Annabel Leventon

Judith Annabel Leventon (born 20 April 1942 in Hertfordshire, England) is an English actress who has acted in various roles on stage and television.[1][2]

While reading English at the University of Oxford she made several appearances at the Oxford Playhouse and toured France as Desdemona in the Oxford University Dramatic Society's production of Othello.[1] She then joined the Fourbeats pop group, played at the Edinburgh Festival and continued in various other OUDS productions.[1]

On obtaining her BA she gained a grant to LAMDA and made her professional stage debut in Leicester.[1] In December 1967 she left for America where she joined Tom O' Horgan's La MaMa troupe in New York and worked with them for seven months before returning to Britain.[1] She was in the original London cast of Hair in 1968 at the Shaftesbury Theatre, also directed by O'Horgan.[1][3] She went on to direct and appear in the show in Paris.[4] She also appeared in the original London production of The Rocky Horror Show.[5]

Her first TV appearance was in The White Rabbit in 1967, and she went on to appear in a number of long-running series over the next four decades.[6][7]

Her film credits include roles in Come Back Peter (1969), Le Mur de l'Atlantique (1970), Every Home Should Have One (1970), The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), Shock Treatment (1981),[8] Real Life (1984), Defence of the Realm (1986), M. Butterfly (1993), Wimbledon (2004) and A Royal Night Out (2015).[9]

In 2013, Leventon appeared in the role of Constance, the Madwoman of the Flea Market, in the British premiere of Jerry Herman's Dear World at the Charing Cross Theatre, London.[10] In 2023, Leventon appeared in the role of Edith Tellmann in the British premiere of Bjørg Vik's The Journey to Venice at the Finborough Theatre, London.[11] For this role, she was nominated for an Offie for Lead Performance in a Play.[12]

She is the author of The Real Rock Follies: The Great Girl Band Rip-Off of 1976, released in 2017.[13]

TV appearances

Programme Year Part
ITV Playhouse 1969
Comedy Playhouse 1972
Dixon of Dock Green 1974
The New Avengers 1976
Van der Valk 1977
Penmarric 1979
Minder 1982 Muriel Standen
Crown Court 1974–1982
Alas Smith and Jones 1984
Mussolini: The Untold Story 1985
Dempsey and Makepeace 1986
Boon 1987
Bergerac 1989
A Touch of Frost 1992
Casualty 1995
London Bridge 1998
North Square 2000
Doctors 2004
Ian Fleming: Bondmaker 2005
Lennon Naked 2010
New Tricks 2011
On Giant's Shoulders 1979 Marjorie Wallace

Discography

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Annabel Leventon – Unfinished Histories". Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  2. ^ "Annabel Leventon | Theatricalia". theatricalia.com.
  3. ^ "Hair: The musical that 'changed theatre for ever'". BBC News. 27 September 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  4. ^ West, Carinthia. "New era for the age of Aquarius" – via www.thetimes.co.uk.
  5. ^ Palin, Michael (11 September 2014). Travelling to Work: Diaries 1988–1998. Orion. ISBN 9780297869627 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ "BBC Programme Index". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.
  7. ^ "Annabel Leventon". www.aveleyman.com.
  8. ^ Michaels, Scott; Evans, Davis, (2002). Rocky Horror: from concept to cult. Sanctuary Pub, Ltd. p. 238. https://books.google.ca/books/about/Rocky_Horror.html?id=_QccAQAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y.
  9. ^ "Annabelle Leventon". BFI. Archived from the original on 13 October 2017.
  10. ^ Billington, Michael (14 February 2013). "Dear World – review". The Guardian.
  11. ^ "The Journey to Venice review at Finborough Theatre, London by Bjørg Vik". The Stage. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  12. ^ admin (9 March 2023). "Annabel Leventon - The Journey to Venice - Finborough #Offies 2023 #NewNoms: LEAD PERF IN A PLAY LEAD". The Offies. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  13. ^ "'Without Rock Bottom, you wouldn't have had The Spice Girls'". Islington Tribune. Retrieved 15 September 2021.