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Renée Houston

Acting Born Jul 24, 1902 Johnstone, Renfrewshire, Scotland, UK 24 credits

Biography

Renée Houston (24 July 1902 - 9 February 1980) was a Scottish comedy actress and revue artist who appeared in television and film roles.

Born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, as Katherina Houston Gribbin she toured music halls and revues with her sister Billie Houston as the "Houston Sisters".

In 1926, the sisters made a short musical film, the script of which Renée had written. It was produced by Lee De Forest, whose process, Phonofilm, enabled a soundtrack to be played alongside the film (a year before The Jazz Singer).

Houston married three times, the second was to the actor Pat Aherne, the brother of Brian Aherne. Her third husband was the actor Donald Stewart.

In her later years, she specialised in "battleaxe" roles, notably as shop steward Vic Spanner's (Kenneth Cope) formidable mother in Carry On at Your Convenience (1971). She published her autobiography in 1974 which was entitled Don't Fence Me In.

Houston was also in the early episodes of radio's The Clitheroe Kid and a regular guest on radio panel show The Petticoat Line chaired by Anona Winn.

She died in London at the age of 77 on 9 February 1980.

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Known for

The Saint

as Ida Warshed

The Saint

as Mrs. McAlister

Theatre 625

as Madame Remy
Film

Repulsion

as Mme Balch
Film

Gnomeo & Juliet

as "Frank" Hickson
Film

Shrek the Third

as Ethel Watts

Full filmography

  • The Saint (1962) as Ida Warshed
  • The Saint (1962) as Mrs. McAlister
  • Theatre 625 (1964) as Madame Remy
  • Maigret (1960) as Ja-Ja
  • ITV Playhouse (1967)
  • No Hiding Place (1959)
  • Dr. Finlay's Casebook (1962)
  • Man of the World (1962) as Mrs Van Kempson
  • Repulsion (1965) as Mme Balch
  • Doctor in the House (1969)
  • W. Somerset Maugham (1969) as "Frank" Hickson
  • Cul-de-sac (1966) as Christopher's Mother
  • Armchair Theatre (1956) as Ethel Watts
  • The Key (1958) as Canteen Worker (uncredited)
  • A Town Like Alice (1956) as Ebbey
  • Carry On Spying (1964) as Funhouse Madame
  • The Phantom of the Opera (1962) as Mrs. Tucker
  • Carry On Cabby (1963) as Molly
  • The Horse's Mouth (1958) as Sara Monday
  • The Idol (1966) as 1st Woman at Party
  • The Flesh and the Fiends (1960) as Helen Burke
  • Carry On at Your Convenience (1971) as Agatha Spanner
  • Time Without Pity (1957) as Mrs. Harker
  • Lady Godiva Rides Again (1951) as Beattie