Avis Bunnage
Born: 1923-04-22 in Manchester, England, UK
Died: 1990-10-04
Known For: Acting
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Avis Bunnage (22 April 1923, Manchester, England, UK – 4 October 1990, England) was a British actress of film, stage and television. She attended Manley Park Municipal School and Chorlton Central School in Manchester. She worked as a secretary and a nursery teacher before deciding to become an actress. She gained stage experience in rep and made her first professional appearance at Chorlton Rep Theatre in Manchester in 1947. Most notably, she appeared as Veronica, the wife of Rigsby, in Rising Damp, for one episode. Bunnage was a member of Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop company at the Theatre Royal Stratford East. There she created the role of Helen, the mother in A Taste of Honey, her first West End role when the play transferred to Wynndems Theatre, and also a role in Oh, What a Lovely War! at Stratford East, which also transferred to Wyndams Theatre. When Avis was on holiday from this production for two weeks, her role was taken over by Danny La Rue. Among her other roles for Theatre Workshop were Mrs. Lovitt in Christopher Bond's play Sweeny Todd (the basis for the Sondheim musical), and the title role in a play about the music hall legend Marie Lloyd. In the early years of Coronation Street she played Lucile Hewitt's auntie. She was in the musical Billy at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, playing the mother of 'Billy Liar'. She played Golda in Fiddler on the Roof, opposite Alfie Bass, at Her Majesty's Theatre in London. Married to Derek Orchard, she died in Thorpe Bay, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, aged 67. Description above from the Wikipedia article Avis Bunnage, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Filmography
1990
- The Krays as Helen
1989
- No Strings as Miss Butt
- Close to Home as Mrs Hayes
1987
- Yesterday's Dreams as Auntie Vi
1985
- No Surrender as Martha Gorman
- Mrs Capper's Birthday as Alice Loft
1982
- Gandhi as Colin's Mother
1981
- Virginia Fly is Drowning as Mrs Thompson
- Find Me First as Isobel
1980
- Jessie as Mrs Appleyard
1978
- The Mayor of Casterbridge as Mrs Goodenough
- Scully's New Year's Eve as Florrie
- Panic as Old Lady
1974
- Playhouse as Mrs. Thompson
- Rising Damp as Veronica
1972
- The Stumbling Block as Lorna
- The Frighteners as Violet
- The Disappearing Man as Violet
- Anne of Green Gables as Rachel Lynde
1971
- Everybody Say Cheese as Hylda Cheatham
1969
- In Loving Memory as Amy Jenkinson
1968
- Cilla as Self
- Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter as Tulip's Mother
1967
- The Whisperers as Mrs. Noonan
- Baker's Half-Dozen as Mrs. Smedley
1966
- The Wrong Box as Queen Victoria
1965
- Gideon's Way as Mrs. Bessie Cowan
- Rotten to the Core as Countess de Wett (Matron)
- A Study in Terror as Landlady
1964
- Theatre 625 as Mrs Moscroft
1963
- Tom Jones as Landlady
- The Human Jungle as Mrs. Dineley
- Sparrows Can't Sing as Bridgie Gooding
- What a Crazy World as Mary
1962
- The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner as Mrs. Smith
- The L-Shaped Room as Doris
1960
- Doctor in Love as Mrs. Mimp (uncredited)
- Saturday Night and Sunday Morning as Blousy Woman
1959
- Expresso Bongo as Mrs Rudge