Rosalind Knight obit

Friday Night Dinner and Carry On actress Rosalind Knight dies aged 87

 

 She was not on the list.

Rosalind Knight has sadly died at the age of 87, it has been confirmed.

The actress, best known for her roles in the Carry On movies and Friday Night Dinner, died on Saturday.

Her family confirmed the news in a statement, which read: ‘It is with huge sadness that the family of Rosalind Knight announce her death following a glorious career as a well-loved actress in theatre, TV and film.

‘She was known to so many generations, for so many different roles, and will be missed as much by the kids today who howl at Horrible Grandma in Friday Night Dinner as by those of us who are old enough to remember her in the very first Carry On films.’

Knight’s daughters, theatre director Marianne Elliott and actress Susannah Elliott, shared fond memories of their mother and continued: ‘Our mother had the most astute, vibrant personality and made people laugh wherever she went.

‘She was a great reader, art lover and raconteur. She contributed in a voluntary way to the theatrical world through her involvement in the building of the Royal Exchange Theatre, alongside her husband Michael Elliott, and her support for the Actors Centre and the Ladies’ Theatrical Guild.

‘She was an active member of her local history society and opera society, and was a fierce campaigner and fundraiser for the Hogarth Trust.

‘She will be greatly missed by all who knew her.’

Knight starred in Carry On Teacher and Carry On Nurse in the 1950s, and also appeared as a schoolgirl in the 1957 classic Blue Murder at St Trinian’s.

In recent years, Knight played the character Horrible Grandma in Channel 4 series Friday Night Dinner.

In 1961, Knight starred alongside Vanessa Redgrave in the 1961 Royal Shakespeare Company production of As You Like It.

Partial filmography

 

    Gone to Earth (1950, uncredited) – Young Girl at Racecourse

    Richard III (1955, uncredited) – Lady-in-Waiting

    Fortune Is a Woman (1957, uncredited)

    Blue Murder at St Trinian's (1957) – Annabel

    The Horse's Mouth (1958, uncredited))

    Carry On Nurse (1959) – Student Nurse Nightingale

    Carry On Teacher (1959) – Felicity Wheeler

    Doctor in Love (1960, uncredited)) – Doctor

    There Was a Crooked Man (1960) – Nurse

    The Kitchen (1961) – 17th Waitress

    Tom Jones (1963) – Mrs. Fitzpatrick

    Buddenbrooks (1965) – Pfiffi

    Jackanory (1966–1967) – Storyteller

    Can Hieronymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness? (1969) – Critic Penelope

    Start the Revolution Without Me (1970) – Helene de Sisi

    Eskimo Nell (1975) – Lady Longhorn

    Mister Quilp (1975) – Mrs. George

    The Lady Vanishes (1979) – Evelyn Barnes

    The Wildcats of St Trinian's (1980) – Miss Walsh

    Coronation Street (1981) – Mrs Ramsden

    Prick Up Your Ears (1987) – RADA Judge

    Only Fools and Horses (1989) – Mrs Creswell

    Afraid of the Dark (1991) – Edith

    Gunslinger's Revenge (1998) – Mrs Willow

    Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1998, TV Movie) — Mrs D'Urberville

    Gimme Gimme Gimme (1999–2001) – Beryl

    About a Boy (2002) – Lindsey's Mother

    Demons Never Die (2011) – Freida

    Friday Night Dinner (TV Series, 2012, 2016, 2018, 2020) – "Horrible Grandma" Cynthia Goodman

    The Lady in the Van (2015) – Old Nun

    The Crown (2016, TV Series) – Princess Alice of Battenberg