2A02:C7C:517E:B600:6C56:E2A2:ACE5:6FBB at 14:54, 24 September 2025

2025-09-24T14:54:44Z

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{{Short description|British actress (1931–2005)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}

{{Infobox person
| name = Patsy Rowlands
| image = Patsy Rowlands.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_name = Patricia Amy Rowlands
| birth_date = {{birth date|1931|1|19|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Palmers Green]], [[Middlesex]], England
| death_date = {{death date and age|2005|1|22|1931|1|19|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Hove]], [[East Sussex]], England
| years_active = 1959–2001
| spouse = {{marriage|[[Malcolm Sircom]]|1962|1967|reason=divorced}}
| children = 1
| television = ''[[Bless This House (British TV series)|Bless This House]]''<br />''[[Hallelujah! (TV series)|Hallelujah!]]''

}}

'''Patricia Amy Rowlands''' (19 January 1931 – 22 January 2005)<ref name=bbc>{{Cite news | url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4203011.stm | title=BBC News - Carry On Star Patsy Rowlands dies | date=24 January 2005 | access-date=21 November 2013 }}</ref><ref name=IndObit >{{Cite news | url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4203011.stm | title=Patsy Rowlands - Obituaries - The Independent | date=24 January 2005 | access-date=21 November 2013 }}</ref> was an English actress who is best remembered for her roles in the [[Carry On (franchise)|''Carry On'' films]] series, as Betty Lewis in the [[ITV Thames]] sitcom ''[[Bless This House (British TV series)|Bless This House]]'', and as Alice Meredith in the [[Yorkshire Television]] sitcom ''[[Hallelujah! (TV series)|Hallelujah!]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Patsy-Rowlands|title=Patsy Rowlands - British actress|website=Britannica.com}}</ref><ref name=stage/>

==Early years==
Rowlands was born on 19 January 1931 in [[Palmers Green]], [[Middlesex]] and attended the Sacred Heart [[convent]] school at Whetstone.<ref name=GdnObit /> An [[elocution]] teacher spotted her potential and encouraged her to pursue a career in acting. She applied to the [[Guildhall School of Music and Drama]] and won a scholarship aged 15.<ref name=IndObit />

==Early career==
Rowlands began her career in the chorus of ''[[Annie Get Your Gun (musical)|Annie Get Your Gun]]'', followed by a summer season in [[Torquay]]. She then spent several years with the [[Players' Theatre]] in London, before making her [[West End theatre]] debut in [[Sandy Wilson]]'s musical ''[[Valmouth (musical)|Valmouth]]''.<ref name=bbc/><ref name=theatricalia/>

Rowlands's other West End credits included ''[[Semi-Detached (play)|Semi-Detached]]'' with [[Laurence Olivier]] and directed by [[Tony Richardson]] (with whom she was to work often, appearing in his 1963 film [[Tom Jones (1963 film)|Tom Jones]]), ''Shut Your Eyes and Think of England'', with [[Donald Sinden]], ''[[The Seagull]]'' and [[Ben Travers]]'s ''The Bed Before Yesterday'', both directed by [[Lindsay Anderson]] and ''[[When We Are Married]]'' for [[Ronald Eyre]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/30/obituaries/patsy-rowlands-actress-in-the-carry-on-comedies-dies-at-71.html?mcubz=0|title=Patsy Rowlands, Actress in the 'Carry On' Comedies, Dies at 71|newspaper=The New York Times| date=30 January 2005 |access-date=24 October 2018}}</ref><ref name=GdnObit /> She also starred in [[Cameron Mackintosh]]'s revival of ''[[Oliver!]]'' in the mid-1990s, as well as playing Jack's mother in the original London cast of Sondheim's ''[[Into the Woods]]''.<ref name=theatricalia>{{cite web|url=https://theatricalia.com/person/13d0/patsy-rowlands|title=Patsy Rowlands - Theatricalia|website=Theatricalia.com}}</ref> Her final appearance was as Mrs Pearce in the [[Royal National Theatre|National Theatre]]'s production of ''[[My Fair Lady]]'' which also starred [[Jonathan Pryce]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2001/legit/reviews/my-fair-lady-6-1200467240/|title=Review: 'My Fair Lady'|first=Matt|last=Wolf|date=21 March 2001|website=Variety.com}}</ref>

