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Connie Booth

Actor

Connie Booth

Born December 2, 1940 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA26 films

Constance "Connie" Booth (born 2 December 1940) is an American writer and actress, known for appearances on British television and particularly for her portrayal of Polly Sherman in the popular 1970s television show Fawlty Towers, which she co-wrote with her then husband John Cleese.

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In 1995, she quit acting and worked as a psychotherapist until her retirement.

Booth was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, on December 2, 1940. Her father was a Wall Street stockbroker and her mother was an actress. The family later moved to New York State. Booth entered acting and worked as a Broadway understudy and waitress. She met John Cleese while he was working in New York City; they married on February 20, 1968.

Booth secured parts in episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969–74) and in the Python films And Now for Something Completely Different (1971) and Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975, as a woman accused of being a witch). She also appeared in How to Irritate People (1968), a pre-Monty Python film starring Cleese and other future Monty Python members; a short film titled Romance with a Double Bass (1974) which Cleese adapted from a short story by Anton Chekhov; and The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It (1977), Cleese's Sherlock Holmes spoof, as Mrs. Hudson

Booth and Cleese co-wrote and co-starred in Fawlty Towers (1975 and 1979), in which she played waitress and chambermaid Polly. For thirty years Booth declined to talk about the show until she agreed to participate in a documentary about the series for the digital channel Gold in 2009.

Booth played various roles on British television, including Sophie in Dickens of London (1976), Mrs. Errol in a BBC adaptation of Little Lord Fauntleroy (1980) and Miss March in a dramatisation of Edith Wharton's The Buccaneers (1995). She also starred in the lead role of a drama called The Story of Ruth (1981), in which she played the role of the schizophrenic daughter of an abusive father. In 1994, she played a supporting role in "The Culex Experiment", an episode of the children's science fiction TV series The Tomorrow People.

Booth also had a stage career, primarily in the London theatre, appearing in 10 productions from the mid-1970s through the mid-1990s, notably starring with John Mills in the 1983–1984 West End production of Little Lies at Wyndham's Theatre

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Monty Python and the Holy Grail posterFirst watchMonty Python and the Holy Grail19757.8as The WitchKing Arthur, accompanied by his squire, recruits his Knights of the Round Table, including Sir Bedevere the Wise, Sir Lancelot the Brave, Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-As-Sir-Lancelot…View film

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Filmography

26 films as actor
  1. 1993Leon the Pig FarmerYvonne Chadwick
  2. 1991Smack and ThistleMs Kane
  3. 1991American FriendsCaroline Hartley
  4. 1990The World of Eddie WearyMadge
  5. 1988High SpiritsMarge
  6. 1988HawksNurse Javis
  7. 198784 Charing Cross RoadThe Lady from Delaware
  8. 1987The Return of Sherlock HolmesViolet Morstan
  9. 1986Past CaringLinda
  10. 1986Rocket to the MoonBelle Stark
  11. 1984Nairobi AffairMrs. Gardner
  12. 1983The Hound of the BaskervillesLaura Lyons
  13. 1982The Deadly GameHelen Trapp
  14. 1982The Story of RuthRuth Baker
  15. 1980Little Lord FauntleroyMrs. Errol
  16. 1980Why Didn't They Ask Evans?Sylva Bassington-ffrench
  17. 1978Thank You, ComradesAnnie
  18. 1977The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know ItMrs. Hudson / Francine Moriarty
  19. 1977The Mermaid FrolicsVarious
  20. 1977Spaghetti Two-StepSheila
  21. 197584 Charing Cross RoadGinny
  22. 1975Monty Python and the Holy GrailThe Witch
  23. 1975The After Dinner GameLee-Ann Good
  24. 1974Romance with a Double BassPrincess Costanza
  25. 1971And Now for Something Completely DifferentBest Girl
  26. 1969How to Irritate PeopleVarious