Big Red Book

Celebrating television's This Is Your Life

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THIS IS YOUR LIFE - Phyllis Calvert, actress, was surprised by Eamonn Andrews - with the help of a group of carol singers - on the doorstep of her west London home.

Phyllis, who was born in Chelsea, London, trained at the Margaret Morris School of Dancing and performed professionally from the age of ten. She later acted in regional repertory theatre and appeared in several films before making her London stage debut in A Woman's Privilege in 1939. While appearing in a later play, film producers spotted her and offered her a contract with Gainsborough Pictures.

She appeared in several films for Gainsborough before achieving stardom with her role in their 1943 melodrama The Man in Grey, which confirmed her status as a leading actress. Further success followed, including Fanny by Gaslight and They Were Sisters, and by the mid-1940s, she was one of Britain's highest-paid film stars. She became familiar to television viewers in 1970 when she starred in the ITV drama series Kate, playing a problematic agony aunt.

programme details...

• Edition No: 340
• Subject No: 341
• Broadcast date: Wed 20 Dec 1972
• Broadcast time: 7.00-7.30pm
• Recorded: Tue 12 Dec 1972 6.00pm
• Venue: Euston Road Studios
• Series: 13
• Edition: 6

on the guest list...

• Penelope Keith
• Patrick Barr
• Elizabeth Burger
• Auriol - daughter
• Vera - sister
• Ralph Michael
• Betty White
• Patricia Roc
• Jean Kent
• Philip Friend
• Eileen Friend
• Martin Friend
• Terence Morgan
• Felix Aylmer
• Margaret Morris
Filmed tributes:
• Margaret Lockwood
• Richard Haydn

related appearances...

• Margaret Lockwood - Dec 1963
• Jean Kent - Jan 1975
• Richard Goolden - Mar 1978
• Alec McCowen - Dec 1989

production team...

• Researcher: unknown
• Writer: unknown
• Director: Margery Baker
• Producer: Malcolm Morris

• names above in bold indicate subjects of This Is Your Life

• with thanks to Thomas Dyton for his contribution to this page

An Actor's Life For Me

spotlight on the stars

Jean Kent

Margaret Lockwood

Interviews

Auriol Lee, daughter of Phyllis Calvert, recalls this edition of This Is Your Life in an exclusive interview recorded in October 2015

Photographs of Phyllis Calvert This Is Your Life - and a photograph of Phyllis Calvert's big red book