Rula Lenska (born Roza Maria Leopoldyna Lubienski 30 September 1947) is a British actress. She mainly appears in British stage and television productions, but appeared in a series of television advertisements in the 1970s and 1980s in the United States. In the United Kingdom, she played Luce Habit in Queen Kong (1976) and Claudia Colby in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street (2009–11; 2018–22).
Lenska was previously married to the actors Brian Deacon (1977–1987) and Dennis Waterman (1987–1998). Both marriages ended in divorce.
Early life
<div style="float:right;clear:right">
150px|thumb|Łubieński coat of arms</div>
Lenska was born in England in the village of Diddington, near St Neots, Huntingdonshire, in a Polish resettlement camp that had previously been the EVAC American Military Hospital. Her birth was registered in nearby St Neots.
Her family is Polish nobility, bearing the Pomian coat of arms, and before the war owned a castle and estate in Kazimierza Wielka. Her father, Major Ludwik Łubieński, was personal secretary to Józef Beck, Minister for Foreign Affairs in Poland before the German occupation of the country. Later, he became adjutant to General Sikorski, Prime Minister of the Polish Government in Exile and was chief of the Polish military mission in Gibraltar during World War II. During the Cold War he headed the CIA-funded Polish Section of Radio Free Europe in Germany. Her mother was Countess Elżbieta Tyszkiewicz, who escaped from Poland to Italy during the German occupation, but was captured with her own mother and sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp, where they survived for two years before emigrating to England in 1946.
Lenska has two sisters: Anna, an actress who appeared in films in the late-1950s and early-1960s, and Gabriela. Lenska was educated at the Ursuline Convent School in Westgate-on-Sea, Kent.
Career
1965–1980: Early works and U.S. recognition
After attending Webber-Douglas School of Drama for two and a half years, Lenska embarked on her career as an actress at 18, much to her father's dismay, who wanted her to go into the United Nations; she first appeared in an uncredited role in Dixon of Dock Green. Lenska's first major production was in the West End production of Francis Durbridge's play, Suddenly at Home, as Ruth. She would then go on to portray Helga in the 1975 British adventure comedy Royal Flash, based on the George MacDonald Fraser novel of the same name, before receiving subsequent notoriety for her role as Little Ladies band member "Q" in the British TV series Rock Follies (1976–77), which she describes as her most lucrative role.
In the late 1970s, Lenska began to appear in television adverts for the hair product Alberto VO5, which were shown in the United States. Because Lenska had primarily worked in Britain, she was almost entirely unknown in the United States, yet the commercials were scripted as if Lenska was an established celebrity. Around the same time, Jane Curtin enacted Lenska in a sketch on Saturday Night Live.
On 5 June 1978, Lenska performed as Titania in David Conville's directorial version of the William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream. The production was staged at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre in London.
The ribbing culminated with a sketch on the short-lived 1980 variety program The Big Show, where Steve Allen, dressed in drag, parodied her as "Rula Shiksa," making a commercial by a swimming pool; Lenska, making her first U.S. appearance, came onto the set to confront him. Allen was not told about her presence; it was a prank arranged by the show's producer, Nick Vanoff, who kept her hidden during the entire rehearsal and filming, so he was legitimately shocked when she approached him. She delivered a punchline, "I'm Rula Lenska and you're not!" and then pushed him into the pool.
1981–1989: Subsequent roles and continued stage presence
In 1981, Lenska would ironically portray Countess Radzsky in the television film The Seven Dials Mystery, based on the Agatha Christie mystery novel of the same name. She was also featured in the BBC serial Private Schulz broadcast in the same year. From 5 September to 10 October 1981, Lenska, in her first leading role, starred alongside John Inman in the short-lived sitcom Take a Letter, Mr. Jones, playing the role of executive Joan Warner. The series ran for only six episodes before being cancelled due to poor ratings. In November, she guest starred as Mademoiselle Dutoit in the BBC television sitcom To the Manor Born in the episode, "Cosmetics." In 1982, Lenska returned to stage, performing as Judith Hayne in the West End murder mystery theatre production, Mr. Fothergill's Murder, originally written by Peter O'Donnell. The show premiered in April at Hull New Theatre; Lenska retained the role for seven months until the show's closing in November at Duke of York's Theatre in London.
