She started off as straight girl to the likes of Arthur Askey and Tommy Handley, but when Gainsborough came a-knocking with a part in Brothel-based period melodrama Fanny By Gaslight, it was out with the ITMA knock-offs and on with the crinolines. Thereafter, firmly ensconced with Lockwood and co. in the patented Gainsborough star system, she heaved, romped and swooned all over the likes of The Wicked Lady and Caravan, to tremendous effect.
FINEST HOUR: It may or may not have put a kybosh on the glamorous roles after she played middle-aged spite machine Millie Crocker-Harris in The Browning Version, but it made for a terrific film nonetheless.
