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Elspet Gray
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<h2 id="career">Career</h2> <p>Gray had a long stage career, particularly known for her appearances in the <a href="/facts/Whitehall_farce/pNP07xhW">Whitehall farces</a>, the company being managed by her husband <a href="/facts/Brian_Rix/2rKqeunp">Brian Rix</a>, which were originally performed at the <a href="/facts/Trafalgar_Studios/hemjxhG5">Whitehall Theatre</a> and later at the <a href="/facts/Garrick_Theatre/GgoHtCw3">Garrick</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> </p><p>Gray appeared in many films and television programmes, her earliest being <i><a href="/facts/The_Blind_Goddess_(1948_film)/fdEx1Szc">The Blind Goddess</a></i> (1948).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> She had several roles in the 1970s including parts in <i><a href="/facts/The_Psychiatrist_(Fawlty_Towers)/61phwzpo">Fawlty Towers</a></i>, as the paediatrician wife of a psychiatrist baffled by <a href="/facts/Basil_Fawlty/VzUWgXNz">Basil Fawlty</a>’s behaviour,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> <i><a href="/facts/The_Crezz/UuuAuhBU">The Crezz</a></i>, <i><a href="/facts/Catweazle/sgjPzSHo">Catweazle</a></i>, and in the 1980s with <i><a href="/facts/Doctor_Who/R7X9rdLc">Doctor Who</a></i> story <i><a href="/facts/Arc_of_Infinity/WAszgRll">Arc of Infinity</a></i> and the <a href="/facts/World_War_II/2efV5L1U">World War Two</a> drama <i><a href="/facts/Tenko_(TV_series)/KpDvcCxz">Tenko</a></i>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> She appeared as <a href="/facts/Gertrude_of_Flanders_(Blackadder)/rC97EI3I">the Queen</a> in the <a href="/facts/BBC/qFateIz8">BBC</a> <a href="/facts/Situation_comedy/a01VwMsV">sitcom</a> <i><a href="/facts/The_Black_Adder/rkPVQ1KK">The Black Adder</a></i> (1983), with <a href="/facts/Rowan_Atkinson/AUHGnR0t">Rowan Atkinson</a> as her son in the title role, and as Mrs. Palmer in <i><a href="/facts/Solo_(TV_series)/2V5b78T6">Solo</a></i> (1981–82), another comedy, this time with <a href="/facts/Felicity_Kendal/xjkxnJWP">Felicity Kendal</a> in the lead as her daughter.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> </p><p>Gray continued her acting career until the late 1990s, appearing in <i><a href="/facts/Agatha_Christie%27s_Poirot/8EIzjr4v">Agatha Christie's Poirot</a></i>, the films <i><a href="/facts/The_Girl_in_a_Swing_(1988_film)/S862CWLS">The Girl in a Swing</a></i> (1988) and <i><a href="/facts/Four_Weddings_and_a_Funeral/o7FyCSjS">Four Weddings and a Funeral</a></i> (1994), and as Hilary in the British television comedy <i><a href="/facts/Dinnerladies_(TV_series)/hgP3stDh">Dinnerladies</a></i>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="personal-life-and-death">Personal life and death</h2> <p>Gray married Brian Rix in 1949. She died in hospital on 18 February 2013, aged 83.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="filmography">Filmography</h2> <table><tbody><tr><th>Year</th><th>Title</th><th>Role</th><th>Notes</th></tr><tr><td>1948</td><td><i><a href="/facts/The_Blind_Goddess_(1948_film)/fdEx1Szc">The Blind Goddess</a></i></td><td>Daphne Dearing</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>1948</td><td><i>Fly Away Peter</i></td><td>Phyllis Hapgood</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>1948</td><td><i><a href="/facts/Love_in_Waiting/395hlf7P">Love in Waiting</a></i></td><td>Brenda Lawrence</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>1949</td><td><i><a href="/facts/Trottie_True/11jFSwrn">Trottie True</a></i></td><td>Honor Bellaire</td><td>Uncredited</td></tr><tr><td>1951</td><td><i><a href="/facts/Reluctant_Heroes/HYLTIajg">Reluctant Heroes</a></i></td><td>Lt. Virginia</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>1954</td><td><i><a href="/facts/Johnny_on_the_Spot/F17Mb45M">Johnny on the Spot</a></i></td><td>Joan Ingram</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>1954</td><td><i><a href="/facts/Devil%27s_Point_(film)/SFml9q9x">Devil's Point</a></i></td><td>June Mallard</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>1961</td><td><i><a href="/facts/The_Night_We_Got_the_Bird/0mpjo8oW">The Night We Got the Bird</a></i></td><td>Woman