The Rita Tushingham Home Page

Credits & Photos 1942 - 1961




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John Tushingham (b. 1906) and Enid Ellen Lott (b. 1909)
Rita's parents on their wedding day.  They were married in St. Peter's church, Woolton.
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Peter, Colin, Rita Tushingham
Rita with her two older brothers.  Rita is the youngest of four children.  Her older sister Olive died at age six months, but this was three years before Rita was born.  Rita initially wanted to be a footballer and a trapeze artist.
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John, Rita, Colin, Peter Tushingham
On a trip to north Wales.


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Rita Tushingham
In 1946, the Tushinghams moved from Ryegate Road to the Hunts Cross district of Liverpool.  At age five, Rita attended the Heatherlea school in Allerton.  From age 7 to 14, she attended the La Sagesse convent school in Grassendale, even though Rita is not Catholic.  She chose this school primarily to avoid crossing a lot of roads – she could take a train, and would have to cross only one small road.  As luck would have it, it was on this small road that she was run over by a motorist at age 7, hurting her neck and head quite badly.
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Rita Tushingham
From an early age, Rita wanted to be an actress.  At age 14 she enrolled in the Shelagh Elliott-Clarke school in Liverpool for acting, dancing, and elocution lessons.  Her parents wanted Rita to have marketable skills, so they also made her take shorthand and typing classes at a secretarial school, which she hated.
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Liverpool Playhouse
Rita wanted to gain experience on the stage, and after writing a great many letters, she finally was offered a position as a student Assistant Stage Manager with the Liverpool Repertory Company, which presented stage plays at the Liverpool Playhouse.  She assumed her new position just before Christmas of 1958, at a salary of £1 per week.  Her duties included making the tea, calling the actors, storing the props, working the curtain, prompting the actors, sweeping the stage, running the sound effects, and acting bit parts.







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The article that changed Rita's life.  From the Daily Express, 02 Mar 1960.
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click for full size Mary Ure, Jeremy Brett
Mary Ure, Jeremy Brett
 



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