Lenska also appeared as a storyteller in five episodes of the BBC children's programme Jackanory, narrating traditional Polish folk tales. That same year, Lenska would first guest star in the Dennis Waterman-lead comedy Minder, as Kate; she would make future appearances on the programme between 1985 and 1989, during her marriage to Waterman. In 1987, Lenska returned to voice portrayals on BBC Radio, leading as Lady Faustus in the self-entitled broadcast. From September to November 1988, Lenska starred as Elvira in Noël Coward's Blithe Spirit; Lenska returned to production in June 1989 in replacement of Louise Jameson.
1990–1998: Decline in television and film; primary work in theatre
Shortly after Lenska no longer appeared in Alberto VO5 commercials, her demand dropped significantly, appearing in very few films and starring television roles.
From June to July 1990, Lenska played Valerie Vilma in Václav Havel's Temptation at the Westminster Theatre. In 1992, Lenska acted as Desiree Armfeldt in the West End musical A Little Night Music from 16 April to 2 May, at the Plymouth Theatre Royal. In 1993, she performed in two West End productions, the first The Cherry Orchard (from May to June), playing the role of Lyuba Ranyevskaya, a landowner, at the Redgrave Theatre, Farnham, and the second Present from the Past (from August to October), playing Frances on the show's tour. In 1994, she portrayed the lead antagonist role of Annie Wilkes in Misery, a play based on the 1987 Stephen King novel of the same name, playing opposite Bryan Murray, who portrayed the protagonist, Paul Sheldon. The tour began on 16 May at the King's Theatre in Scotland, and concluded on 23 July at the New Theatre, Cardiff.
Beginning in April 1995, she began starring as Freda Caplan in J. B. Priestley's play Dangerous Corner, replacing Gayle Hunnicutt and acting alongside Christopher Timothy. She remained in a primary capacity until the show finished in July. In July 1996, she captured the lead role of Lady Macbeth in her second Shakespeare production, Macbeth, performing at the Stafford Castle for the show's two-week run. From August to September 1997, she performed at the Chichester Festival Theatre in the W. Somerset Maugham play, Our Betters, as Duchesse de Surenne. From 26 May to 12 September 1998, she played Vivienne Trent in the tour of Dangerous to Know, based on the 1995 Barbara Taylor Bradford novel of the same name.
In 1996 she featured in the music video Never Never Love (song) for Simply Red.
2002–present: Return from hiatus; Celebrity Big Brother and Coronation Street
Lenska took four years off acting in the aftermath of her divorce from Dennis Waterman. She returned to theatre as a part of the ensemble cast of Masterpieces from May to June 2002. In July, Lenska, alongside Angie Le Mar and Tilly Blackwood, joined the cast of The Vagina Monologues U.K. tour, beginning at the Arts Theatre in London.
In 2003, Lenska made her return to film, after a 22 year gap, in the starring role of Dee Perry in the low budget black comedy film Paradise Grove, acting opposite Ron Moody. In 2004, she would appear in the crime film Fakers, as Sylvia Creat. In March 2004, she began playing Helene Hanff in 84, Charing Cross Road, based on the 1970 book of the same name.
In January 2005, Lenska began performing at the Perth Theatre, playing the role of Stella in A Sense of Justice until 12 February. She then played middle-aged mother Irina in the independent film Gypo, which was the first UK feature film to be made under Dogme rules; she played a Romani refugee from the Czech Republic living on a caravan site in Margate. In December 2005, she appeared on stage with the London Gay Men's Chorus for their Christmas Show, Make the Yuletide Gay. She sang and danced while also hosting the show at Symphony Hall in Birmingham, the Dome Concert Hall in Brighton and the Barbican Centre in London.
Lenska's work on tour with the London Gay Men's Chorus is assumed to have prompted her participation in the United Kingdom version of Celebrity Big Brother in January 2006. Her reason for accepting the invitation to go on the show was "I'm a crazy Polish countess who likes a challenge". During the show, she declared that she had been a "Tibetan Buddhist" for many years but had been practising Nichiren Daishonin for two years. On 13 January 2006, alongside fellow housemate, Scottish politician and then-Respect Party MP George Galloway, she attracted the attention of the media by indulging in a role-play task set by Celebrity Big Brother, in which Galloway pretended to be a cat licking milk from her cupped hands, and Lenska stroked his ears and moustache. and hosted a mini-show at Lutterworth Piano Rooms 3 November 2012.
She starred in the independent British film Jack Says (2008), opposite her one-time EastEnders co-star Mike Reid. That same year she lent her voice to the animation film Agent Crush. In 2009, Lenska joined the cast of Coronation Street as new character Claudia Colby, an old friend of Audrey Roberts. In May 2011, Lenska left the role to join the Calendar Girls tour in August 2011.
