Main content

Rita Tushingham, actor

Rita Tushingham, actor, shares the eight tracks, book and luxury item she would take with her if cast away to a desert island. With Lauren Laverne.

Rita Tushingham first won international acclaim as a teenager, playing Jo in the film A Taste of Honey. Her performance in this 1961 kitchen sink drama earned her a BAFTA, a Golden Globe and the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival. She starting shooting the film on her 19th birthday.

She went on to play roles in the Leather Boys, the Knack鈥� and How to Get it and Doctor Zhivago. Now 80, she continues to perform and recently appeared in two 91热爆 television drama series - Ridley Road and The Responder - and in the film Last Night in Soho.

Rita was born in Liverpool and at 16 joined the Liverpool Repertory Company as a student assistant stage manager. Her first role was as the back legs of a horse in Toad of Toad Hall. In 1960 she responded to a newspaper article which invited 鈥榰gly鈥� unknown girls to apply for the part of Jo in a film adaptation of Shelagh Delaney's play A Taste of Honey, to be directed by Tony Richardson. The film challenged many taboos of the time, including teenage pregnancy and interracial relationships.

After the British film industry went into decline in the 1970s Rita started working in Europe. In 1988 she went back to her roots and played Celia Higgins in Carla Lane鈥檚 Liverpool sitcom, Bread. Rita lives in London and is a passionate supporter of Liverpool Football Club.

DISC ONE: You鈥檒l Never Walk Alone by Gerry & the Pacemakers
DISC TWO: Tutti Frutti by Little Richard
DISC THREE: Penny Lane by The Beatles
DISC FOUR: Every Time We Say Goodbye by Ella Fitzgerald
DISC FIVE: The pas de deux from the second act of Giselle, performed by The Pro Arte Orchestra, conducted by Marcus Dods
DISC SIX: Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel
DISC SEVEN: An extract from I鈥檓 Sorry I Haven鈥檛 a Clue - Potted Plots, broadcast on 91热爆 Radio 4 on 22nd May 2006
DISC EIGHT: Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley

BOOK CHOICE: Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
LUXURY ITEM: A photograph album
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel

Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley

Available now

35 minutes

Last on

Fri 24 Jun 2022 09:00
91热爆 Radio 4

More episodes

Previous

Frances O'Grady, General Secretary of the TUC

Next

Bono, singer and songwriter

See all episodes from Desert Island Discs

Music Played

  • Gerry and the Pacemakers

    You'll Never Walk Alone

    • 20 Golden Number Ones Volume 1.
    • EMI Records Limited.
    • 16.

  • Little Richard

    Tutti Frutti

    • He's Got It.
    • SPV.
    • 12.

  • The Beatles

    Penny Lane

    • 1.
    • UMC (Universal Music Catalogue).
    • 17.

  • Ella Fitzgerald

    Every time We Say Goodbye

    • The Greatest Collection.
    • Pacific.
    • 1.

  • Pro Arte Orchestra & Marcus Dods

    The pas de deux

  • Simon & Garfunkel

    Bridge Over Troubled Water

    • The Best of Simon and Garfunkel.
    • Columbia/Legacy.
    • 13.

  • I鈥檓 Sorry I Haven鈥檛 a Clue - Potted Plots

  • Jeff Buckley

    Hallelujah

    • Grace.
    • Columbia/Legacy.
    • 6.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 19 Jun 2022 11:15
    91热爆 Radio 4
  • Fri 24 Jun 2022 09:00
    91热爆 Radio 4

The Desert Island Discs podcast

The Desert Island Discs podcast

Subscribe or download individual episodes.

Listen to over 2,000 programmes

Click above to browse castaways, from 1942 to today.

Articles

Read the surprising things we've learned about some stand-out castaways.

Podcast