Renée Houston
Known For
Acting
Born
1902-07-24 in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, Scotland, UK
Died
1980-02-09
Biography
Renée Houston (24 July 1902 - 9 February 1980) was a Scottish comedy actress and revue artist who appeared in television and film roles. Born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, as Katherina Houston Gribbin she toured music halls and revues with her sister Billie Houston as the "Houston Sisters". In 1926, the sisters made a short musical film, the script of which Renée had written. It was produced by Lee De Forest, whose process, Phonofilm, enabled a soundtrack to be played alongside the film (a year before The Jazz Singer). Houston married three times, the second was to the actor Pat Aherne, the brother of Brian Aherne. Her third husband was the actor Donald Stewart. In her later years, she specialised in "battleaxe" roles, notably as shop steward Vic Spanner's (Kenneth Cope) formidable mother in Carry On at Your Convenience (1971). She published her autobiography in 1974 which was entitled Don't Fence Me In. Houston was also in the early episodes of radio's The Clitheroe Kid and a regular guest on radio panel show The Petticoat Line chaired by Anona Winn. She died in London at the age of 77 on 9 February 1980. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Most Known For
The Saint
as Ida Warshed
The Saint
as Mrs. McAlister
Theatre 625
as Madame Remy
No Hiding Place
Dr. Finlay's Casebook
Maigret
as Ja-Ja
Repulsion
as Mme Balch
Doctor in the House
Man of the World
as Mrs Van Kempson
The Comic
as Olive
Cul-de-sac
as Christopher's Mother
Radio Parade
The Key
as Canteen Worker (uncredited)
Carry On at Your Convenience
as Agatha Spanner
Carry On Cabby
as Molly
Time Without Pity
as Mrs. Harker
The Flesh and the Fiends
as Helen Burke
Carry On Spying
as Funhouse Madame
Legend of the Werewolf
as Chou-Chou
The Phantom of the Opera
as Mrs. Tucker