with dog</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>1969</td><td><i><a href="/facts/Goodbye,_Mr._Chips_(1969_film)/8v07MxPH">Goodbye, Mr. Chips</a></i></td><td>Lady Sutterwick</td><td>Uncredited</td></tr><tr><td>1979</td><td><i><a href="/facts/Fawlty_Towers/22UDovte">Fawlty Towers</a> </i></td><td>Dr Abbott</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>1983</td><td><i><a href="/facts/Blackadder/ruNLWaQV">Blackadder</a></i></td><td>Gertrude of Flanders</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>1987</td><td><i><a href="/facts/Inspector_Morse_(TV_series)/EKHaSTU4">Inspector Morse</a></i></td><td>Mrs Bartlett</td><td>Episode - "The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn"</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>1988</td><td><i><a href="/facts/The_Girl_in_a_Swing_(1988_film)/S862CWLS">The Girl in a Swing</a></i></td><td>Mrs. Dresland</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>1990</td><td><i><a href="/facts/Agatha_Christie%27s_Poirot/8EIzjr4v">Double Sin</a></i></td><td>Miss Penn</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>1994</td><td><i><a href="/facts/Four_Weddings_and_a_Funeral/o7FyCSjS">Four Weddings and a Funeral</a></i></td><td>Laura's Mother – Wedding One</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>1998</td><td><i><a href="/facts/Dinnerladies/IuEb1cmG">dinnerladies</a></i></td><td>Phillipa's mother - Hilary</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0336607/">Elspet Gray</a> at <a href="/facts/IMDb_(identifier)/uWrqVYVy">IMDb</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Slide, Anthony (19 May 1996). Some Joe You Don't Know: An American Biographical Guide to 100 British Television Personalities. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780313295508 – via Google Books. <a href="9780313295508" target="_blank">9780313295508</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Barker, Dennis (19 February 2013). "Elspet Gray obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 December 2019. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2013/feb/19/elspet-gray" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2013/feb/19/elspet-gray</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>"Elspet Gray | Movies and Filmography". AllMovie. <a href="https://www.allmovie.com/artist/elspet-gray-p28357" target="_blank">https://www.allmovie.com/artist/elspet-gray-p28357</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>"Elspet Gray". HeraldScotland. 22 February 2013. <a href="https://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/13093177.elspet-gray/" target="_blank">https://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/13093177.elspet-gray/</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>"Elspet Gray". www.aveleyman.com. <a href="https://www.aveleyman.com/ActorCredit.aspx?ActorID=6925" target="_blank">https://www.aveleyman.com/ActorCredit.aspx?ActorID=6925</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>"BFI Screenonline: Blackadder (1983-89) Credits". www.screenonline.org.uk. <a href="http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/500473/credits.html" target="_blank">http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/500473/credits.html</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Guide, British Comedy. "Solo - BBC1 Sitcom". British Comedy Guide. <a href="https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/solo/" target="_blank">https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/solo/</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>"Elspet Gray". BFI. Archived from the original on 22 March 2018. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180322111721/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba1f59721" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20180322111721/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba1f59721</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>"Actress Elspet Gray dies aged 83". ITV News. <a href="https://www.itv.com/news/update/2013-02-19/actress-elspet-gray-dies-aged-83/" target="_blank">https://www.itv.com/news/update/2013-02-19/actress-elspet-gray-dies-aged-83/</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>