In 2016, she appeared in a Christmas special episode of the comedy Inside No. 9.
She reprised her role in Coronation Street in July 2018, before leaving the show again in April 2020. Lenska returned as Claudia for Norris Cole's funeral in September 2021, and returned again in August 2022.
In May 2022, Lenska joined the cast of the stage adaptation of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. She is a regular performer (and part of the original cast) of the touring play Seven Deadly Sins Four Deadly Sinners.
Personal life
Lenska has been married twice, first to actor Brian Deacon (4 June 1977 – 1987), with whom she had one daughter, and secondly to actor Dennis Waterman, from 3 January 1987 until 31 March 1998. Both marriages ended in divorce.
She and Waterman met on the set of Minder in 1981 where their characters had a brief love interest. Some years after Lenska's second marriage ended, in a March 2012 interview with Piers Morgan, Waterman said: "It's not difficult for a woman to make a man hit her. She certainly wasn't a beaten wife, she was hit and that's different." Via her friend, Denise Welch on Loose Women, Lenska said that she was relieved that he had now admitted beating her. Lenska had made allegations against Waterman shortly after their split and thought she could no longer be accused of lying.
In 2016, Lenska was sentenced to a 16-month driving ban and ordered to pay a total of £526 after crashing her car while under the influence of alcohol. Her three-year-old grandson was a passenger in the car.
Filmography
Film
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes
|-
|1974 || Soft Beds, Hard Battles || Louise ||
|-
|rowspan="3"|1975 || Alfie Darling || Louise ||
|-
|Confessions of a Pop Performer || Receptionist ||
|-
|Royal Flash || Helga ||
|-
|rowspan="3"|1976 || It Could Happen to You || Rita ||
|-
|The Deadly Females || Luisa ||
|-
|Queen Kong || Luce Habit ||
|-
|1979 || Jesus || Herodias || Scene cut
|-
|1981 || The Seven Dials Mystery || Countess Radzsky ||
|-
|2003 || Paradise Grove || Dee Perry ||
|-
|2004 || Fakers || Sylvia Creat ||
|-
|2005 || Gypo || Irina ||
|-
|rowspan="2"|2008 || Jack Says || Garvey ||
|-
|Agent Crush || Olga Thyburn || Voice role
|-
|2014 || Bait || Linda ||
|-
|2018 || The Exorcism of Karen Walker || Ada ||
|-
|rowspan="2"|2022 || The Huntress of Auschwitz || Amelia Kaminska ||
|-
| The Winter Witch || Omi ||
|-
|rowspan="2"|2023 || The Picture of Dorian Gray || Narrator || Voice role
|-
| Alice in Terrorland || Beth ||
|-
| 2024 || The Kingdom by the Sea || Linda ||
|}
Television
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes
|-
|1965 || Dixon of Dock Green || Policewoman || Uncredited
|-
|1971 || The Doctors || Josee Erlander || 2 episodes
|-
|1973 || Once Upon a Time || Prince Charming || Episode: "Buttons"
|-
|rowspan="2"|1974 || Special Branch || Lydia || Episode: "Something About a Soldier"
|-
|Marked Personal || Roz || 2 episodes
|-
|rowspan="3"|1975 || Edward the Seventh || Hortense Schneider || Episode: "The Invisible Queen"
|-
|The Brothers || Fiona Lester || Episode: "End of a Dream"
|-
|Space: 1999 || Joan Conway || Episode: "Alpha Child"
|-
|rowspan="2"|1976 || Red Letter Day || Ms. Fandom || Episode: "Amazing Stories"
|-
|Rock Follies || Nancy "Q" Cunard de Longchamps || All 6 episodes
|-
|rowspan="2"|1977 || Leap in the Dark || Katerina || Episode: "Dream Me a Winner"
|-
|Rock Follies of '77 || Nancy "Q" Cunard de Longchamps || All 6 episodes
|-
|rowspan="2"|1979 || Return of the Saint || Diana Lang || Episode: "Hot Run"
|-
|BBC Play of the Month || Gilda || Episode: "Design for Living"
