- published: 03 Feb 2015
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Billie Honor Whitelaw, CBE (born 6 June 1932) is an English actress. She worked in close collaboration with Irish playwright Samuel Beckett for 25 years and is regarded as one of the foremost interpreters of his works. She is also known for her portrayal of Mrs Baylock, the demonic nanny in The Omen.
In 1991, Whitelaw was awarded the CBE.
Whitelaw was born in Coventry, Warwickshire, the daughter of Frances Mary (née Williams) and Gerry Whitelaw. She grew up in a working class part of the city and later attended Thornton Grammar School in Bradford. At age 11, she began performing as a child actress on radio programmes and later worked as an assistant stage manager at a provincial theatre.
After training at RADA, Whitelaw made her stage debut at age 18 in London 1950. She made her film debut in The Sleeping Tiger (1954), followed by roles in Carve Her Name With Pride (1958) and Hell Is a City (1960). Whitelaw soon became a regular in British films of the 1950s and early 1960s. In her early film work she specialized in blousy blondes and secretaries, but her dramatic range began to emerge by the late 1960s. She starred alongside Albert Finney in Charlie Bubbles (1967), a performance which won her a BAFTA award as Best Actress in a Supporting Role. She would win her second BAFTA as the sensuous mother of college student Hayley Mills in the psychological study Twisted Nerve (1969). She continued in film roles including Leo the Last (1970), Start the Revolution Without Me (1970), Gumshoe (1971) and the Alfred Hitchcock thriller Frenzy (1972).
Samuel Beckett - Rockaby, starring Billie Whitelaw, director: Alan Schneider (1981)
BBC News 22 December 2014 Actress Billie Whitelaw dies at 82
Charlie Bubbles (1967) - Billie Whitelaw scene
[1973] "Not I" (Samuel Beckett)
Armchair Thriller brown skin gal,stay home and mind bay bee 1971
Actress Billie Whitelaw dies at 82
Billie Whitelaw + Machine Gun
Billie Whitelaw ● A Simple Tribute
BILLIE WHITELAW
Frenzy (Alfred Hitchcock, 1972) - Trailer
Wake me from my sleep
A cautionary tale
A walk in infancy
A way to derail
I wanted to be free
And I wanted only you
The walls are falling down
And somebody says
Give a little love, give a little love
But take your time
And somebody sighs
Yes, give a little love, give a little love
But take your time
A private life, c'mon now
I said livin' gets to be
Just like a rat race, rat race
C'mon, I'm a-read between the lines
Fierce stuggle, a natural one
A Tough job gets to be
Just like a rat race, rat race
C'mon, I'm locked up in myself
Check before rising
Check before we work
Childproof the scene
No screams can be heard
The roof is caving in
The space between our hearts
The walls are falling down
It's a rat, it's a rat, it's a rat race
It's a rat, it's a rat race
Aah life, living in a rat race, c'mon
Hmm life, are you living in a rat race?
C'mon, here inside yourself