--- name: "Connie Booth" canonical: "https://film.one/person/connie-booth" fi1m_id: "connie-booth" imdb_id: "nm0095665" tmdb_id: 149979 wikidata_id: "Q255335" roles: ["Actor"] born: "2 December 1940" reviewed_on_fi1m: 4 average_fi1m_score: 78 average_as: "actor" average_over: 4 updated: "2026-10-07T11:06:28.001133+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Connie Booth ## Identity Connie Booth - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/connie-booth - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** connie-booth - **IMDb ID:** nm0095665 - **TMDB ID:** 149979 - **Wikidata ID:** Q255335 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connie_Booth, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q255335, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0095665/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/149979 Actor. Born 2 December 1940 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 2 December 1940, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA - **Active:** 1969–2018 - **Also known as:** Конни Бут, Constance "Connie" Booth Bollinger, Constance Booth Bollinger - **Frequently works with:** [John Cleese](https://film.one/person/john-cleese.md), [Michael Palin](https://film.one/person/michael-palin.md) - **Average Fi1m score:** 78, as actor, over 4 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1960s 83 (1), 1970s 88 (2), 1980s 52 (1) - **Fi1m against the critics:** 76 to 71 across 3 titles - **Score spread:** 3 at 80+, 0 at 60–79, 1 under 60 - **Lead roles:** 0 of 3 acting credits billed first or second - **Genres:** Comedy 4, Fantasy 2, Adventure 1, Horror 1 - **Screen time:** 3 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $14m across 2 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connie_Booth, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q255335, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0095665/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/149979 ## Streaming the US now - **Peacock:** [*Monty Python and the Holy Grail*](https://film.one/film/monty-python-and-the-holy-grail.md) (87), [*Monty Python's Flying Circus*](https://film.one/tv/monty-pythons-flying-circus.md) (83) - **BritBox:** [*Fawlty Towers*](https://film.one/tv/fawlty-towers.md) (90) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Connie Booth > Connie Booth makes practical intelligence funny, giving Polly Sherman something to do while Basil Fawlty loses control. We value the precision of her acting and the care for character she brought to writing *Fawlty Towers*. In *Fawlty Towers* (1975), Connie Booth’s Polly Sherman attends to the practical difficulty while Basil makes it harder to solve. Booth makes that attention worth watching without competing with John Cleese’s agitation. We laughed at her persistence because she keeps attending to the job when Basil can barely tolerate the people it involves. Playing the sensible person can be a thankless assignment in farce. Booth makes us interested in what Polly is thinking, and her performance is a substantial part of why we recommend the programme so warmly. Her early screen comedy included appearances in *Monty Python’s Flying Circus* (1969) and the Witch in *Monty Python and the Holy Grail* (1975). *Fawlty Towers*, which she co-created and co-wrote as well as acted in, gave her a more substantial opportunity. The programme’s 1975 and 1979 runs remain the clearest reason to seek her out. Later came Mrs Errol in *Little Lord Fauntleroy* (1980), among her straight dramatic television parts. Her acting work continued through the 1980s and into the early 1990s, but Polly is where her judgement as a performer and a writer can be considered together. Booth has described developing the plots with Cleese before he wrote the dialogue. That helps explain why her contribution is worth considering beyond Polly’s lines. Their writing keeps the characters consistent as the difficulties multiply, and lets Basil be unpleasant without constantly asking us to forgive him. Polly must belong in the same hotel as Basil, rather than merely stand beside him pointing out his faults. Booth gives her work to get on with, so that her responses follow from a practical need instead of the need to supply a punchline. Prunella Scales’s steady Sybil and Andrew Sachs’s carefully timed Manuel give Booth equally precise performers to work alongside. The treatment of Manuel can still make us wish a joke had stopped sooner, a reservation that belongs in any account of the writing as well as the performances. Booth and Cleese