Above (far right): Gloria in a still from 'Carry On Spying' (1964)
Gloria Best is an actress, model and director who appeared in supporting roles in three 'Carry On' films; 'Carry On Cleo' (1964), 'Carry On Spying' (1964) & 'Carry On Cowboy' (1965). She also had a small role in 'Goldfinger' (1964) & went onto win 'Miss Britain' in 1968. Born in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, she attended the famous Ada Foster Theatre School from age 14.
Gloria is often confused in some online sources with other supporting cast members from the same films. It can be notoriously difficult in tracking down the supporting cast members from the 'Carry On' files, particularly the female cast members who have often married (some several times!) as well as going onto different careers both on and off screen.
It was by sheer luck that I came across Gloria through a mutual friend in Autumn 2021. Despite living in Canada since 1969 she retains a hint of her Wakefield accent and in October 2021 I had the rare opportunity to talk to Gloria about her 'Carry On' roles and her early career:
CP: Your first ‘Carry On’ film was ‘Carry On Spying’ in 1964. This was a key film in many ways as it was the first 'Carry On' that Barbara Windsor starred in. How did your ‘Carry On’ debut come about?
GB: At 13 I went to the Ada Foster theatre school in Golders Green. When I was 14, I had my own children’s television show on the BBC called ‘Studio E’. The Ada Foster theatre school was an agency too and so I was sent for an audition to Pinewood Studios for ‘Carry On Spying’. Peter Rogers and Gerald Thomas did the auditions which was basically parading up and down in front of them. I had no idea what the ‘Carry Ons’ were! I did know of Barbara Windsor via the Ada Foster school as she had pictures in her office of all the students past and present and Barbara’s picture was up there.
CP: Do you have any memories of your first outing into ‘Carry On’?
GB: No particular memories: I have seen the movie a few times but, you know what, I think my scenes with the other girls were all cut possibly? I have tried to spot myself but haven’t been able to! Although I only did one day on ‘Spying’.
Above: Gloria in 'Carry On Spying' (1964) (picture courtesy of Gloria Best).
CP: ‘Spying’ was of course a parody of ‘Bond’, but like many of the glamour girls of the time, such as Valerie Leon and Margaret Nolan, you then crossed the genre into ‘Bond’ with ‘Goldfinger’ also in 1964. Was this planned or was it due to both films being Pinewood productions?
GB: Again, Ada Foster sent me for an audition for the ‘Bond’ film, again at Pinewood. Albert Broccoli was there. The audition again was us all being paraded up and down in a swimsuit followed by a brief Q& A session afterwards. That was it! I was then told that I had got it! I mean looking back some might say it was all inappropriate, but that is the way it was back then. Nobody thought anything about being paraded up and down in a swimsuit.
CP: You appeared in three ‘Carry On’ films that went onto become firm favourites with fans; ‘Spying’, ‘Cleo’ and ‘Cowboy’. Did you enjoy doing them and so you have any stories or anecdotes of your time on the films?
GB: I LOVED doing ‘Cleo’! It was really a lot of fun and I spent about 3 or 4 days on it at Pinewood. I remember it was great being in the commissary at lunchtime, as all the films broke at the same time for lunch you see, and being sat there seeing great actors like Richard Attenborough and John Wayne etc. Wonderful.
Above (centre): Gloria as a Hand Maiden in 'Carry On Cleo' (1964).
CP: Do you have any memories or working alongside the main ‘Carry On’ team? Some, like Sid James, were known for making new members feel very welcome and others, like Kenny Williams not so much! Was that your experience?
GB: I remember at the time that Sid (James) was dating Freddie Ross, who was the publicist for Ada Foster. Charles Hawtrey was a fabulous man and so funny. He brought his knitting and his mother to the set every day! Between takes he would be sat there knitting. He was a lovely man.
Kenneth Connor was also a lovely man and a lot of fun. I remember that there were long breaks between takes sometimes as they had to keep filling the bath that Amanda Barrie was in as ‘Cleo’ up with milk. Anyway, one day Kenneth Connor went missing for quite some time. He eventually reappeared with ice cream for all the girls! He was stood there with all these cornets!
