Connie Booth

Connie Booth (born 2 December 1940[1][lower-alpha 1]) is an American actress and writer. She has appeared in several British television programmes and films, including her role as Polly Sherman on BBC Two's Fawlty Towers, which she co-wrote with her then-husband John Cleese. In 1995 she quit acting and worked as a psychotherapist until her retirement.

Connie Booth
A black and white image of Booth with a veil on her head.
Booth in 1968
Born (1940-12-02) 2 December 1940
Occupation(s)Writer, actress, psychotherapist
Years active1968–1995
Spouses
(m. 1968; div. 1978)
    (m. 2000)
    Children1

    Early life

    Booth was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, on 2 December 1940. Her father was a Wall Street stockbroker and her mother an actress. The family later moved to New York State.[5][6] Booth entered acting and worked as a Broadway understudy and waitress. She met John Cleese while he was working in New York City;[6] they married on February 20, 1968.

    Acting career

    Booth secured parts in episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969–74) and in the Python films And Now for Something Completely Different (1971) and Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975, as a woman accused of being a witch). She also appeared in How to Irritate People (1968), a pre-Monty Python film starring Cleese and other future Monty Python members; a short film titled Romance with a Double Bass (1974) which Cleese adapted from a short story by Anton Chekhov; and The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It (1977), Cleese's Sherlock Holmes spoof, as Mrs. Hudson.

    Booth and Cleese co-wrote and co-starred in Fawlty Towers (1975 and 1979), in which she played waitress and chambermaid Polly. For thirty years Booth declined to talk about the show until she agreed to participate in a documentary about the series for the digital channel Gold in 2009.[7]

    Booth played various roles on British television, including Sophie in Dickens of London (1976), Mrs. Errol in a BBC adaptation of Little Lord Fauntleroy (1980) and Miss March in a dramatisation of Edith Wharton's The Buccaneers (1995). She also starred in the lead role of a drama called The Story of Ruth (1981), in which she played the role of the schizophrenic daughter of an abusive father, for which she received critical acclaim. In 1994, she played a supporting role in "The Culex Experiment", an episode of the children's science fiction TV series The Tomorrow People.

    Booth also had a stage career, primarily in the London theatre, appearing in 10 productions from the mid-1970s through the mid-1990s,[8] notably starring with John Mills in the 1983–1984 West End production of Little Lies at Wyndham's Theatre.

    Psychotherapy career

    Booth ended her acting career in 1995.[6] After studying for five years at the University of London,[5] she began a career as a psychotherapist, registered with the British Psychoanalytic Council.[5][6][9]

    Personal life

    In 1971, Booth and Cleese had a daughter, Cynthia,[5] who appeared alongside her father in the films A Fish Called Wanda and Fierce Creatures. Booth and Cleese divorced in 1978.[2] With Cleese, Booth wrote the scripts for and co-starred in both series of Fawlty Towers, although the two were actually divorced before the second series was finished and aired. Their daughter Cynthia married screenwriter Ed Solomon in 1995.[10][11]

    Booth married John Lahr, author and former New Yorker senior drama critic, in 2000. They live in north London.[6]

    Selected filmography and theatrical appearances

    Television

    Year Show Role Notes
    1968 How to Irritate People Various characters Television film
    1969–1974 Monty Python's Flying Circus Various characters
    1972 Dickens of London Sophie
    1975, 1979 Fawlty Towers Polly Sherman Also co-creator and writer
    1978 Off to Philadelphia in the Morning Jane Parry Television drama
    1980 Why Didn't They Ask Evans Sylvia Bassington-ffrench Television film
    1982 The Deadly Game Helen Trapp Television film
    1983 The Hound of the Baskervilles Laura Lyons Television film
    1985 Past Caring Linda Television film
    1986 Bergerac Monica McLoed Episode: "Winner Takes All"
    1987 The Return of Sherlock Holmes Violet Morstan Television film
    1990 Wizadora Wizadora Pilot episode[12]
    1994 The Tomorrow People Doctor Lucy Connoe Episode: "The Culex Experiment"
    1995 The Buccaneers Miss March

    Film

    Year Show Role Notes
    1971 And Now for Something Completely Different Various characters
    1974 Romance with a Double Bass Princess Costanza
    1975 Monty Python and the Holy Grail The Witch
    1977 The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It Mrs Hudson / Francine Moriarty
    1980 Little Lord Fauntleroy Mrs Errol
    1981 The Story of Ruth Ruth
    1987 84 Charing Cross Road the Lady from Delaware
    1988 High Spirits Marge
    1988 Hawks Nurse Jarvis
    1991 American Friends Caroline Hartley
    1992 Leon the Pig Farmer Yvonne Chadwick

    Theatre

    [8]

    Year Play Role Theatre
    1973–1974 Design for Living Helen Carver Phoenix Theatre, London
    1977 The Glass Menagerie Cambridge Arts Theatre
    1982–1983 Little Lies Agatha Posket Wyndham's Theatre
    1984 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Royal Exchange Theatre
    1985–1986 Edmond Royal Court Theatre
    1986 The Women Mary National Theatre Studio, Royal National Theatre
    1988 An Enemy of the People Katrine Stockmann Young Vic
    1990–1991 The Manchurian Candidate Eugenie Cheyney New Vic Theatre
    1991–1992 It's Ralph Comedy Theatre
    1992–1993 Under the Stars Greenwich Theatre

    Notes

    1. There is speculation about Booth's birth year. Sources have also indicated 1939,[2] 1941,[3][4] and 1944.[5]

    References

    1. "Connie Booth". BFI. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
    2. "Divorce for Cleese". The Glasgow Herald. September 9, 1978. p. 5. Retrieved November 16, 2010.
    3. Walker, John (June 2, 2003). Halliwell's Who's Who in the Movies: 3rd edition. London: HarperCollins, p.58. ISBN 0-00-715085-7.
    4. McFarlane, Brian (May 16, 2016). The Encyclopedia of British Film: Fourth edition. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9781526111968 via Google Books.
    5. Smith, Sean. "Don't mention the classic comedy series". Camden New Journal. London Borough of Camden. Archived from the original on January 20, 2004.
    6. Milmo, Cahal (May 25, 2007). "Life after Polly: Connie Booth (a case of Fawlty memory syndrome)". The Independent. London, England: Independent Print, Ltd. Archived from the original on May 2, 2008. Retrieved September 8, 2011.
    7. Parker, Robin (March 23, 2009). "Gold to reopen Fawlty Towers". Broadcastnow. Archived from the original on March 26, 2009. Retrieved March 23, 2009.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
    8. "Theatricalia: People: Connie Booth".
    9. "Fawlty Towers: Where are they now?". UKTV Gold. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved November 21, 2013.
    10. Cate, Hans ten (February 12, 1997). "NEWS 1997_02_12 – John Cleese Shoots Daughter Cynthia". Daily Llama. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
    11. "THE SOCIAL SCENE – A Cleese Wedding Held Away From the 'Fawlty' Line / British comedian's daughter marries in the Napa Valley". SFGate. September 18, 1995. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
    12. Lee, Jeremy (August 22, 2019). "Campaign loves... summertime telly". Retrieved August 27, 2020.
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