sometimes ask us to enjoy his discomfort for longer than we care to. Return to *Fawlty Towers* for Polly, and pay attention to her when Basil is making it difficult to notice anybody else. ## Biography Connie Booth is an American actress and writer. She played Polly Sherman in the BBC sitcom *Fawlty Towers* (1975 and 1979), which she co-wrote with John Cleese. She also appeared in episodes of *Monty Python's Flying Circus* (1969–1974) and in the film *Monty Python and the Holy Grail* (1975). Booth was born on 2 December 1940 in Indianapolis, Indiana. She began her career in Britain with roles in comedy programmes and films associated with the Monty Python group, including *And Now for Something Completely Different* (1971). Other credits include *Little Lord Fauntleroy* (1980) and *84 Charing Cross Road* (1987). She left acting in 1995 and trained as a psychotherapist. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (4) - *High Spirits* (1988), Fi1m 52, as Marge — [page](https://film.one/film/high-spirits.md) - *Fawlty Towers* (1975), Fi1m 90, as Polly Sherman — [page](https://film.one/tv/fawlty-towers.md) - *Monty Python and the Holy Grail* (1975), Fi1m 87, as The Witch — [page](https://film.one/film/monty-python-and-the-holy-grail.md) - *Monty Python's Flying Circus* (1969), Fi1m 83, as Second Juror, Various — [page](https://film.one/tv/monty-pythons-flying-circus.md) ## Complete filmography (45) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *The Cancellation Of Fawlty Towers* (2025), Actor - *Michael Palin: A Life on Screen* (2018), Actor - *A Good Day to Die, Hoka Hey* (2017), as Polly Sherman (archive footage) - *The Funny Blokes of British Comedy* (2005), as Polly Sherman (archive footage) (uncredited) - *The Buccaneers* (1995), series, as Jackie March - *Faith* (1994), series, as Pat Harbinson - *Leon the Pig Farmer* (1993), as Yvonne Chadwick - *Smack and Thistle* (1991), as Ms Kane - *American Friends* (1991), as Caroline Hartley - *For the Greater Good* (1991), series, as Naomi Balliol - *The World of Eddie Weary* (1990), as Madge - *High Spirits* (1988), as Marge — Fi1m 52, [page](https://film.one/film/high-spirits.md) - *Hawks* (1988), as Nurse Javis - *84 Charing Cross Road* (1987), as The Lady from Delaware - *The Return of Sherlock Holmes* (1987), as Violet Morstan - *Past Caring* (1986), as Linda - *Worlds Beyond* (1986), series, as Betty Hewart - *Rocket to the Moon* (1986), as Belle Stark - *Nairobi Affair* (1984), as Mrs. Gardner - *The Hound of the Baskervilles* (1983), as Laura Lyons - *The Deadly Game* (1982), as Helen Trapp - *The Story of Ruth* (1982), as Ruth Baker - *American Playhouse* (1982), series, as Belle Stark - *Bergerac* (1981), series, as Monica McLeod - *Little Lord Fauntleroy* (1980), as Mrs. Errol - *Why Didn't They Ask Evans?* (1980), as Sylva Bassington-ffrench - *Worzel Gummidge* (1979), series, as Aunt Sally II - *Thank You, Comrades* (1978), as Annie - *Snavely* (1978), Creator - *The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It* (1977), as Mrs. Hudson / Francine Moriarty - *The Mermaid Frolics* (1977), as Various - *Spaghetti Two-Step* (1977), as Sheila - *Dickens of London* (1976), series, as Sophie - *84 Charing Cross Road* (1975), as Ginny - *Fawlty Towers* (1975), series, as Polly Sherman · Writer, Creator — Fi1m 90, [page](https://film.one/tv/fawlty-towers.md) - *Monty Python and the Holy Grail* (1975), as The Witch — Fi1m 87, [page](https://film.one/film/monty-python-and-the-holy-grail.md) - *The After Dinner Game* (1975), as Lee-Ann Good - *Romance with a Double Bass* (1974), as Princess Costanza · Adaptation - *Is This a Record?* (1973), as Various - *Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus* (1972), series, as Various Characters - *And Now for Something Completely Different* (1971), as Best Girl - *Play for Today* (1970), series, as Lee-Ann Good, Ginny - *Monty Python's Flying Circus* (1969), series, as Various, Second Juror — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/tv/monty-pythons-flying-circus.md) - *How to Irritate People* (1969), as Various - *ITV Saturday Night Theatre* (1969), series, as Libby ## Gallery - ![Connie Booth](https://film.one/media/person/60063/gallery-f64a392eabe5.jpg) Connie Booth — Carroll Stoianoff, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Connie_Booth.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Connie Booth](https://film.one/media/person/60063/gallery-ace7929f92ab.jpg) Connie Booth — Image via TMDB --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/connie-booth