|-
|rowspan="3"|1980 || The Cuckoo Waltz || Holly Galinsky || Episode: "A Love That Does Not Dim"
|-
|Leap in the Dark || Harriet || Episode: "Watching Me, Watching You"
|-
|The Big Show || Herself || Episode 7
|-
|rowspan="4"|1981 || The Seven Dials Mystery || Countess Radzsky || Television film
|-
|Private Schulz || Gertrude Steiner || Series 1: Episode 4
|-
|Take a Letter Mr. Jones || Joan Warner || All 6 episodes
|-
|To the Manor Born || Mademoiselle Dutoit || Episode: "Cosmetics"
|-
|rowspan="2"|1982 || BBC2 Playhouse || Mabel || Episode: "Aubrey"
|-
|Minder || Kate || Episode: "The Birdman of Wormwood Scrubs"
|-
|1983 || Conversations with a Stranger || Italian Woman || Television film
|-
|rowspan="2"|1984 || Doctor Who || Styles || Episode: "Resurrection of the Daleks"
|-
|Robin of Sherwood || Morgwyn of Ravenscar || Episode: "The Swords of Wayland"
|-
|1985 || Minder || Natasha || Episode: "From Fulham with Love"
|-
|rowspan="2"|1988 || Mr. H Is Late || Bride || Television film
|-
|Boon || Renata Cartwright || Episode: "Never Say Trevor Again"
|-
|1989 || Minder || Sandra Last || Episode: "The Last Video Show"
|-
|rowspan="3"|1991 || Cluedo || Mrs. Peacock || 6 episodes
|-
|Family Pride || Eva || Unknown episodes
|-
|An Actor's Life for Me || Marjorie || Episode: "May the Farce Be with You"
|-
|rowspan="2"|1992 || Kappatoo || Zeta || 7 episodes
|-
|The Mixer || Lady Pamela Osgood || 2 episodes
|-
|1993 || Stay Lucky || Isabel Stevens || 2 episodes
|-
|1994 || The Detectives || Duchess || Episode: "Never Without Protection"
|-
|1996 || One Foot in the Grave || Fenella Fortune || Episode: "Starbound"
|-
|2002 || EastEnders || Krystal || 4 episodes
|-
|2005 || Footballers' Wives || Allana || 1 episode
|-
|2006 || Doctors || Vicky Mullen || Episode: "Blaze of Glory"
|-
|2007 || M.I. High || Vanessa Zeitgeist || Episode: "Forever Young"
|-
|2009 || Grandpa in My Pocket || Princess Purpelovna || Episode: "Princess Purpelovna's Plan"
|-
|2009–2011, 2018–2022 || Coronation Street || Claudia Colby || Regular role; 149 episodes
|-
|2011 || Ideal || The Red King || Episode: "The Red King"
|-
|rowspan="2"|2016 || Casualty || Vera Vintner || Episode: "Where the Truth Lies"
|-
|Inside No. 9 || Celia Devonshire|| Episode: "The Devil of Christmas"
|-
|2025 || Mr. Bigstuff || Rita || Episode: #2.2
|}
Stage
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Dates !! Show !! Role
!Director!! Notes
|-
|8 – 26 June 1971;<br />30 September 1971 – June 1973
| Suddenly at Home|| Ruth Bechler
|Basil Coleman|| Theatre Royal, Windsor (June 1971)<br />Fortune Theatre (1971–73)
|-
|27 – 29 May 1974
| Abel, Where is Your Brother?||
| Amos Mokadi|| Act-Inn Theatre Club
|-
|24 October – 12 November 1977
|Flare Path
|Patricia
|Kim Grant
|Tour
|-
|5 June 1978
|A Midsummer Night's Dream
|Titania
|David Conville
|Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
|-
|12 December 1981 – January 1982
|Aladdin
|Aladdin
|Roger Redfarn
|Richmond Theatre, Surrey
|-
|19 April – 27 November 1982
|Mr. Fothergill's Murder
|Judith Hayne
|David Kirk
|Tour
|-
|13 December 1984 – 12 January 1985
|Cinderella
|Prince Charming
|Peter Purves
|Beck Theatre
|-
|16 September – 14 December 1985
|Same Time, Next Year
|Doris
|John Wood
|The Old Vic
|-
|May – 12 June 1986
|Double Double
|Phillipa James
|Leon Rubin
|Tour
|-
|19 December 1987 – 7 February 1988
|Robinson Crusoe
|Robinson Crusoe
|Tudor Davies
|Wimbledon Theatre
|-
|20 September – 19 November 1988;<br />13 February – 1 July 1989
|Blithe Spirit
|Elvira
|John David
|Tour
|-
|6 June – 14 July 1990
|Temptation
|Valerie Vilma
|James Roose-Evans
