Rosamund John

Biography

A leading British stage and screen actress, Rosamund John is remembered with affection for her roles in film classics such as The Way to the Stars, Green For Danger and Tawny Pipit. Born in 1913 she grew up in Tottenham, London and studied at the Embassy School of Acting. She made her film debut in 1934 in The Secret of the Loch and two years later made her first appearance on the West End stage in Anthony and Cleopatra. Spotted by the legendary impresario C.B.Cochran she went on to appear in the revue Home and Beauty. In 1940 she starred opposite Robert Donat in Shaw's Devils Disciple (Adelphi Theatre) and as a result went on to make three films with the actor Leslie Howard. In 1989 she spoke of her relationship with Howard: "He taught me everything I know about filmmaking. I got on very well with him and luckily he didn't want to get into bed with me - as he did with quite a few people he worked with." In 1949 John was nominated to be the Actors Representative on the Working Party on Film Production Costs and for many years she was a leading figure with Equity, the British actors trade union. Reflecting on her work with the union in 1990 she said: "I worked on several committees including one to establish minimum rates for chorus workers. After World War Two we fought a tough battle with the BBC which wanted to claim that all actors were self-employed and therefore the BBC need not pay their income tax or National Insurance - which would mean they couldn't claim unemployment benefit. We had to fight to get actors paid for performances." John made several television appearances including a guest cameo in Crimes of Passion (1971).