Vanda Godsell
Encyclopedia
Vanda Godsell was an English actress.
. Her father was an officer in the Navy and served in the Battle of Jutland
whilst her mother, Muriel, was the sister of novelist and actress Naomi Jacob
. Godsell's sister Felicia was also an actress but her other sister was an editor in the publishing world.
. She also appeared in Hell Is a City
, A Shot in the Dark
, The Earth Dies Screaming
, The Wrong Box
, Bitter Harvest and The Pink Panther Strikes Again
. Many of these films were directed or produced by Blake Edwards
. Vanda portrayed Mrs. Anne Weaver in This Sporting Life
. On television, she appeared in shows like The Saint
, Minder
, Dixon of Dock Green
, Bless This House, In Loving Memory
and Taxi!
. She appeared as Blanche Dubois in a critically acclaimed version of A Streetcar Named Desire
at the West End
.
Early life
She was born near Bristol into the well known Godsell family, best known for its brewery based in StroudStroud
Stroud a town and civil parish in the county of Gloucestershire, England.Stroud may also refer to:*Stroud, New South Wales, Australia*Stroud, Ontario, Canada*Stroud , Gloucestershire, UK*Stroud...
. Her father was an officer in the Navy and served in the Battle of Jutland
Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only...
whilst her mother, Muriel, was the sister of novelist and actress Naomi Jacob
Naomi Jacob
Naomi Eleanor Clare Jacob was an English author, actress and broadcaster.-Biography:...
. Godsell's sister Felicia was also an actress but her other sister was an editor in the publishing world.
Career
She began acting when she joined the Bristol Repertoire aged 14. Her career lasted for fifty years, making her film debut in 1953 in Flannelfoot starring Ronald HowardRonald Howard (British actor)
Ronald Howard was an English actor and writer best known in the U.S. for starring in a weekly Sherlock Holmes television series in 1954. He was the son of actor Leslie Howard.- Life and work :...
. She also appeared in Hell Is a City
Hell Is a City
Hell Is a City is a 1960 film based on the novel by Maurice Procter. It was made by British studio Hammer Film Productions filmed in Manchester it was also written and directed by Val Guest...
, A Shot in the Dark
A Shot in the Dark (1964 film)
A Shot in the Dark is a 1964 comedy film directed by Blake Edwards and is the second installment in the Pink Panther series. Peter Sellers is featured again as Inspector Jacques Clouseau of the French Sûreté...
, The Earth Dies Screaming
The Earth Dies Screaming
The Earth Dies Screaming is a 1965 British science fiction film directed by Terence Fisher. It stars Willard Parker, Virginia Field, Dennis Price, Vanda Godsell, Thorley Walters, David Spenser and Anna Palk.-Production:...
, The Wrong Box
The Wrong Box
The Wrong Box is a British comedy film made by Salamander Film Productions and distributed by Columbia Pictures. It was produced and directed by Bryan Forbes from a screenplay by Larry Gelbart and Burt Shevelove, based on the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne.The cast includes a...
, Bitter Harvest and The Pink Panther Strikes Again
The Pink Panther Strikes Again
The Pink Panther Strikes Again is the fifth film in the Pink Panther series and picks up where The Return of the Pink Panther leaves off...
. Many of these films were directed or produced by Blake Edwards
Blake Edwards
Blake Edwards was an American film director, screenwriter and producer.Edwards' career began in the 1940s as an actor, but he soon turned to writing radio scripts at Columbia Pictures...
. Vanda portrayed Mrs. Anne Weaver in This Sporting Life
This Sporting Life
This Sporting Life is a 1963 British film based on a novel of the same name by David Storey which won the 1960 Macmillan Fiction Award. It tells the story of a rugby league footballer, Frank Machin, in Wakefield, a mining area of Yorkshire, whose romantic life is not as successful as his sporting...
. On television, she appeared in shows like The Saint
The Saint (TV series)
The Saint was an ITC mystery spy thriller television series that aired in the UK on ITV between 1962 and 1969. It centred on the Leslie Charteris literary character, Simon Templar, a Robin Hood-like adventurer with a penchant for disguise. The character may be nicknamed The Saint because the...
, Minder
Minder (TV series)
Minder is a British comedy-drama about the London criminal underworld. Initially produced by Verity Lambert, it was made by Euston Films, a subsidiary of Thames Television and shown on ITV...
, Dixon of Dock Green
Dixon of Dock Green
Dixon of Dock Green was a popular BBC television series that ran from 1955 to 1976, and later a radio series. Despite being a drama series, it was initially produced by the BBC's light entertainment department.-Overview:...
, Bless This House, In Loving Memory
In Loving Memory (TV series)
In Loving Memory is a British period sitcom set in an undertakers business that starred Thora Hird and Christopher Beeny. A pilot was transmitted in 1969 by Thames Television who rejected the idea before it was finally accepted by Yorkshire Television in 1979 where it further ran for five series...
and Taxi!
Taxi!
Taxi! is a 1932 film starring James Cagney and Loretta Young. The movie was directed by Roy Del Ruth.-Plot:When a veteran cab driver, Pop Riley , refuses to be pressured into surrendering his prime soliciting location outside a cafe, wherein his daughter works, the old man's cab is intentionally...
