Carole Lesley

Carole Lesley (born Maureen Carol Lesley Rippingale; 27 May 1935 – 28 February 1974) was a British actress who had a short but significant career in the 1950s and early 1960s. Hailed by critics as a "glamourous cross between Marilyn Monroe and Diana Dors", Lesley became known as a blonde bombshell and starred in a number of films.

Early life Lesley was born Maureen Carol Lesley Rippingale in Chelmsford, Essex, the second of three children of Rupert and Winifred Rippingale (née Appleton). Neighbours would see a young Lesley dancing under the street lamps outside her home in Manor Road, Chelmsford with dreams of becoming a star, first to London where she worked in several cabaret clubs and nightclubs as a dancer. including the 1957 film Woman in a Dressing Gown, which won the 1958 Golden Globe Award for Best English-Language Foreign Film. Lesley would attend a large number of premieres, social events and parties, and appeared on many magazine covers. Lesley's next project was These Dangerous Years (1957), in which she was praised by critics, one stating that "Carole Lesley gives that rarity of the British film world, an actress with both talent and glamour". The Evening Chronicle lauded Lesley's performance, saying that "her impact is immediate and scorching. Unlike most other British film actresses, Miss Lesley flaunts her sex-appeal like a banner. She is lovely and she knows it." Lesley represented Great Britain at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival. In 1959, she went on to star in No Trees in the Street (1959), Operation Bullshine (1959) and played Helen of Troy in a television play.

Lesley's film roles in the 1960s primarily consisted of comedies, including Doctor in Love (1960) with Michael Craig and Leslie Phillips, and What a Whopper (1961) opposite Adam Faith and Sid James. Her final screen role would be that of Wendy in The Pot Carriers (1962).

Later life and death In April 1963, Lesley announced that she was to marry film publicist Michael Dalling that August, which was promoted by a photoshoot in Regent's Park in London; the engagement made front page news in the UK. Later that month, Associated British Pictures decided to end Lesley's contract, which devastated her. Already "haunted by a crippling lack of confidence", and a self-confessed "terrible worrier", the decision by the studios took its toll on Lesley, and her health began to deteriorate.

In May 1963, Lesley was discovered in her flat by her mother with "cuts on her arms and legs" and was taken to hospital but was discharged a day later, with Lesley telling the press that she "had been silly" and apologised "for the fuss I have caused". On two occasions in August 1963, Lesley was admitted to hospital for overdosing on sleeping pills.

Lesley instead married Dalling in 1964; Lesley told an interviewer at the time, "I wanted to be a good actress but now I am prepared to face the fact that I was only mediocre. I will now try to be a good housewife instead". Lesley subsequently had two sons with Dalling and lived in a semi-detached house overlooking New Barnet station in north London, but by 1973 was described as "a deeply depressed, once beautiful woman, still haunted by a glamorous past". Lesley's husband Michael Dalling telephoned Lesley from work, but after getting no reply, he travelled home. Lesley was found dead by Dalling in the kitchen of their family home.

At her inquest, the coroner recorded a verdict of suicide by an overdose of barbiturates, and the pathologist confirmed that Lesley's death was caused by barbiturate poisoning, and that Lesley had taken approximately 30 capsules in one single dose.

Legacy The Chelmsford Pavilion Cinema, where Lesley worked in her teenage years as an usherette, was demolished in 2007 and replaced by a retail and residential complex which was named Carole Lesley Court in her memory.

Filmography