Betty Phillips

Betty Phillips

Biography: In her mid-teens she sang leading roles in musicals at Richmond High School and also sang in a girls' choir organized by Burton Kurth; in the early 1940s she studied voice with in turn Mignon Duke Gidy, Avis Phillips, and Phylis Inglis and piano with Phyllis Schuldt. She appeared at TUTS for the first time in a 1946 production of Robin Hood and subsequently played leads in more than 20 TUTS productions until 1960; she is best remembered for the role of Mrs. Anna in The King and I. Phillips' radio career began in 1948 with a CBC Vancouver light classical series and has included regular appearances 1953-65 on the CBC's 'Leicester Square to Broadway'; variety work in 1955 on the BBC; solo, recital, and folksong performances on the CBC; and many British Columbia school broadcasts 1970-2. On CBC TV she sang Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus in 1954, co-starred 1956-7 with Ernie Prentice on 'Lolly-too-dum,' and was hostess 1965-7 for 'Bazaar.' Phillips has performed at the Vancouver International Festival and with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and has appeared in Vancouver Opera productions (Flora in La Traviata, 1961; Nicklausse in Tales of Hoffmann, 1961; Clotilde in Norma, 1963; Vera Boronell in The Consul, 1964; Zulma in The Italian Girl in Algiers, 1965; and the Witch in Hansel and Gretel, 1966). She has performed in musical comedy throughout Canada - on tour (1967) with One Hundred Years of Musical Comedy, at the 1968 and 1969 Charlottetown Festival; in Anne of Green Gables and Johnny Belinda, and at Winnipeg's Rainbow Stage in Fiddler on the Roof (1971). She sang locally in Theatre-in-the-Park productions of The Sound of Music (1974) and Fiddler on the Roof (1975), while studying 1972-6 at the University of British Columbia. As an actress she has played many roles at Bastion Theatre, Victoria, and the Arts Club Theatre, Vancouver, and has also appeared at Persephone Theatre, Saskatoon and at Citadel Theatre, Edmonton. In the first Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Co season (1963) she appeared as Madame Dubonnet in The Boy Friend and has continued to act for that company over the years. She has been in over 40 Canadian and US movies, some of them feature films and the others made for television. In 1962, Phillips married the actor, writer, and librettist Peter Haworth, who has collaborated with Leonard Wilson, Healey Willan, and the English composer Robert Simpson.

Place of Birth: Not available

Birthday: June 12, 1917

Deathday: February 10, 2012

Popularity:

1.74

Known For

2012
2012

2009-10-10

Nobody's Child
Nobody's Child

1986-04-05

Showdown at Williams Creek
Showdown at Williams Creek

1991-10-31

I Love You Perfect
I Love You Perfect

1989-10-08

Short Time
Short Time

1990-05-04

And the Sea Will Tell
And the Sea Will Tell

1991-02-24

The Three Wishes of Billy Grier
The Three Wishes of Billy Grier

1984-10-31

Bratz: Super Babyz
Bratz: Super Babyz

2007-10-09

Bratz Babyz Save Christmas
Bratz Babyz Save Christmas

2008-11-05

I Was a Teenage Faust
I Was a Teenage Faust

2002-06-01

Housekeeping
Housekeeping

1987-11-25

Intersection
Intersection

1994-01-21

Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore
Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore

2010-07-29

The Secret Lives of Second Wives
The Secret Lives of Second Wives

2008-06-28

Jack Reed: One of Our Own
Jack Reed: One of Our Own

1995-04-25

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules

2011-03-25

Shame
Shame

1992-08-18

Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain
Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain

1995-11-03