Today (30th July 2024) we celebrate the 80th birthday of one of my favourite actors: Frances de la Tour.
Frances J De Lautour
Born Frances J De Lautour in Bovingdon Hertforshire, she is probably most famous for her role as Miss Ruth Jones in the television sitcom Rising Damp from 1974 until 1978. That was the first time I saw her on television, playing Miss Jones to comedic, breathy perfection, opposite the great Leonard Rossiter.
I remember watching her in awe and amusement not only in Rising Damp, but also many other programmes and films including: Cold Lazarus, obviously The Harry Potter films, Vicious and most recently as Adelaide, the eccentric Mother of Professor T.
She has appeared in many theatre, television and film productions and continues to be just as popular today. You only have to look at the long list of credits on her IMDB Page to determine that she is indeed an actor in demand.
Doctor Who
Although she has never appeared in an episode of Doctor Who (in any of the many series), in the mid-1980s, de la Tour was considered (along with Joanna Lumley and Dawn French) as a replacement for Colin Baker on Doctor Who. The idea was scrapped and the job was given to Sylvester McCoy: the Seventh Doctor.
No disrespect to Sylv, but wouldn’t that have been spectacular, had it happened! In a parallel universe, perhaps Frances de la Tour became the Seventh Doctor.
Happy Birthday!
So, no doubt I’ll be raising a toast and wishing one of my favourite character actors Many Happy Returns today.
Happy Birthday, Frances de la Tour.