Rowlands also appeared quite frequently on television early in her career. Amongst the various series in which she appeared, were several appearances in ''[[Gert and Daisy#Film, radio and television|Gert and Daisy]]'' (1959) as Bonnie, as well as appearing in 2 episodes of ''[[Danger Man]]'' (as different, unrelated characters) and in ''[[The Avengers (TV series)|The Avengers]]'' episode "Love All".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f4e8b23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160228132721/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f4e8b23|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 February 2016|title=Patsy Rowlands|website=Bfi.org.uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://danger-man.co.uk/episodeDetails.asp?episodeID=57&seriesNo=4|title=The Danger Man Website|website=Danger-man.co.uk|access-date=24 October 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmovie.com/movie/avengers-love-all-v182515/cast-crew|title=Avengers: Love All (1969) - Peter Sykes - Cast and Crew - AllMovie|website=AllMovie}}</ref> Rowlands played the role of a love interest for George called "Beryl" in the 1979 Christmas special and final episode of ''[[George and Mildred]]''

==From 1969 to 1991==
Rowlands made her debut in the ''[[Carry On (franchise)|Carry On]]'' films in ''[[Carry On Again Doctor]]'' in 1969 and soon became a regular member of the repertory company of performers, usually playing the dowdy, put-upon wife or the long-suffering secretary.<ref name=stage>{{cite web|url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/obituaries--archive/obituaries/patsy-rowlands/|title=Patsy Rowlands - Obituaries - The Stage|date=1 February 2005|website=Thestage.co.uk}}</ref> Between 1969 and 1975 she appeared in nine of the films in increasingly large roles, appearing in ''[[Carry On Again Doctor]]'', ''[[Carry On Loving]]'', ''[[Carry On Henry]]'', ''[[Carry On Matron]]'', ''[[Carry On Abroad]]'' and ''[[Carry On Dick]]'' - more substantial roles include ''[[Carry On at Your Convenience]]'', ''[[Carry On Girls]]'' and ''[[Carry On Behind]]''.<ref name=avelyman/>

On 7 March 1971, Rowlands starred in a single episode ''(You've Really Landed Me In It This Time)'' of the ITV sitcom ''[[Doctor at Large (TV series)|Doctor at Large]]'', with [[Barry Evans (actor)|Barry Evans]] and [[George Layton]], as a nymphomaniac secretary, the kind of role she had played in ''[[Carry On Loving]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b87348aa3|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170917043204/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b87348aa3|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 September 2017|title=You've Really Landed Me in It This Time (1971)|website=Bfi.org.uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://carryonfan.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/patsy-rowlands-her-carry-on-story.html|title=Patsy Rowlands: Her Carry On Story|website=Carryonfan.blogspot.co.uk| date=19 January 2017 }}</ref>

From 1971 to 1976, Rowlands played Betty, the feckless neighbour in the ITV sitcom ''[[Bless This House (British TV series)|Bless This House]]'', which starred fellow ''Carry On'' star [[Sid James]].<ref name=avelyman>{{cite web|url=http://www.aveleyman.com/ActorCredit.aspx?ActorID=15048|title=Patsy Rowlands|website=Aveleyman.com}}</ref> Her other television credits at this time included a couple of episodes of ''[[For the Love of Ada]]'', playing a pregnant woman in the maternity ward also appearances with comedians such as [[Les Dawson]] and [[Dick Emery]]. In the early 1980s, she appeared with [[Thora Hird]] in the sitcom ''[[Hallelujah! (TV series)|Hallelujah!]]'', in which they played an aunt and niece in [[The Salvation Army]]. In 1991, she appeared in an episode of ''[[Zorro (1990 TV series)|Zorro]]'' filmed in [[Madrid]], Spain.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0755199/|title=Miracle of the Pueblo|date=8 December 1991|website=IMDb.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newworldzorro.com/presskitinfo/prodnotes.html|title=New World Zorro Production Notes|website=Newworldzorro.com}}</ref>

Rowlands also appeared in screen versions of two of [[Frances Hodgson Burnett]]'s books: the television film ''[[Little Lord Fauntleroy (1980 film)|Little Lord Fauntleroy]]'' (1980), as Mrs. Dibble, and a TV dramatisation of ''[[A Little Princess (1986 miniseries)|A Little Princess]]'' (1986) as the baker's wife.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b739b7cf7|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170425083406/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b739b7cf7|url-status=dead|archive-date=25 April 2017|title=Little Lord Fauntleroy (1980)|website=Bfi.org.uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b739d5f31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170921182623/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b739d5f31|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 September 2017|title=A Little Princess Part 5 (1987)|website=Bfi.org.uk}}</ref>

==Later years==
Towards the end of her life, Rowlands appeared in several revivals of major [[Musical theatre|musicals]] such as ''[[Oliver!]]'' at the [[London Palladium]] and ''[[My Fair Lady]]'' at the [[Theatre Royal, Drury Lane]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/obituaries/patsy-rowlands-1-672697|title=Patsy Rowlands|website=Scotsman.com}}</ref>

