--- name: "Lila Kaye" canonical: "https://film.one/person/lila-kaye" fi1m_id: "lila-kaye" imdb_id: "nm0443343" tmdb_id: 14466 wikidata_id: "Q16019435" roles: ["Actor"] born: "7 November 1929" died: "10 January 2012" reviewed_on_fi1m: 2 average_fi1m_score: 67 average_as: "actor" average_over: 2 updated: "2026-10-07T11:41:28.840607+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." --- # Lila Kaye ## Identity Lila Kaye - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/lila-kaye - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** lila-kaye - **IMDb ID:** nm0443343 - **TMDB ID:** 14466 - **Wikidata ID:** Q16019435 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lila_Kaye, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16019435, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0443343/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/14466 Actor. Born 7 November 1929 in Worthing, Sussex, England, UK. Died 10 January 2012. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 7 November 1929, Worthing, Sussex, England, UK - **Died:** 10 January 2012 - **Active:** 1981–1990 - **Average Fi1m score:** 67, as actor, over 2 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1980s 80 (1), 1990s 54 (1) - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lila_Kaye, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16019435, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0443343/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/14466 ## Streaming the US now - **Amazon Prime Video:** [*An American Werewolf in London*](https://film.one/film/an-american-werewolf-in-london.md) (80) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Lila Kaye > Lila Kaye was good at playing women who expected to be obeyed. Her conflicted barmaid in *An American Werewolf in London* shows how much she could do when a small part gave that authority something to contend with. In *An American Werewolf in London* (1981), Lila Kaye’s barmaid tries to warn the visitors to a Yorkshire pub. Her concern and reluctance make the warning more unsettling than a simple instruction to be careful. We felt uneasy because she seemed to care what happened to these strangers, even as she struggled to tell them. Kaye gives us enough of the woman’s difficulty to make a small encounter matter in a film with considerably more conspicuous ways of frightening us. Her early television work included *Cathy Come Home* (1966), while the Royal Shakespeare Company gave her substantial character parts on stage. She played Mrs Squeers and Mrs Crummles in the Broadway *Nicholas Nickleby* (1981), drawing on the sternness and sentiment that also suited her screen work. The American sitcom *Mama Malone* (1984), created by Terrence McNally, then put her at the centre as an Italian-American matriarch. Her accent persuaded many viewers that she was American. Comic timing and warmth were stronger reasons to watch, though the thin material limited what a leading part could offer. *Nuns on the Run* (1990) returns her to a smaller job, playing Sister Mary of the Annunciation with a formidable manner. The casting makes sense, but it offers less of the uncertainty that makes her barmaid interesting. Eric Idle and Robbie Coltrane are amusing in their disguises; Jonathan Lynn’s film struggles to sustain the farce and keeps interrupting it with car chases. We would not recommend it for Kaye alone, nor blame a supporting actor for a comedy that has too little to keep its leads occupied. John Landis’s horror-comedy is the better place to start with Kaye, though its romance receives less care than its monster. The pub scene lets her be authoritative without making her indifferent to the visitors, and that matters to our sense of danger. Go for the painful effects and the dry jokes about Britain, but give the barmaid your attention before the monster arrives. ## Biography Lila Kaye (7 November 1929 – 10 January 2012) was an English actress. She spent several years working in the United States on Broadway and in television before returning to England. She appeared in the film *An American Werewolf in London* (1981) as the Barmaid. Other film roles included *See No Evil* (1971), *Nuns on the Run* (1990) and *Dragonworld* (1994). On television she played Lillian Huxley in *Cheers* (1982), Teresa Mancini in *Murder, She Wrote* (1984), Mrs Mordecai Smith in *Sherlock Holmes* (1984) and Granny Jekyll in *Julia Jekyll and Harriet Hyde* (1998). She was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and appeared in its production of *Nicholas Nickleby* on Broadway in 1981. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (2) - *Nuns on the Run* (1990), Fi1m 54, as Sister Mary of the Annunciation — [page](https://film.one/film/nuns-on-the-run.md) - *An American Werewolf in London* (1981), Fi1m 80, as Barmaid — [page](https://film.one/film/an-american-werewolf-in-london.md) ## Complete filmography (44) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Eskimo Day* (1996), as Mother Polly - *Dragonworld* (1994), as Mrs. Cosgrove - *Cafe Americain* (1993), series, as Margaret Hunt - *Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris* (1992), as Vi Butterfield - *Anglo Saxon Attitudes* (1992), series, as Dr. Rose Lorimer - *Reason for Living: The Jill Ireland Story* (1991), as Dorothy, Jill's mother - *Antonia and Jane* (1990), as Jane's Mother - *Nuns on the Run* (1990), as Sister Mary of the Annunciation — Fi1m 54, [page](https://film.one/film/nuns-on-the-run.md) - *Birds of a Feather* (1989), series, as Mrs. McCarthy - *Bert Rigby, You're a Fool* (1989), as Mrs. Pennington - *Dear John* (1988), series, as Audrey - *Bad Boyes* (1987), series, as Gran - *The Trial of Klaus Barbie* (1987), as Lagrange - *The Sign of Four* (1987), as Mrs Mordecai Smith - *The Return of Sherlock Holmes* (1987), as Ms. Houston - *Making Waves* (1987), as Mrs Nash - *The Canterville Ghost* (1986), as Mrs. Umney - *Camille* (1984), as Nanine - *Pericles, Prince of Tyre* (1984), as Bawd - *Ellis Island* (1984), series, as Kathleen O'Donnell - *Murder, She Wrote* (1984), series, as Teresa Mancini - *The Invisible Man* (1984), series, as Mrs Jenny Hall - *Pull The Other One* (1984), series, as Grandma - *Sherlock Holmes* (1984), series, as Mrs. Mordecai Smith - *Mama Malone* (1984), series, as 'Mama' Renate Malone - *The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby* (1982), series, Actor - *Cheers* (1982), series, as Lillian Huxley — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/tv/cheers.md) - *Sredni Vashtar* (1981), as Mrs. Woolridge - *An American Werewolf in London* (1981), as Barmaid — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/an-american-werewolf-in-london.md) - *Quincy's Quest* (1979), as Griselda - *The Strange Affair of Adelaide Harris* (1979), series, as Mrs. Alexander - *The Black Panther* (1977), Actor - *The Kitchen* (1977), as Bertha - *BBC2 Play of the Week* (1977), series, as Bertha - *A Place to Die* (1973), as Bess - *King's Cross Lunch Hour* (1972), as The Manageress - *See No Evil* (1971), as Gypsy Mother - *Mr. Horatio Knibbles* (1971), as Nancy's Mother - *The Flaxton Boys* (1969), series, as Sarah Weekes - *The Fiction Makers* (1968), as Ma - *David Copperfield* (1966), series, as Clara Peggotty - *Theatre 625* (1964), series, as Romaine - *Festival* (1963), series, as Sophie - *The Saint* (1962), series, as Ma ## Gallery - ![Lila Kaye](https://film.one/media/person/117591/gallery-b1765d4f3f88.jpg) Lila Kaye — CBS Network, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Lila_Kaye_1984.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Lila Kaye](https://film.one/media/person/117591/gallery-3e5957302d54.jpg) Lila Kaye — Image via TMDB - ![Lila Kaye](https://film.one/media/person/117591/gallery-44c4d1131a99.jpg) Lila Kaye — 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/lila-kaye