I didn’t have much interaction with Kenneth Williams. I mean he was polite and would say “good morning” but that was it really. I remember the scene where Sid had to jump in the bath with Amanda Barrie; it was so very funny filming that scene that we all found it really hard not to laugh! I also remember the actor who played Cleo’s Bodyguard (Tom Clegg), he was a very nice man. A very big man!
CP: You went onto win Miss Britain in 1968, that must have been such an amazing experience?
GB: I was very lucky. I used to do a lot of beauty pageants as you could win good money. I didn’t tour around for the ones that They used to hold them in Morecambe, Blackpool and Brighton but I didn’t tour around to them. If I was around, I would do them. I entered three in total, lost the first two but won the third one! I then went to Japan for ‘Miss International’ and that was for six weeks. There were 50 girls who took part in that in Tokyo and we toured around Kyoto, Osaka etc. I went on a bullet train and saw Mount Fuji. I was only 23/24 years old – it was a great experience!
I came to Canada in ’69 and as I had already won ‘Miss Britain’ the Press were waiting for me at the airport! Although I have to say, I did get angry with them as one of the headlines they ran was “Miss Britain Deflects!”. I went mad! It was very upsetting as that was not the case at all. However, the good news was that winning ‘Miss Britain’ meant I got a lot of offers of work and I began working the week after arriving in Canada, so I didn’t have to start looking for work. I emigrated to Canada because my ex-husbands family wanted to move to Canada. So, I have been there ever since.
CP: These days in a world of political correctness some critics have argued that the ‘Carry Ons’ objectified woman and stereotypes. Do you agree with this or were they harmless fun?
Above (back): Gloria as a Hand Maiden in 'Carry On Cleo' (1964)
(picture courtesy of Gloria Best)
GB: We didn’t think about it in those days, it was just the way it was! People have to accept that. Just fun!
CP: ‘Carry On Cowboy’ was your last ‘Carry On’ in 1965. Was that your decision and were you simply ready to move on with new opportunities?
GB: It wasn’t my decision; I just went into TV commercials. In one ad for male tailoring, I even drove the James Bond Aston Martin! I remember I had to stop it so it stopped right next to the actor’s groin! I did a lot of modelling and runway fashion shows. Unfortunately, dad got sick that year (1967) and so I helped mum look after him. Sadly, he died one month before I won ‘Miss Britain’ so he never got to see me win it.
CP: Did you stay in contact or work with any of the cast or crew from your time on ‘Carry On’ in afterwards?
GB: No, I didn’t know them that well. I chatted to Jim Dale every so often, he married a New York socialite you know? He is lovely. I was in the saloon scene with him in ‘Carry On Cowboy’ and was sat on someone’s knee at the table as I remember. Years later I went to see him in ‘Barnum’ in New York and I went backstage to see him after the show and he remembered me! We had a drink together in his dressing room.
CP: Over the years there has been much talk of a ‘Carry On’ revival; do you think this would ever be possible?
GB: No. You can’t capture that or those people anymore. They were consummate comedians. It is all too PC these days and things are deemed 'inappropriate'.
CP: What are you up to these days?
GB: I have opened two private school and day care centres; I also went into directing in the theatre. I have in fact been directing now for over 26 years! Unfortunately, the theatres here are all still closed but they have started to reopen slowly over the last 5-6 weeks.
Since 1968 I have been friends with Dionne Warwick, she is also my daughter’s Godmother.
I stayed with her at the Ritz Carlton for the Toronto International Film Festival as she has a new documentary coming out very soon all about her career and her humanitarianism called ‘Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over’* which of course was the title of her first hit record in 1962. I also met Noel Coward and Marlene Dietrich through Dionne!
* more information can be found here: https://film-forward.com/documentary/pop-culture/dionne-warwick-dont-make-me-over-toronto-international-film-festival-2021
Left: Gloria adds her autograph to my 'Carry On' DVDs.
My sincere thanks to Gloria for her time and enthusiasm in discussing her career and memories with me.
Special thanks to Gloria for allowing me to use pictures from her personal collection for this feature.
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