Judith Furse
Encyclopedia
Career
A member of the noted FurseFurse (surname)
Furse is a Devon surname as well as one of several names for the evergreen shrub more widely known as Gorse. The name is believed to be derived from Old English: fyrse . the name is often compared to that of Furze that is also found in Cornwall....
family, her father was Lieutenant-General Sir William Furse
William Furse
Lieutenant General Sir William Thomas Furse KCB KCMG DSO was a Master-General of the Ordnance.-Military career:Educated at the Royal Grammar School, Guildford, Furse was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1884. He was Aide-de-Camp to Lord Roberts from 1891 to 1893.He served in the Second...
. Her brother, Roger
Roger K. Furse
Roger Kemble Furse was an English art director and costume designer of stage and film.-Career:The son of Lieutenant General Sir William Furse, Roger Furse was educated at Eton and the Slade School of Fine Arts....
, became a celebrated stage designer and painter who occasionally worked in films.
She was educated at St Paul's Girls' School
St Paul's Girls' School
St Paul's Girls' School is a senior independent school, located in Brook Green, Hammersmith, in West London, England.-History:In 1904 a new day school for girls was established by the trustees of the Dean Colet Foundation , which had run St Paul's School for boys since the sixteenth century...
and studied theatre at the Old Vic
Old Vic
The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...
in the early 1930s. By the end of that decade, she became a stage actress. One of Judith Furse's earliest film successes was as Sister Briony in Black Narcissus
Black Narcissus
Black Narcissus is a 1947 film by the British director-writer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, based on the novel of the same name by Rumer Godden...
(1947). She was known for her heavy-set, somewhat masculine looks, and was often cast as overbearing types such as the villainous Doctor Crow in Carry On Spying
Carry On Spying
Carry On Spying is a 1964 film, the ninth movie in the Carry On film series. It marks Barbara Windsor's first appearance in the series. Series regulars Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey and Jim Dale are present. Bernard Cribbins makes the second of his three Carry On appearances...
(1964). Other films included The Man in the White Suit
The Man in the White Suit
The Man In The White Suit is a 1951 satirical comedy film made by Ealing Studios. It starred Alec Guinness, Joan Greenwood, and Cecil Parker, and was directed by Alexander Mackendrick. It followed a common Ealing Studios theme of the "common man" against the Establishment...
(1951), The Heart of the Matter
The Heart of the Matter (film)
The Heart of the Matter is a 1953 British film based on the book of the same name by Graham Greene. It was directed by George More O'Ferrall for London Films. It was entered into the 1953 Cannes Film Festival.-Plot, cast and production:...
(1953), Blue Murder at St. Trinian's (1957) and Carry On Cabby
Carry On Cabby
Carry On Cabby is the seventh Carry On film. Released in 1963, it was the first one written by series mainstay Talbot Rothwell from a story by Sid Green and Dick Hills...
(1963). One of her more sympathetic roles was as Flora, Greer Garson
Greer Garson
Greer Garson, CBE was a British-born actress who was very popular during World War II, being listed by the Motion Picture Herald as one of America's top ten box office draws in 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, and 1946. As one of MGM's major stars of the 1940s, Garson received seven Academy Award...
's concerned travelling companion, in the original Goodbye, Mr Chips
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939 film)
Goodbye, Mr. Chips is a 1939 British film based on the novel of the same name by James Hilton. It was directed by Sam Wood, and starred Robert Donat, Greer Garson, Terry Kilburn, John Mills, and Paul Henreid. The screenplay was adapted from the novel by R. C. Sherriff, Claudine West and Eric...
(1939). In 1972 she made her last film appearance in The Adventures of Barry Mackenzie.