Rowlands later television credits include ''[[The Cazalets]]'', ''[[The Canterbury Tales]]'', ''[[The Cater Street Hangman#Film.2C TV or theatrical adaptations|The Cater Street Hangman]]'', ''[[Get Well Soon (TV series)|Get Well Soon]]'', ''[[Vanity Fair (1998 TV serial)|Vanity Fair]]'', ''Murder Most English'', and ''[[Bottom (TV series)|Bottom]]'' for the [[BBC]]. In 2002, she was a guest on the paranormal series ''[[Most Haunted]]''. Rowlands took part in several DVD audio commentaries along with other surviving stars of the ''Carry On'' films in 2003.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.robertross.co.uk/page5.htm | title=Robert Ross DVD | access-date=21 November 2013 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131205202023/http://www.robertross.co.uk/page5.htm | archive-date=5 December 2013 | df=dmy-all }}</ref>

==Illness and death==
Rowlands developed [[breast cancer]], abandoned her plans to become an acting teacher and retired. She died of the disease in an [[East Sussex]] [[Hospice care|hospice]], aged 74.<ref name=GdnObit>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/jan/26/guardianobituaries.film | title=Patsy Rowlands | first=Dennis | last=Barker | newspaper=The Guardian | date=26 January 2005 | access-date=15 July 2012}}</ref>

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable"
! Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes
|-
|1960 || ''Stuff and Nonsense'' || June Pimble || TV movie
|-
|1961 || ''[[One Way Pendulum (film)|One Way Pendulum]]'' || Sylvia Groomkirby || TV movie
|-
|1961 || ''[[The Final Test]]'' || Cora || TV movie
|-
|1961 || ''[[On the Fiddle]]'' || Evie ||
|-
|1961 || ''[[Over the Odds]]'' || Marilyn ||
|-
|1962 || ''[[A Kind of Loving (film)|A Kind of Loving]]'' || Dorothy ||
|-
|1962 || ''[[The Amazing Dr Clitterhouse]]'' || Daisy || TV movie
|-
|1962 || ''[[In the Doghouse (film)|In the Doghouse]]'' || Barmaid ||
|-
|1962 || ''[[The Brain (1962 film)|The Brain]]'' || Young Woman at Dance Hall || Uncredited
|-
|1962 || ''Not At All'' || Mrs Chass || TV movie
|-
|1963 || ''[[Tom Jones (1963 film)|Tom Jones]]'' || Honor ||
|-
|1963 || ''[[A Stitch in Time (1963 film)|A Stitch in Time]]'' || Amy ||
|-
|1964 || ''Love and Maud Carver'' || Maud Carver ||
|-
|1965 || ''[[Dateline Diamonds]]'' || Mrs Edgecomb ||
|-
|1966 || ''Take A Sapphire'' || Leopoldina || TV movie
|-
|1969 || ''[[Carry On Again Doctor]]'' || Miss Fosdick ||
|-
|1970 || ''[[Carry On Loving]]'' || Miss Dempsey ||
|-
|1971 || ''[[Carry On Henry]]'' || Ex-Queen ||
|-
|1971 || ''[[Please Sir! (film)|Please Sir!]]'' || Angela Cutforth ||
|-
|1971 || ''[[Carry On at Your Convenience]]'' || Hortence Withering ||
|-
|1972 || ''[[Carry On Matron]]'' || Miss Banks ||
|-
|1972 || ''[[Bless This House (film)|Bless This House]]'' || Betty Lewis ||
|-
|1972 || ''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1972 film)|Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]'' || Cook ||
|-
|1972 || ''[[Carry On Abroad]]'' || Miss Dobbs ||
|-
|1973 || ''[[Carry On Girls]]'' || Mildred Bumble ||
|-
|1974 || ''[[Carry On Dick]]'' || Mrs Giles ||
|-
|1975 || ''[[Carry On Behind]]'' || Linda Upmore ||
|-
|1977 || ''[[Joseph Andrews (film)|Joseph Andrews]]'' || Gammer Andrews ||
|-
|1978 || ''[[Sammy's Super T-Shirt]]'' || Mum ||
|-
|1979 || ''[[Tess (1979 film)|Tess]]'' || The Landlady ||
|-
|1980 || ''[[Little Lord Fauntleroy (1980 film)|Little Lord Fauntleroy]]'' || Mrs Dibble || TV movie
|-
|1981 || ''[[Dangerous Davies|Dangerous Davies: The Last Detective]]'' || Madame Tarantella || TV movie
|-
|1987 || ''[[When We Are Married]]'' || Lottie Grady || TV movie
|-
|1990 || ''Crimestrike'' || Madame Tepinski ||
|-
|1992 || ''In Dreams'' || Royalist Housewife || TV movie
|-
|1998 || ''[[The Cater Street Hangman]]'' || Mrs Dumphy || TV movie
|-
|2002 || ''[[The Princess and the Pea (2002 film)|The Princess and the Pea]]'' || Sasha || Voice
|}

