Kathleen Byron (1923 - 2009)

Kathleen Byron's film career consisted mainly of nicely-judged cameos as slightly snotty upper-middle-class women. She ploughed the same furrow as the likes of Ambrosine Phillpotts and Everley Gregg and would have much the same comfy place in film history but for one role: the iconic Sister Ruth in Black Narcissus. 

She was born in London to a working-class family and was trained at the Old Vic. She's possibly to be seen as an extra in Climbing High but her official role was a bit in The Young Mr Pitt. During the war, acting came second to a job in the censor's office but once that was over she was free to concentrate on her career. After her memorable role in A Matter of Life and Death as a heavenly guide, Powell and Pressburger cast her in Black Narcissus. As the nun who goes mad with desire for David Farrar she was unforgettable. There can't be many histories of British film that don't include the image of her wild-eyed, her mouth smeared with scarlet lipstick as the Himalayan wind whips her hair about.

Her next was also for Powell & Pressburger. In The Small Back Room she played Farrar's girlfriend trying to keep him off the bottle. It was a more conventional role but she fleshed it out. She tried to fight against being cast as variants of Sister Ruth and ended up with blander roles instead. A trip to Hollywood to film Young Bess was shortened due to pregnancy and on her return she settled into family life and the role of a jobbing character actress - and it's one of the crimes of 50s British cinema that it let her.

Filmography 

DVDs starring Kathleen Byron available at Amazon UK

DVDs starring Kathleen Byron available at Amazon US