never actually appears in the episode, photos of her (specially taken for the episode) are used as props, and feature heavily in the apartment set.
Her next movie of 1974 was Can You Keep It Up For A Week? in which she played consultant psychiatrist Mrs Bristol. This was followed by Confessions of a Window Cleaner
, in which, famously, her character takes the virginity of Timmy Lea played by Robin Askwith
in a kitchen covered in foam.
In 1975, Longhurst appeared in Girls Come First, which also included a then-unknown Hazel O'Connor
in the cast. Her second film of that year was probably her most popular international movie: What the Swedish Butler Saw
, (also known as Champagnegalopp or A Man with a Maid or The Groove Room in the US). In the movie - loosely based on the 1908 erotic novel The Way of a Man with a Maid
- young Jack Armstrong (Ole Søltoft
) is desperate to win the love of his beloved, and greedy, Lady Alice Faversham, played by Longhurst. The film was shot in studios in Stockholm
with exteriors in Denmark
.
In 1976, Longhurst starred as Lady Cockshute in Keep It Up Downstairs
, again alongside Diana Dors
.
Longhurst's penultimate film, and the biggest hit of her career was the 1977 movie Come Play With Me, directed by George Harrison Marks
. Starring alongside Mary Millington
and Suzy Mandel
, Longhurst had a supporting role as Christina, the girlfriend of an inept gangster
, played by comedy actor Ronald Fraser
, whose gang is behind an influx of forged notes into the British economy. The movie ran for nearly four years in London's West End
. Longhurst's final film was the minor 1979 release Can I Come Too?, which starred an aged Charlie Chester
. After a spell of illness, she retired from acting in 1981.
However, in 1996, Longhurst returned to the camera for an interview in David McGillivray
's BBC2 tongue-in-cheek documentary Doing Rude Things. Five years later she wrote the foreword
to the first edition of Simon Sheridan's acclaimed book on the history of British sex films, Keeping the British End Up. She now lives on the south coast of England
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
actress, most famous for appearing in several X-rated
X-rated
In some countries, X is or has been a motion picture rating reserved for the most explicit films. Films rated X are intended only for viewing by adults, usually legally defined as people over the age of 17.-United Kingdom:...
comedies in the 1970s.
Life and work
Born on 27 January 1943, Sue trained at the Royal Academy of MusicRoyal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
, and was initially a music teacher, but was soon posing for magazines, record sleeves, book covers & TV commercials, as well as spending 18 months advertising Player's
John Player & Sons
John Player & Sons, known simply as Player's, was a tobacco and cigarette manufacturer based in Nottingham, England. It is today a part of the Imperial Tobacco Group.-History:...
cigarettes.
She made her acting debut, aged 27, in 1971 in Hammer Horror's Lust for a Vampire
Lust for a Vampire
Lust For a Vampire is a 1971 British Hammer Horror film directed by Jimmy Sangster, starring Yutte Stensgaard, Michael Johnston and Barbara Jefford. It is the second film in the so-called Karnstein Trilogy loosely based on the J. Sheridan Le Fanu novella Carmilla...
, playing a schoolgirl at a boarding school. Longhurst also made an appearance in the 1971 film Straw Dogs, as an uncredited stunt double for actress Susan George
Susan George (actress)
Susan Melody George is an English film and television actress, and film producer.-Career:She trained at the Stage School, Corona Theatre School and has acted since the age of four, appearing on both television and film...
during the dramatic fire scene. Her second major movie role came in the 1973 production The Secrets of A Door-To-Door Salesman, followed by Keep It Up Jack, directed by Derek Ford
Derek Ford
Derek Ford was an English film director and writer, most famous for sexploitation films such as The Wife Swappers Keep it Up Jack! Sex Express , and What's up Superdoc! .Ford began as a writer in collaboration with his brother Donald Ford , originally...
.
