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Book Of The Month
April 1956
Written by Basil Thomas
Directed by John Barron
Performed at Salisbury Repertory Company, The Playhouse, Salisbury.

Leonard played the role of Dr. MacLure.

Notes:
The play also starred Josephine Tewson, later to be the wife of Leonard (on the left of the picture, plus Frederick Peisley, Leonard, Brian Kent, Margaret Denyer, Doreen Andrew, and with John Bown and Lucy Young on the floor).

Lord Peter and his new bride depart for a tranquil honeymoon in a farmhouse, but their peace is shattered when the dead body of the previous owner is found in the cellar.

Leonard played the role of Superintendent Kirk

Leonard played the role of Samuel Diamond.

The story of the eponymous couple who put on a happily-married face in public but are at war behind closed doors.

Leonard played the role of Mr. Wolfstein.

Leonard played the role of Prokovitch.

It is Christmas Eve in the tropical prison colony of Cayenne. Felix Dulay, a hopeless storekeeper, is fearfully awaiting the owner, Gaston. Providence has given the Dulays' three guardian angels three convicts! In no time they have cooked Christmas lunch - and Felix's books.

Leonard played the role of Joseph.

Another murder case for Hercule Poirot (Rossiter). Based on Christie's novel 'The Murder of Roger Ackroyd'.

Leonard played the lead role of Hercule Poirot.

Leonard played the role of Alphonse.

Leonard played the role of Charlie Maggs

Leonard played the role of Dr. Drewitt.

Notes:
A. J. Cronin is more famous for his creations Dr. Finlay's Casebook and The Citadel.

Harpagon, the miser (Rossiter), loves his gold but decides to take for his second wife Mariane, the beloved of his son Cléante. Meanwhile, Valère and Elise are in love. Harpagon threatens to marry Elise to a certain Seigneur Anselm, so the four lovers urgently plot to save themselves. It transpires that Valère and Mariane are the lost children of wealthy Seigneur Anselm. As Anselm is a benevolent fellow, the lovers' happiness is assured.

Leonard played the lead role of Harpagon.

A murder mystery specially written for The Grand Theatre

Leonard played the role of Leonard.
 
 

A Navy romance.

Leonard played the role of Marine Ogg.

Leonard played the role of Arthur Popplejoy

Hercule Poirot investigates in another Agatha Christie murder mystery.

Leonard played the role of Dr. Theodore Gerard.

Leonard played the role of Willie Higginbotham

Leonard played the role of Johnathon Maxwell
 

The classic tale of the hopes and aspirations of two ranchers during the Depression, hoping for a time when they can be happy and self-sufficient.

Leonard played the role of Candy.

A tale of music and love at a Midland public school.

Leonard played the role of Owen Thomas, the choir master.

Notes: Leonard resumed this role in Decmber of 1956 at Salisbury Rep.

A man learns that his kindly old aunts and his sinister brother are serial killers. He tries to sort it out fast so he can go on his honeymoon.

Leonard played the role of Dr. Einstein.

Leonard played the role of Dick Goddard.

The trials and tribulations of Richard Miller (Rossiter) and his misunderstood youth spent in 1900s America.

Leonard played the lead role of Richard Miller.

Leonard played the role of Ted Sparrow.

Notes:
This play was written and directed by Leslie Sands, who later co-starred with Leonard in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin as Thruxton Appleby, one of Reggie's community guests.

Leonard played the role of Manning.

When wartime restrictions force an all-boys school and an all-girls school together, mayhem ensues until a crisis or two forces them to work together.

Leonard played the role of Rainbow.

Leonard played the role of Paul La Barca.

A womanising theatre agent falls in love with his friend's daughter, while his friend (Rossiter) falls in love with the agent's wife.

Leonard played the role of Joe McGall.

Leonard played the role of Martin Armitage.

Lady Isabel is cunningly seduced by the villain into believing that the clandestine meetings of her husband and another woman are for romance rather than business. In despair, she abandons home and children, only to come back in later years disguised as a governess to her own children and to die in her husband's arms in heartbroken penitence and forgiveness.

