Elspet Gray
{{Short description|Scottish actress (1929–2013)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2015}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix = The Right Honourable
| name = The Lady Rix
| image = Image of the actress Elspet Gray.png
| image_size = 200px
| birthname = Elspet Jean MacGregor Gray
| birth_date = {{birth date|1929|4|12|df=y}}
| birth_place = Inverness, Scotland
| death_date = {{death date and age|2013|2|18|1929|4|12|df=y}}
| death_place = London, England
| occupation = Actor
| yearsactive = 1948–2013
| spouse = {{marriage|Brian Rix|1949}}
| children = 4, including Jamie and Louisa
}}
Elspet Jean Gray, Baroness Rix (née Gray; 12 April 1929 – 18 February 2013) was a Scottish actress, who first became known for her partnership with her husband, Brian Rix, and later was cast in many television roles in the 1970s and 1980s.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_S4f-nobIxEC&dq=elspet+gray+stage+career&pg=PA81|title=Some Joe You Don't Know: An American Biographical Guide to 100 British Television Personalities|first=Anthony|last=Slide|date=19 May 1996|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=9780313295508|via=Google Books}} She played Lady Collingford in the television series Catweazle and Mrs. Palmer in the television series Solo, alongside Felicity Kendal.
Career
Gray had a long stage career, particularly known for her appearances in the Whitehall farces, the company being managed by her husband Brian Rix, which were originally performed at the Whitehall Theatre and later at the Garrick.{{cite news|last=Barker|first=Dennis|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2013/feb/19/elspet-gray|title=Elspet Gray obituary|work=The Guardian|date=19 February 2013|access-date=16 December 2019}}
Gray appeared in many films and television programmes, her earliest being The Blind Goddess (1948).{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/artist/elspet-gray-p28357|title=Elspet Gray | Movies and Filmography|website=AllMovie}} She had several roles in the 1970s including parts in Fawlty Towers, as the paediatrician wife of a psychiatrist baffled by Basil Fawlty’s behaviour,{{Cite web|url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/13093177.elspet-gray/|title=Elspet Gray|website=HeraldScotland|date=22 February 2013 }} The Crezz, Catweazle, and in the 1980s with Doctor Who story Arc of Infinity and the World War Two drama Tenko.{{Cite web|url=https://www.aveleyman.com/ActorCredit.aspx?ActorID=6925|title=Elspet Gray|website=www.aveleyman.com}} She appeared as the Queen in the BBC sitcom The Black Adder (1983), with Rowan Atkinson as her son in the title role, and as Mrs. Palmer in Solo (1981–82), another comedy, this time with Felicity Kendal in the lead as her daughter.{{Cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/500473/credits.html|title=BFI Screenonline: Blackadder (1983-89) Credits|website=www.screenonline.org.uk}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/solo/|title=Solo - BBC1 Sitcom|first=British Comedy|last=Guide|website=British Comedy Guide}}
Gray continued her acting career until the late 1990s, appearing in Agatha Christie's Poirot, the films The Girl in a Swing (1988) and Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), and as Hilary in the British television comedy Dinnerladies.{{Cite web|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba1f59721|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180322111721/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba1f59721|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 March 2018|title=Elspet Gray|website=BFI}}
Personal life and death
Gray married Brian Rix in 1949. She died in hospital on 18 February 2013, aged 83.{{Cite web|url=https://www.itv.com/news/update/2013-02-19/actress-elspet-gray-dies-aged-83/|title=Actress Elspet Gray dies aged 83|website=ITV News}}
Filmography
| class="wikitable sortable jquery-tablesorter"
!Year !Title !Role !Notes | ||||
| 1948 | The Blind Goddess | Daphne Dearing | ||
| 1948 | Fly Away Peter | Phyllis Hapgood | ||
| 1948 | Love in Waiting | Brenda Lawrence | ||
| 1949 | Trottie True | Honor Bellaire | Uncredited | |
| 1951 | Reluctant Heroes | Lt. Virginia | ||
| 1954 | Johnny on the Spot | Joan Ingram | ||
| 1954 | Devil's Point | June Mallard | ||
| 1961 | The Night We Got the Bird | Woman with dog | ||
| 1969 | Goodbye, Mr. Chips | Lady Sutterwick | Uncredited | |
| 1979 | Fawlty Towers | Dr Abbott | ||
| 1983 | Blackadder | Gertrude of Flanders | ||
| 1987 | Inspector Morse | Mrs Bartlett | Episode - "The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn" | |
| 1988 | The Girl in a Swing | Mrs. Dresland | ||
| 1990 | Double Sin | Miss Penn | ||
| 1994 | Four Weddings and a Funeral | Laura's Mother – Wedding One | ||
| 1998 | dinnerladies | Phillipa's mother - Hilary |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|id=0336607|name=Elspet Gray}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Elspet}}
Category:People from Inverness
Category:Scottish film actresses
Category:Scottish television actresses
Category:Spouses of life peers