Longhurst's first film of 1974 was The Over-Amorous Artist, but as well as movies she had supporting roles in comedy sketch shows with Dick Emery
Dick Emery
Richard Gilbert "Dick" Emery was an English comedian and actor. Beginning on radio in the 1950s, an eponymous television series ran from 1963 to 1981. He was the brother of Ann Emery.-Life and career:...
and Charlie Drake
Charlie Drake
Charlie Drake was an English comedian, actor, writer and singer.With his small stature , curly red hair and liking for slapstick he was a popular comedian with children in his early years, becoming nationally-known for his "Hello, my darlings" catchphrase...
as well as small parts in sitcoms like Please Sir. For a brief time she was also a hostess on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
gameshow The Golden Shot
The Golden Shot
The Golden Shot is a British television game show produced by ATV for ITV between 1 July 1967 and 13 April 1975, based on the German TV show Der goldene Schuss. It is most commonly associated with host Bob Monkhouse, though, three other presenters also hosted the show during its lifetime...
where she appeared with celebrity guests Barbara Windsor
Barbara Windsor
Barbara Ann Windsor, MBE , better known by her stage name Barbara Windsor, is an English actress. Her best known roles are in the Carry On films and as Peggy Mitchell in the BBC soap opera EastEnders....
and Sid James
Sid James
Sid James was an English-based South African actor and comedian. He made his name as Tony Hancock's co-star in Hancock's Half Hour and also starred in the popular Carry On films. He was known for his trademark "dirty laugh" and lascivious persona...
, replacing "dizzy" Anne Aston
Anne Aston
Anne Aston is an actress and television presenter best known as the hostess of the The Golden Shot in the late 1960s and early 1970s....
. She also features briefly in the Hylda Baker
Hylda Baker
Hylda Baker was a British comedienne, actress and music hall star.-Early life and career:Baker was born in Farnworth, near Bolton, Lancashire, the first of seven children. Her father, Harold Baker, was a painter and signwriter, who also worked part-time in the music halls as a comedian...
sitcom Not On Your Nellie
Not On Your Nellie
Not On Your Nellie was a British sitcom that ran from 1974-75. It starred veteran actress Hylda Baker as Nellie Pickersgill, a Bolton woman who moves to London to help run her ailing father's Chelsea pub...
(1974), in an episode entitled “The Apartment” in which Baker’s character has to stay in the Chelsea flat of a famous model (Longhurst). While Longhurst’s character never actually appears in the episode, photos of her (specially taken for the episode) are used as props, and feature heavily in the apartment set.
Her next movie of 1974 was Can You Keep It Up For A Week? in which she played consultant psychiatrist Mrs Bristol. This was followed by Confessions of a Window Cleaner
Confessions of a Window Cleaner
Confessions of a Window Cleaner is a 1974 British sex comedy film, directed by Val Guest.Like the other films in the Confessions series; Confessions of a Pop Performer, Confessions of a Driving Instructor and Confessions from a Holiday Camp, it concerns the erotic adventures of Timothy Lea, based...
, in which, famously, her character takes the virginity of Timmy Lea played by Robin Askwith
Robin Askwith
Robin Askwith , is an English film actor, most famous for his role as Timmy Lea in the Confessions... sex comedies.-Confessions...:...
in a kitchen covered in foam.
In 1975, Longhurst appeared in Girls Come First, which also included a then-unknown Hazel O'Connor
Hazel O'Connor
Hazel O'Connor is an English singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of a soldier from Galway who settled in England after World War II to work in a car plant...
in the cast. Her second film of that year was probably her most popular international movie: What the Swedish Butler Saw
What the Swedish Butler Saw
What the Swedish Butler Saw is a 1974 American comedy film directed by Vernon P. Becker and starring Ole Søltoft, Sue Longhurst and Charlie Elvegård. In Victorian London a man buys an insane assylum to turn into a brothel unaware that Jack the Ripper still lives there...
, (also known as Champagnegalopp or A Man with a Maid or The Groove Room in the US). In the movie - loosely based on the 1908 erotic novel The Way of a Man with a Maid
The Way of a Man with a Maid
The Way of a Man with a Maid is an anonymous, sadomasochistic, erotic novel, probably first published in 1908. The story is told in the first person by a gentleman called "Jack", who lures women he knows into a kind of erotic torture chamber, called "The Snuggery", in his house, and takes...
- young Jack Armstrong (Ole Søltoft
Ole Søltoft
Ole Søltoft was a Danish actor who became an icon of the 1970s wave of Danish erotic feature film comedies. For over a decade he starred or co-starred in nearly all notable film in this genre and became hopelessly typecast, usually playing naive, likeable guys with a healthy sexual appetite...
) is desperate to win the love of his beloved, and greedy, Lady Alice Faversham, played by Longhurst. The film was shot in studios in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
with exteriors in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
.
