Rose Hill

Rose Lilian Hill (5 June 1914 – 22 December 2003) was an English actress and operatic soprano, who remains best known for her role as Madame Fanny La Fan in the British television series 'Allo 'Allo!. She was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Biography Hill was born in London and won a scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She started her career as a soprano in 1939, singing at the Sadler's Wells Opera (later English National Opera) in London; soubrette and lyric soprano roles such as Despina in Mozart's opera Così fan tutte. For the Glyndebourne Festival she sang Barbarina in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro. In 1948 she sang Lucy in the world premiere of Benjamin Britten's adaptation of The Beggar's Opera.

Hill's career in television and film started with the 1958 film The Bank Raiders and ended in 1994 with a guest appearance in A Touch of Frost. Hill played various roles, including Miss La Creevy, in the Royal Shakespeare Company's play The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (November 1980) at the Aldwych Theatre, an epic eight-hour stage adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel Nicholas Nickleby with Roger Rees, Emily Richard, Timothy Spall, John Woodvine, Edward Petherbridge, Ben Kingsley, Fulton Mackay, David Threlfall, Bob Peck and Christopher Benjamin.

Her film credits included roles in A Shot in the Dark (1964), Every Home Should Have One (1970), Tiffany Jones (1973), and House of Whipcord (1974).

Flanders and Swann wrote a song for Rose Hill called "A Word on My Ear".

Death She spent her final years in Denville Hall, a retirement home for actors, until her death in 2003; her 'Allo 'Allo! castmate Carmen Silvera also resided there.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes1958 The Bank Raiders Mrs. Marling 1963 Heavens Above! Woman Uncredited1964 A Shot in the Dark Soprano 1970 Every Home Should Have One Shopping Woman 1972 For the Love of Ada Third Mourner 1973 Tiffany Jones Prim Woman 1974 House of Whipcord Henry's Wife 1980 The Wildcats of St Trinian's Miss Martingale 1990 Press Gang Mrs. Williams 1994 A Touch of Frost Mrs Ryder