. She appeared as Blanche Dubois in a critically acclaimed version of A Streetcar Named Desire
A Streetcar Named Desire (play)
A Streetcar Named Desire is a 1947 play written by American playwright Tennessee Williams for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1948. The play opened on Broadway on December 3, 1947, and closed on December 17, 1949, in the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. The Broadway production was...
at the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
.
Selected filmography
- The Large RopeThe Large RopeThe Large Rope is a 1953 British crime film directed by Wolf Rilla and starring Donald Houston, Susan Shaw and Robert Brown...
(1953) - Horrors of the Black MuseumHorrors of the Black MuseumHorrors of the Black Museum is a British horror film starring Michael Gough and directed by Arthur Crabtree.It was the first film in what film critic David Pirie dubbed Anglo-Amalgamated's "Sadian trilogy" , with an emphasis on sadism, cruelty and violence , in contrast to the supernatural...
(1959) - In the Wake of a StrangerIn the Wake of a StrangerIn the Wake of a Stranger is a 1959 British thriller film directed by David Eady and starring Tony Wright, Shirley Eaton and Danny Green. A group of murderers try to frame an innocent sailor for their crime.-Cast:* Tony Wright - Tom Cassidy...
(1959) - Hell Is a CityHell Is a CityHell Is a City is a 1960 film based on the novel by Maurice Procter. It was made by British studio Hammer Film Productions filmed in Manchester it was also written and directed by Val Guest...
(1960) - Night Without PityNight Without PityNight Without Pity is a 1961 British crime film directed by Theodore Zichy and starring Sarah Lawson, Neil McCallum, Alan Edwards and Michael Browning. Two thieves take a woman and her injured son hostage while they attempt to rob a factory....
(1961) - PayrollPayroll (film)Payroll is a 1961 British crime thriller starring Michael Craig, and based on the novel by Derek Bickerton. The story is about a gang of villains that stage a wages robbery, which turns into a disaster. Most of the film was shot on location in and around Gateshead and Newcastle upon Tyne...
(1961) - KongaKonga (film)Konga is a 1961 British science fiction film directed by John Lemont and starring Michael Gough, Margo Johns and Austin Trevor. It was distributed in the United States by American International Pictures....
(1961) - Shadow of the CatShadow of the CatShadow of the Cat is a 1961 British horror film directed by John Gilling for Hammer Film Productions. It stars André Morell and Barbara Shelley...
(1961) - The Pot CarriersThe Pot CarriersThe Pot Carriers is a 1962 British comedy drama film directed by Peter Graham Scott and starring Ronald Fraser, Paul Massie, Carole Lesley and Dennis Price...
(1962) - Waltz of the ToreadorsWaltz of the Toreadors (film)Waltz of the Toreadors is a 1962 film directed by John Guillermin. It stars Peter Sellers and Dany Robin. It was nominated for a BAFTA Award in 1963.-Cast:*Peter Sellers as General Leo Fitzjohn*Dany Robin as Ghislaine...
(1962) - This Sporting LifeThis Sporting LifeThis Sporting Life is a 1963 British film based on a novel of the same name by David Storey which won the 1960 Macmillan Fiction Award. It tells the story of a rugby league footballer, Frank Machin, in Wakefield, a mining area of Yorkshire, whose romantic life is not as successful as his sporting...
(1963) - Bitter Harvest (1963)
- The Wrong Arm of the LawThe Wrong Arm of the LawThe Wrong Arm of the Law is a 1963 British comedy film directed by Cliff Owen and starring Peter Sellers, Bernard Cribbins, Lionel Jeffries, John Le Mesurier and Bill Kerr...
(1963) - 80,000 Suspects80,000 Suspects80,000 Suspects is a 1963 British film, directed by Val Guest which concerns an outbreak of smallpox in Bath, England.-Plot:A romantic melodrama set against the backdrop of a smallpox epidemic which features Richard Johnson as the diligent doctor in control and Claire Bloom as his outwardly serene...
(1963) - A Shot in the DarkA Shot in the Dark (1964 film)A Shot in the Dark is a 1964 comedy film directed by Blake Edwards and is the second installment in the Pink Panther series. Peter Sellers is featured again as Inspector Jacques Clouseau of the French Sûreté...
(1964) - The Earth Dies ScreamingThe Earth Dies ScreamingThe Earth Dies Screaming is a 1965 British science fiction film directed by Terence Fisher. It stars Willard Parker, Virginia Field, Dennis Price, Vanda Godsell, Thorley Walters, David Spenser and Anna Palk.-Production:...
(1965) - Dateline DiamondsDateline DiamondsDateline Diamonds is a 1966 British music-film. The film was shot in black and white. The "pop and cop" genre of film was a popular concept in the UK during the early 1960s to highlight young music talent and was geared to appeal directly to the young teenage market...
(1966) - The Wrong BoxThe Wrong BoxThe Wrong Box is a British comedy film made by Salamander Film Productions and distributed by Columbia Pictures. It was produced and directed by Bryan Forbes from a screenplay by Larry Gelbart and Burt Shevelove, based on the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne.The cast includes a...
(1966) - The Pink Panther Strikes AgainThe Pink Panther Strikes AgainThe Pink Panther Strikes Again is the fifth film in the Pink Panther series and picks up where The Return of the Pink Panther leaves off...
(1976)