Rita Stone

Rita Stone

Born December 17, 1902. Died March 12, 1984.

Busy British Character actress who appeared in literally hundreds of films before finding fame in the long running situation comedy More Tea, Vicar? (1975-1984). She was often cast as land ladies, cleaners, drunks, sectaries and nurses and was a familiar face for over forty years. Peter Howard, the producer of the Not now… films often cast her in the series. Her appearances in the series include Not now Captain, Not now Doctor, Not now Victoria, Not now Don Vitto and Not now Charles. Her other films include Dance with Me, Horrid Hogs and Horses, The Twist, The Passion of Dracula, Ripper V.I.P, A Life in the Death of Billy Hopkiss and Watch it Sergeant!. She rarely had a large role in these films and often went uncredited. Never as popular as other character actresses such as Irene Handel, Dandy Nichols or Joan Sims it seemed she would never be anything other than a featured player. Writing in the definitive biography on Rita Stone, A Strange Existence: The Life and Death of Rita Stone (Bloomsbury 2004), Mark Heslon suggested that due to her looks she had avoided the larger roles “She wasn’t a cuddly, lovable looking woman such as Hattie Jacques. She didn’t look sweet like someone’s greatly adored grandmother in fact she was a rather harsh looking women”

It was the events surrounding December 17th 1974 however that made her a household name. On her way home from the cinema (she had been to see Murder on the Orient Express) she was caught up in the of that evening. Finding a disorientated child behind a Post Office Administration building she suspected something was wrong by the single car in the car park. Her instinct quickly took over and she grabbed the child and ran up an ally way. It was then that the car blew up and she became very famous for saving the child’s life.

The publicity this generated found her cast in her only leading role as Mrs. Trout the housekeeper, More Tea, Vicar?.

More Tea, Vicar? by Bob Webber and Richard Croft was a huge success and was later adapted into a film (1978) and then as a popular stage play (1979 and 1981). Despite her age, Rita Stone participated in all of these ventures, although she was missing from a few episodes of the last season due to hip replacement. After her death in 1984 it was revealed that her sitcom co-star Nelly Baker was her long time live in companion and that Rita Stone had used her considerable clout to have her cast in the series as Mrs. Gilly, a character most people found disposable. It was also revealed that she threatened to quit the show on numerous occasions if certain cast changes were not made. From this we can assume that her relationship with Billy Myers was not a healthy one as he left after the first series to be replaced by Gordon Jones for the remainder of the program's run.

Andrew Walters, who played Howard in the 5th season only, certainly has made it clear that he was pushed out by Rita Stone as she made his life a misery on set. Despite this the public loved her accident prone character and the series would certainly have continued if it wasn’t for her mysterious death.

Actress-(selected) Filmography

*Bleak House (1915)… Girl,
*Poppycotts Place (1921)…Mary Blacklock,
*Desperate Times (1927)… Waitress,
*House of Secrets (1932)… Emma,
*Different Places (1939)… Maud,
*Lady Winterstones Story (1942)… Mrs Fillysbury,
*Dance with Me (1945)… Ethel,
*Dangerous Driving (1946)…Shop Keeper,
*Watch it Sergeant (1948)… Canteen Cook,
*Let it be Known (1951)… Cleaner,
*Hold it Down (1952)…Women in queue,
*The Day the Earth Turned Upside Down…Woman holding onto lamp post,
*Hello Sailor (1952)… Women in Shop,
*Only for Elsie (1953)…Miss Simpkins,
*1066 (1953)…Serving wench,
*Those Wonderful Women on their Bouncing Bicycles (1953)… Elsie Braithwaite,
*A Christmas Carol (1954)… Mrs Dilber,
*Joseph Smith (1954)… Mormon,
*Not now Captain (1956)…Ethel Ready,
*The Passion of Dracula (1958)… Inn Keepers Wife,
*Not now Charles (1961)…Queen,
*A Life in the Day of Billy Hopkiss (1962)… Lady on bus,
*Tis Grim Lass (1964)… Lady with Cello,
*Not now Doctor (1965)… Patient,
*Not now Victoria (1968)…Lady in waiting,
*Oh What a Whopper! (1972)… Lady with bread roll,
*Not now Nurse (1974)… Patient 3,
*More Tea, Vicar? (1978)… Mrs Agatha Trout,
*Ripper V.I.P (1982)… Lady Nossbry,

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More Tea, Vicar (1975-1984)
Full Cast and Crew

Father Marcus…. James Bresslaw,
Father Dominic…Kenneth Routledge,
Mrs Trout…Rita Stone,
Phillip (1)…Billy Myers (Series 1),
Phillip (2)… Gordon Jones (Series 2-10),
Mrs Gilly… Nelly Baker (Series 3-10),
Howard…Andrew Walters (Series 5 only),
Father Christopher… Michael Franks (Series 6-10),

Written by Bob Webber and Richard Croft,
Directed by Oscar Horton,
Produced by Alan Edwards

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