|Westminster Theatre
|-
|19 December 1991 – 2 February 1992
|Dick Whittington
|Dick Whittington
|Alan Harding
|Wimbledon Theatre
|-
|16 April – 2 May 1992
|A Little Night Music
|Desiree Armfeldt
|Roger Redfarn
|Theatre Royal, Plymouth
|-
|19 May – 12 June 1993
|The Cherry Orchard
|Lyuba Ranyevskaya
|Graham Watkins
|Redgrave Theatre, Farnham
|-
|3 August – 16 October 1993
|Present from the Past
|Frances
|Euan Smith
| rowspan="2" |Tour
|-
|16 May – 23 July 1994
|Misery
|Annie Wilkes
|Patrick Connellan
|-
|12 December 1994 – 14 January 1995
|Aladdin
|Aladdin
|Michael Eakin
|The Hexagon
|-
|1 November 1994 – 1 July 1995
|Dangerous Corner
|Freda Caplan
|Keith Baxter
|Tour
|-
|2 – 13 July 1996
|Macbeth
|Lady Macbeth
|Julia Stafford Northcote
|Stafford Castle
|-
|6 August – 27 September 1997
|Our Betters
|Duchesse de Surenne
|Michael Rudman
|Chichester Festival Theatre
|-
|18 December 1997 – 1 February 1998
|Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
|The Red Queen
|Lionel Blair
|New Victoria Theatre
|-
|26 May – 12 September 1998
|Dangerous to Know
|Vivienne Trent
|Roger Redfarn
|Tour
|-
|17 December 1998 – 23 January 1999
|Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
|The Red Queen
|Lionel Blair
|Churchill Theatre
|-
|5 September – 25 November 2000
|An Inspector Calls
|Mrs. Birling
|Stephen Daldry
|Tour
|-
|29 May – 15 June 2002
|Masterpieces
|Ensemble Cast
|Christopher Luscombe<br />Malcolm McKee
|Birmingham Reperatory Theatre
|-
|13 December 2002 – 5 January 2003
|Jack and the Beanstalk
|Jack
|Gerry Tebbutt
|Yvonne Arnaud Theatre
|-
|5 – 10 April 2004
|84 Charing Cross Road
|Helene Hanff
|James Roose-Evans
|Royal Theatre, Northampton
|-
|14 September – 23 October 2004
|Pride and Prejudice
|Mrs. Bennett
|Sue Pomeroy
|Tour
|-
|28 January – 12 February 2005
|A Sense of Justice
|Stella
|Ken Alexander
|Perth Theatre
|-
|9 April – 1 December 2007
|Hot Flush!
|Myra
|Alan Cohen
|Tour
|-
|2 April – 10 May 2008
|That's Love
|Sarah Daniels
|Ron Aldridges
|The Mill at Sonning
|-
|6 October – 15 November 2008
|Don't Look Now
|Sister 1
|Ian Dickens
|Tour
|-
|December 2008 – 4 January 2009
|Jack and the Beanstalk
|The Enchantress
|Chris Dunham
|Connaught Theatre
|-
|5 December 2009 – 3 January 2010
|Cinderella
|Fairy Godmother
|
|The Hexagon
|-
|13 July – 7 August 2010
|Lingua Franca
|Irena Brentano
|Michael Gieleta
|Finborough Theatre
|-
|30 August – 3 December 2011
|Calendar Girls The Musical
|Celia – Miss September
|David Pugh<br />Dafydd Rogers
|Tour
|-
|16 October 2013
|The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
|Voice of the Book
|Dirk Maggs
|Grand Opera House, Belfast
|-
|16 – 21 June 2014
|Pygmalion
|Mrs. Higgins
|David Grindley
|Theatre Royal, Norwich
|-
|7 – 17 January 2015
|The Frozen Scream
|Aunt Agatha
|Christopher Green
|Birmingham Hippodrome
|-
|6 August – 26 September 2015
|Love, Loss and What I Wore
|Various roles
|Sarah Berger
|The Mill at Sonning
|-
|10 January – 17 November 2018
|The Case of the Frightened Lady
|Lady Lebanon
|Roy Marsden
|Tour
|-
|5 September 2022 – June 2023;
24 April – 15 October 2024
|The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
|Madge Hardcastle
Evelyn
|Lucy Bailey
|UK and New Zealand tour
|}
Video games
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes
|-
| rowspan="2" |2013 || The Night of the Rabbit || Phosphera || Voice
|-
|The Raven: Legacy of a Master Thief || Baroness von Trebitz || Voice
|}
See also
- Łubieński family
- Poles in the United Kingdom
References
External links
- Rock Follies interview
- – Interview with Lenska
- Celebrity Big Brother — transcript of "cat" incident with Galloway