Happy Birthday Rosalind Knight!

Many happy returns to the actress Rosalind Knight, who celebrates her birthday today! Rosalind, still active in the acting profession, is well known to us Carry On buffs for her eye-catching roles in two early Carry On films.

Rosalind first appeared in a cameo role in the second film in the series, Carry On Nurse, made in late 1958. Although only in her early twenties at the time, she shone as the accident prone but aptly named Nurse Nightingale. Obviously making her mark, Rosalind was asked back by Peter Rogers for a bigger role in the next film, Carry On Teacher.

In Teacher, Rosalind plays the wonderfully severe schools inspector Felicity Wheeler, who together with Alistair Grigg (Leslie Phillips) conducts an inspection of Maudlin Street School. Of course being a Carry On, things do not go to plan as Richard O'Sullivan's Robin Stevens leads a revolt with the aim of keeping head teacher William Wakefield at the school.

Felicity also falls for the bumbling science teacher, played by Carry On legend Kenneth Connor. Although only meeting and working together for the first time, Knight and Connor work extremely well together and are the heart of the film for me. Sadly Rosalind did not return for any further Carry On films but she has gone on to enjoy a long, varied and successful career on stage, television and in film. It was great to see her reminisce about her time making Teacher in the Carry On Forever documentary screened earlier this year.

Whatever Rosalind is up to today, I hope she has a wonderful birthday.

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