Frances de la Tour is especially good at comedy that needs someone to answer back. Her deep voice is distinctive, but we value the timing more: in Rising Damp, she gives a busy ensemble room to be funny.
Fi1m perspective
In Rising Damp (1974), Frances de la Tour's Ruth answers Leonard Rossiter without trying to repeat what he has just done. His pace needs actors who can keep up while offering something different, and she is well matched to him. Richard Beckinsale as Alan and Don Warrington as Philip give the exchanges still more variety. We laughed because the actors seem to be listening to one another, with de la Tour making her replies count.
That is useful when a line needs more help than it ought to, as a few do here. De la Tour belongs to an ensemble that can keep those weaker moments from defining the programme, though the writing cannot always take the credit for our enjoyment. The characters' unhappiness gives us a reason to stay interested after a joke has landed. Remembering only Rossiter's busiest moments does the others a disservice; the programme benefits whenever it gives us time to appreciate Ruth, Alan or Philip.
Television recognition did not displace the theatre work, which continued through Duet for One (1980) and A Moon for the Misbegotten (1983). Alan Bennett's The History Boys (2004) gave her the wry, intelligent Mrs Lintott, a part she played again in the 2006 film. Supporting film roles became a more prominent part of the work from the 2000s, including Madame Olympe Maxime in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005). Mrs Lintott belongs to another familiar strand of her work: women whose intelligence comes through in a sharp observation.
Her frequent casting as eccentrics and authority figures is understandable, but we would be wary of judging her by the voice alone. Rising Damp gives us better evidence of what she can do with another actor's line. We would start there, and pay her the courtesy of watching when Rossiter is not the one speaking.
Biography
Frances de la Tour is an English actress. She trained at the Drama Centre London and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1965.
She is known for playing Miss Ruth Jones in the ITV sitcom Rising Damp (1974–1978) and Mrs Lintott in Alan Bennett's The History Boys on stage in London and on Broadway, as well as in the 2006 film adaptation. Film roles include Madame Olympe Maxime in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010).
De la Tour is a Tony Award winner and a three-time Olivier Award winner.