In 1976, Longhurst starred as Lady Cockshute in Keep It Up Downstairs
Keep It Up Downstairs
Keep It Up Downstairs is a 1976 British comedy film directed by Robert Young and starring Diana Dors, Jack Wild and William Rushton. The film depicts the adventures of the inhabitants of Cockshute Castle.-Cast:* Diana Dors ... Daisy Dureneck...
, again alongside Diana Dors
Diana Dors
Diana Dors was an English actress, born Diana Mary Fluck in Swindon, Wiltshire. Considered the English equivalent of the blonde bombshells of Hollywood, Dors described herself as: "The only sex symbol Britain has produced since Lady Godiva."-Early life:Diana Mary Fluck was born in Swindon,...
.
Longhurst's penultimate film, and the biggest hit of her career was the 1977 movie Come Play With Me, directed by George Harrison Marks
Harrison Marks
George Harrison Marks was a British glamour photographer and director of nudist, and later, pornographic films who was active in the fields for several decades.-Kamera and Pamela Green:...
. Starring alongside Mary Millington
Mary Millington
Mary Millington was a British model and pornographic actress. She has been described as one of the "two hottest British sex film stars of the seventies", the other being Fiona Richmond....
and Suzy Mandel
Suzy Mandel
Suzy Mandel is the stage name of an ex-actress and model best known for her roles in such 1970’s British sex comedies as Confessions of a Driving Instructor , Come Play with Me , and The Playbirds , and for her appearances on The Benny Hill Show.-Biography:Born in London, Mandel grew up on the...
, Longhurst had a supporting role as Christina, the girlfriend of an inept gangster
Gangster
A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Some gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from mob and the suffix -ster....
, played by comedy actor Ronald Fraser
Ronald Fraser
Ronald Fraser was an English character actor, who appeared in numerous British films of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s whilst also appearing in many popular TV shows.-Background:...
, whose gang is behind an influx of forged notes into the British economy. The movie ran for nearly four years in London's West End
West End of London
The West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...
. Longhurst's final film was the minor 1979 release Can I Come Too?, which starred an aged Charlie Chester
Charlie Chester
Charlie Chester was a British comedian and TV and radio presenter, broadcasting almost continuously from the 1940s to the 1990s. His style was similar to that of Max Miller.- Life and career :...
. After a spell of illness, she retired from acting in 1981.
However, in 1996, Longhurst returned to the camera for an interview in David McGillivray
David McGillivray (director)
David McGillivray is an actor, producer, playwright, screenwriter and film critic.Originally a critic for Monthly Film Bulletin, McGillivray wrote his first film script, Albert's Follies, for friend Ray Selfe in 1973...
's BBC2 tongue-in-cheek documentary Doing Rude Things. Five years later she wrote the foreword
Foreword
A foreword is a piece of writing sometimes placed at the beginning of a book or other piece of literature. Written by someone other than the primary author of the work, it often tells of some interaction between the writer of the foreword and the book's primary author or the story the book tells...
to the first edition of Simon Sheridan's acclaimed book on the history of British sex films, Keeping the British End Up. She now lives on the south coast of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Selected filmography
- Keep It Up, Jack (1973)
- Just One More TimeJust One More TimeJust One More Time is a 1974 British comedy film directed by Maurice Hamblin and starring John Hamill, Sue Longhurst and Claire Russell. While his wife is at work, an artist has to fend off the advances of his neighbours. It is also known as The Over-Amorous Artist.-Cast:* John Hamill ... Alan...
(1974) - Confessions of a Window CleanerConfessions of a Window CleanerConfessions of a Window Cleaner is a 1974 British sex comedy film, directed by Val Guest.Like the other films in the Confessions series; Confessions of a Pop Performer, Confessions of a Driving Instructor and Confessions from a Holiday Camp, it concerns the erotic adventures of Timothy Lea, based...
(1974) - A Man with a Maid (1975)
- Can You Keep It Up for a Week? (1975)
- Keep It Up DownstairsKeep It Up DownstairsKeep It Up Downstairs is a 1976 British comedy film directed by Robert Young and starring Diana Dors, Jack Wild and William Rushton. The film depicts the adventures of the inhabitants of Cockshute Castle.-Cast:* Diana Dors ... Daisy Dureneck...
(1976) - Come Play with Me (1977)