Betty Marsden

Remarkable, unique, unforgettable Betty Marsden was one of Britain's most talented comedy actresses, best known for her multiple roles in the Kenneth Horne shows on BBC radio in the 1960s. Betty Marsden was born in Liverpool on 24th February 1919, and appeared at Bath Pavilion aged 11 as the First Fairy in A Midsummer Night's Dream. She made her London debut later that year as the Prince in The Windmill Man (Victoria Palace), a fairy play with music. Gaining a scholarship for six years to the Italia Conti Stage School, she first acted in the West End in Closing at Sunrise (Royalty, 1935). Other pre-war West End work came in Basil Dean's production of Autumn (1937), Ivor Novello's Comedienne (1938), and J B Priestley's morality play, Johnson Over Jordan (1939). During the Second World War she entertained the troops with ENSA, and played in the war-torn West End in the American comedy, Junior Miss (1943). In 1947 she won critical praise as the amorous Mrs Corcoran to Alastair Sim's m