Betty Huntley-Wright

Betty Huntley-Wright (3 December 1911 – 27 May 1993) was a British actress and vocalist. Daughter of the comic actor Huntley Wright, she had a long career on stage, chiefly in comedy and pantomime, and in film, radio and television. Later, she also ran an antiques business in London.

Biography

Early years Huntley-Wright was born Betty Jessie Wright in Hampstead, London, one of three children of the comic actor Huntley Wright and his wife, the actress Mary Fraser. She was educated at Hampstead High School and studied for the stage under Julian Kimbell (singing), Anton Dolin and the Cone School (dancing). She made her first appearance on the stage at the Regent Theatre, Kings Cross, London, in 1928, as Chris Haversham in The Eye of Siva, and her first appearance in the West End, at His Majesty's Theatre in July 1929, as Freda in Noël Coward's operetta Bitter Sweet. From 1939 to 1942 she was a member of the BBC Repertory Company, formed to broadcast drama from studios away from London and wartime bombing. In 1942 she toured in Baby Mine and appeared again as Aladdin. Two years later, she was touring with the Carl Rosa Opera Company as Olympia, the doll, in The Tales of Hoffmann.

Personal life Huntley-Wright was twice married and twice divorced. Her first husband was the French actor-manager Claude Sainval (original name: Claude McConnel). Her second was the British actor John Arnatt.

She died of heart disease in Camden, London, in 1993, at the age of 81.

Selected filmography Little Miss Nobody (1933) Waltzes from Vienna (1934) The Last Waltz (1936) Meet Sexton Blake! (1945) The First Gentleman (1948) Just Joe (1960) Carry On Loving (1970; part of the Carry On series)