Carole Lesley

Biography

Maureen Rippingale (27 May 1935, in Chelmsford – 28 February 1974, in New Barnet), known professionally as Carole Lesley, was a British actress who had a short but significant career as a "blonde bombshell". Lesley ran away from home at the age of 16, "aiming to become a star". She starred in several films in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including the 1957 film Woman in a Dressing Gown, which won the 1958 Golden Globe Award for Best English-Language Foreign Film. She also appeared in Doctor in Love, Operation Bullshine and What a Whopper, and played Helen of Troy in a television play. However Associated decided to end her contract, which devastated her and she disappeared from the public eye. She subsequently lived in a semi-detached house overlooking New Barnet Railway Station, but by 1973 was felt by some to be "a deeply depressed, once beautiful woman, still haunted by a glamorous past". She died of a drug overdose.

Known For

Woman in a Dressing Gown

as Hilda Harper

What a Whopper

as Charlotte 'Charlie' Pinner

Doctor in Love

as Kitten Strudwick

No Trees in the Street

as Lova

The Silver Darlings

as Una (child)

Operation Bullshine

as Pvt. Marge White

The Pot Carriers

as Wendy

Three on a Spree

as Susan

These Dangerous Years

as Dinah Brown

Trottie True

as Clare as a child