==Television roles==
===Comedy===
{| class="wikitable"
! Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes
|-
|1959 || ''[[Gert and Daisy]]'' || Bonnie ||
|-
|1961 || ''[[Danger Man]]'' || Mrs. Harkness ||
|-
|1964 || ''[[Danger Man]]'' || Mrs. Farebrother || Episode: The Ubiquitous Mr Lovegrove
|-
| 1964 || ''[[The Massingham Affair (TV series)|The Massingham Affair]]'' || Georgina Deverel ||
|-
| 1968-1970 || ''[[Inside George Webley]]'' || Rosemary Webley ||
|-
|1971 || ''[[Doctor at Large (TV series)|Doctor at Large]]'' || Liz Hickle ||
|-
|1971-1976 || ''[[Bless This House (British TV series)|Bless This House]]'' || Betty Lewis ||
|-
|1974-1977 || ''[[The Squirrels (TV series)|The Squirrels]]'' || Susan ||
|-
|1975
|''[[Not On Your Nellie|Not on Your Nellie]]''
|Clarissa Cholmondeley-Burnside
|Season 2 Episode 2 "High Society"
|-
|1979 || ''3 2 1'' || Herself ||
|-
|1979 || ''[[George and Mildred]]''|| Beryl, the barmaid ||
|-
|1980 || ''[[The Nesbitts Are Coming]]'' || WPC Naylor ||
|-
|1981 || ''[[Kinvig]]'' || Netta Kinvig ||
|-
|1981 || ''[[The Incredible Mr Tanner]]'' || Martha ||
|-
|1982-1986 || ''[[In Loving Memory (TV series)|In Loving Memory]]'' || Tiger-Lilly Longstaff ||
|-
|1989 || ''[[Never the Twain]]'' || Pamela Davenport ||
|-
|1983-1984 || ''[[Hallelujah! (TV series)|Hallelujah!]]'' || Alice Meredith ||
|-
|1992 || ''[[Bottom (TV series)|Bottom]]'' || Lil Potato ||
|-
|1997 || ''[[Get Well Soon (TV series)|Get Well Soon]]'' || Mrs Clapton ||
|-
|}

===Children's===
{| class="wikitable"
! Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes
|-
|1970 || ''[[Jackanory]]'' || Narrator || [[List of Jackanory episodes|5 episodes]]
|-
| 1971-1972 || ''[[Tottering Towers]]'' || Miss Twitty ||
|-
|1975 || ''[[The Basil Brush Show]]'' || Guest ||
|-
|1987-1992 || ''[[Rainbow (TV series)|Rainbow]]'' || Auntie ||
|}

===Drama===
{| class="wikitable"
! Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes
|-
|1961 || ''[[Danger Man]]'' || Mrs. Harkness ||
|-
|1964 || ''[[Danger Man]]'' || Mrs. Farebrother ||
|-
|1965 || ''[[List of Out of the Unknown episodes#Series 1|Out of the Unknown - Come Buttercup, Come Daisy, Come...?]]'' || Anne Lovejoy ||
|-
|1969 || ''[[The Avengers (TV series)|The Avengers]]'' || Thelma || Episode: "Love All"
|-
|1976 || Cinema Fire Safety Short Film : ''Fire Doors Save Lives'' || Ada : Tealady || Now listed under IMDB's Working Title, [[Public Information Film]], in Rowland's IMDB's Filmography.
|-
|2001 || ''[[The Cazalets]]'' || The Governess ||
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|0746772}}
* [https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/jan/26/guardianobituaries.film Obituary] in ''[[The Guardian]]''
* [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/patsy-rowlands-488228.html Obituary] in ''[[The Independent]]''

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowlands, Patsy}}
[[Category:1931 births]]
[[Category:2005 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century English singers]]
[[Category:20th-century English women singers]]
[[Category:Actors from the London Borough of Enfield]]
[[Category:Deaths from breast cancer in England]]
[[Category:English film actresses]]
[[Category:English musical theatre actresses]]
[[Category:English stage actresses]]
[[Category:English television actresses]]
[[Category:People from Palmers Green]]

Patsy Rowlands - Revision history

2A02:C7C:517E:B600:6C56:E2A2:ACE5:6FBB at 14:54, 24 September 2025