Biography
Renée Houston (24 July 1902 – 9 February 1980) was a Scottish comedy actress and revue artist. Born Katherina Rita Murphy Gribbin in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, she began in music halls and revues, touring with her sister Billie Houston as the Houston Sisters. In 1926 the sisters appeared in a short musical film produced using Lee De Forest's Phonofilm process.
Houston appeared in numerous films from the 1930s onwards, often in character roles. She is noted for parts in The Belles of St Trinian's (1954), Time Without Pity (1957), The Phantom of the Opera (1962), Carry On Cabby (1963), Carry On Spying (1964), Repulsion (1965) as Mme Balch, Cul-de-sac (1966) and Carry On at Your Convenience (1971) as Agatha Spanner. She also worked in television and radio, including early episodes of The Clitheroe Kid and as a panellist on The Petticoat Line.
She was married three times, including to actors Pat Aherne and Donald Stewart. Houston published her autobiography, Don't Fence Me In, in 1974.
