Avis Bunnage

Avis Bunnage (22 April 1923, Ardwick, Manchester, Lancashire – 4 October 1990, Thorpe Bay, Southend-on-Sea, Essex) was an English actress of film, stage and television.[1][2]

Avis Bunnage
Bunnage as Doris in The L-Shaped Room (1962)
Born(1923-04-22)22 April 1923
Ardwick, Manchester, Lancashire, England
Died4 October 1990(1990-10-04) (aged 67)
Thorpe Bay, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England
Occupationactor

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. She appeared as Veronica, the wife of Rigsby, in Rising Damp, for one episode, and as Amy Jenkinson, Ivy Unsworth's friend, in 11 episodes of In Loving Memory.[3] 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 Wyndham's Theatre, and a role in Oh, What a Lovely War! at Stratford East, which also transferred to Wyndham's Theatre.[4][5] When Avis was on holiday from this production for two weeks, her role was taken over by Danny La Rue.[6] Among her other roles for Theatre Workshop were Mrs. Lovitt in Christopher Bond's play Sweeney Todd (the basis for the Sondheim musical), and the title role in a play about the music hall legend Marie Lloyd.[7][8] In the early years of Coronation Street she played Lucile Hewitt's aunt.[9] She was in the musical Billy at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, playing the mother of Billy Liar.[10] She played Golda in Fiddler on the Roof, opposite Alfie Bass, at Her Majesty's Theatre in London.[11]

Among her various film roles were several British New Wave productions, such as Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner.[1]

Married to Derek Orchard, she died on 4 October 1990 in Thorpe Bay, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, aged 67.[4]

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1959Expresso BongoMrs. RudgeUncredited
1960Doctor in LoveMrs. JimpUncredited
1960Saturday Night and Sunday MorningBlousy Woman
1961No Love for JohnnieConstituentUncredited
1962The Loneliness of the Long Distance RunnerMrs. Smith
1962The L-Shaped RoomDoris
1963Sparrows Can't SingBridgie
1963What a Crazy WorldMary Hitchens
1963Tom JonesLandlady. George Inn
1965Rotten to the CoreCountess de Wett (Matron)
1965A Study in TerrorLandlady
1966The Wrong BoxQueen Victoria
1967The WhisperersMrs. Noonan
1968Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely DaughterTulip's Mother
1978PanicOld LadyShort
1982GandhiColin's Mother
1984ForbiddenFrau Schimdt
1985No SurrenderMartha Gorman
1988CivvyStreetLou's mother
1990The KraysHelen(final film role)

References
  1. "Avis Bunnage". BFI.
  2. "Avis Bunnage - Theatricalia". theatricalia.com.
  3. "Avis Bunnage". www.aveleyman.com.
  4. McFarlane, Brian (16 May 2016). The Encyclopedia of British Film: Fourth edition. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9781526111968 – via Google Books.
  5. "Avis Bunnage in Oh What a Lovely War (Wyndham's Theatre, 1963) - Oh What a Lovely War - Landmarks: Oh What a Lovely War, Night Waves - BBC Radio 3". BBC.
  6. "Danny La Rue". 1 June 2009 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  7. Stewart, John (21 November 2012). Broadway Musicals, 1943–2004. McFarland. ISBN 9781476603292 – via Google Books.
  8. Poore, Benjamin (15 November 2011). Heritage, Nostalgia and Modern British Theatre: Staging the Victorians. Springer. ISBN 9780230360143 – via Google Books.
  9. "Alice Burgess". www.corrie.net.
  10. "Billy - 1974 Original London Cast".
  11. Wright, Adrian (15 December 2017). West End Broadway: The Golden Age of the American Musical in London. Boydell Press. ISBN 9781843837916 – via Google Books.


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