| Connie Booth | |
|---|---|
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| Born | Constance Booth 31 January 1944 Indianapolis, Indiana, United States |
| Spouse(s) | John Cleese (1968–78) John Lahr (2000–present) |
Constance "Connie" Booth (born 31 January 1944) is an American writer and actress, known for appearances on British television and particularly for her portrayal of Polly Sherman in the popular 1970s television show Fawlty Towers, which she co-wrote with her then husband John Cleese.
Biography
Booth's father was a Wall Street stock broker and her mother was a housewife. They had moved from rural Indiana to New Rochelle, New York. After performing in high school productions, Booth went on to study drama in New York City, where she worked as a waitress. At the end of the 1960s she met the English actor John Cleese, whom she married.
Booth secured parts in episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus and in the Python film And Now for Something Completely Different. She also appeared in Monty Python and the Holy Grail as a woman accused of being a witch; in How to Irritate People, a pre-Monty Python film starring Cleese and other future Monty Python members; and in The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It (Cleese's Sherlock Holmes spoof, as Mrs. Hudson).
Booth wrote with Cleese and co-starred as the maid Polly Sherman in Fawlty Towers (1975, 1979). She also appeared in a short film titled Romance with a Double Bass, adapted by Cleese from a short story by Anton Chekhov.
Booth and Cleese married on 20 February 1968. They divorced in 1978, but have remained close friends[1]. In 1971 Booth gave birth to a daughter, Cynthia, who appeared alongside her father in both A Fish Called Wanda and Fierce Creatures. Booth played various roles on British television, including Mrs Errol in a BBC adaptation of Little Lord Fauntleroy, and Miss March in a dramatisation of Edith Wharton's The Buccaneers.
Booth ended her acting career in 1995. She works as a psychotherapist in London, a registrant of the BPC.[2][3][4] For 30 years Booth had refused to talk about Fawlty Towers until she agreed to participate in a documentary about the series for the digital channel G.O.L.D. in 2009.[5]
Booth is married to John Lahr, author and senior drama critic of The New Yorker. They live in London.
External links
References
- ^ "Our divorceymoon! What happened when Cleese and Winner invaded Switzerland on a six-day road trip". Daily Mail. 21 July 2008. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1036533/Our-divorceymoon-What-happened-Cleese-Winner-invaded-Switzerland-day-road-trip.html. Retrieved 2008-08-03.
- ^ UKTV Gold: Sitcoms: Fawlty Towers: Where are they now?
- ^ Camden New Journal
- ^ Life after Polly: Connie Booth (a case of Fawlty memory syndrome) - This Britain, UK - Independent.co.uk
- ^ Parker, Robin (23 March 2009). "Gold to reopen Fawlty Towers". Broadcastnow. http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/2009/03/gold_to_reopen_fawlty_towers.html. Retrieved 23 March 2009.
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