Judy Campbell

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Judy Campbell

Judy Campbell in 1940
Born Judith Mary Gamble
May 31, 1916(1916-05-31)
Grantham, England
Died June 6, 2004 (aged 88)
London, England
Spouse(s) Lieutenant-Commander David Birkin RN (1943 - 1991)

Judy Campbell (31 May 1916 - 6 June 2004) was an English light comedy actress and occasional playwright, Noël Coward's muse. Her daughter is the actor and singer Jane Birkin, her son the screenwriter and director Andrew Birkin, and among her grandchildren are the actresses Charlotte Gainsbourg and Lou Doillon, and the poet Anno Birkin.

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[edit] Private life

Judy Campbell (Judy Gamble) was born in Grantham, Lincolnshire on 31 May 1916, daughter of John Arthur Gamble and his wife Mary (Fulton), and was educated at St Michael's Convent in East Grinstead, Sussex. Both her parents were on the stage; her father was also the author of several plays under his professional name of J. A. Campbell.

She was married to Lieutenant-Commander David Birkin, DSC, RNVR, until his death in 1991. She died in London on 6 June 2004, aged 88.

[edit] Professional career

Campbell made her stage debut in 1935 as a 'Guest' in The Last of Mrs. Cheyney at the Theatre Royal Grantham, and entered films in 1940 in the London based thriller Saloon Bar. She insisted that she could neither sing nor dance, but she had a rare ability to invest a song with theatrical grace and charm. In 2002 she lent her patrician presence to a television remake of The Forsyte Saga.

While touring with Coward from September 1942 to March 1943, she created the roles of Joanna in Present Laughter and Ethel in the stage production of This Happy Breed, and played Elvira in Blithe Spirit. She also appeared with him in twice-weekly troop concerts. In 1943 at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, she performed in Present Laughter and This Happy Breed on alternate nights under the umbrella title of Play Parade, before playing Elvira in the West End presentation of Blithe Spirit at the Duchess Theatre in 1943.

In 1981 she appeared in Andrew Birkin's BAFTA winning and Academy Award nominated short film, Sredni vashtar, playing the fearsome Aunt Augusta. It was her last major film role, although she appeared regularly on British television throughout the remainder of her career.

In December 2002, at the end of a 67-year career as a boulevard actress and chanteuse of distinction, she gave her farewell London performances at The King's Head Theatre with Where Are the Songs We Sung?, a nostalgic garland of songs, memories and scenes from plays, accompanied by Stefan Bednarczyk at the piano, a programme they finally reprised at the Jermyn Street Theatre.

The evening recalled her Grantham childhood, the 1950s with Sandy Wilson, by way of the Liverpool rep' with Robert Helpmann, wintry tours and troop concerts with Noël Coward and cheering up West End punters during the Blitz on London, including her unique renderings of A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square, the Eric Maschwitz standard that made her a star in the New Faces revue at the Comedy Theatre in 1940.

Judy finally recorded "Nightingale" (and Coward's "If Love Were All") in September 2003, as part of a cabaret performance with Sheridan Morley and Michael Law at Pizza on the Park [1]. Judy had previously appeared as guest star with Morley and Law for several Jermyn Street cabaret performances as well as with Law's Piccadilly Dance Orchestra [2] most memorably for a Coward centenary concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in 1999, where she regaled the audience with often hilarious anecdotes about her work with Coward during the 1940s (and of course sang "her" Nightingale song).

After her death in 2004 her name was commemorated on the actresses' dressing-room door at the Jermyn Street Theatre.

[edit] Theatre

Plays by Judy Campbell:

[edit] Film

  • Saloon Bar (1940)
  • Convoy (1940)
  • East of Piccadilly (1940)
  • Breach of Promise (1941)
  • The World Owes Me a Living (1944)
  • Green for Danger (1946)
  • Bonnie Prince Charlie (1948)
  • There's a Girl in My Soup (1970)
  • Mr. Forbush and the Penguins (1971)
  • Sredni vashtar (1981)

Television and TV movies:

[edit] References

[edit] External links


Persondata
NAME Campbell, Judy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION English light comedy actress and occasional playwright
DATE OF BIRTH 31 May 1916
PLACE OF BIRTH Grantham, England, United Kingdom
DATE OF DEATH 6 June 2004
PLACE OF DEATH London, England, United Kingdom


Recording: "An Evening with Sheridan Morley and Michael Law with special guest star Judy Campbell" [3]

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