Leonard played the role of Mr. Dill

A crowded inn forces two people - married to other people - to share a room for the night. The two people happen to be formerly engaged to each other.

Leonard played the role of Major George Bone

Notes:
Josephine Tewson, on the right of the picture, was briefly married to Leonard (second from left). The picture also shows Margaret Denyer, Helen Jessop, Tristram Jellinek (in the tub), and Margaret Jones.

A tale of music and love at a Midland public school.

Leonard played the role of Owen Thomas.

Notes:
This was the second time in six months Leonard had performed this role in this play. He is pictured, right, with Josephine Tewson.
 
 

The classic tale of misery, miserliness and ghosts from Christmases past.

Leonard played the lead role of Ebeneezer Scrooge.

Notes: Leonard played Ebenezer again in 1975.

Leonard's Role Remembered:
"He was wonderfully funny. He had the right style for the piece: a mad kind of vigour...It was a remarkable performance: entertaining, absorbing and instructive." - Timothy West, co-star.

Critical Review:
"Leonard Rossiter is young enough and clever enough to do justice to both the young and the old Scrooge." - Birmingham Post.

The classic Christmas children's pantomime.

Leonard played the role of Len, the not-so-bad robber.
 
 
 

Leonard played the role of Mr. Rosenblatt.

The frustrations of a love-lorn soldier in Salford in the 1950s. Co-starred Helen Jessop (pictured).

Leonard played the lead role of Jack Hardacre.
 
 
 
 

The story takes place on the tiny island of Terhou (and also on Jersey) and tells of the island's despair at not being able to find a May Queen for their festival.

Leonard played the role of John, and a reporter.

Notes: This was Leonard's first performance in London, premiering on Thursday, 6th June 1957.
 

Links:
 Play description; Records
 

The revelations of a bar-room full of no-hopers and the urge by one of their friends, Hickey, to face the truth about their varied lives.

Leonard played the role of Ed Masher.

The story of Phanocles (Rossiter), an inventor who, in ancient times, invented the printing press, a steam boat, and a pressure cooker, among other things. His Emperor (Derek Benfield, pictured), is a great lover of food and is therefore only interested in his cooker.

Leonard played the role of Phanocles, the inventor.

Leonard's Role Remembered:
"...It was immediately obvious that here was a man who was destined to be a name to conjure with in the future...But the greatest thing about Len - even more than his ability as an actor - was his enduring loyalty to his old friends. Success never changed him." - Derek Benfield.
 

Aristocrat Sir Hector Benbow invites a party to his Norfolk home of Thark, but the house is haunted. Farce and terror combine.

Leonard played the role of Sir Hector Benbow.

Notes:
Last time Leonard acted in this play, in January 1955, he played the butler. This time he had the lead role, and is joined in the picture by Ian Mullins (left) and Angus Mackay.

The story of an Italian-American family sheltering their illegal immigrant cousins.

Leonard played the role of First Immigration Officer.

At the Villa Miramar, in the south of France, a group of young men are being coached in French by M. Maingot (Rossiter) and his daughter, Jacqueline. They do not find French easy, but their progress is bedevilled by Diana Lake who has a gift for making men fall in love with her. Diana resists them, awaiting the arrival of Lord Heybrook, who turns out to be a fifteen-year-old schoolboy. She decamps to pursue a former victim, leaving another to be consoled by Jacqueline.

Leonard played the role of Monsieur Maingot.

Pictured: From left to right: Robert McBain, Josephine Tewson, Angus Mackay, Leonard Rossiter, Brian Tully, Derek Benfield, Iolanthe Latimer and Michael Barnwell.
 

A childless couple apply to an adoption agency for a baby. Various misunderstandings about a pregnancy sort themselves out in the end.

Leonard played the role of Augie Poole, the husband.

The classic tale of Parisian courtesan and her grand-daughter Gigi, and the bon vivant Gaston.

Leonard played the role of Victor.

A murder-mystery set in a beach house.

Leonard played the role of Inspector Davies.

A Victorian thriller in which a man, Jack Manningham, is slowly driving his wife insane. His plans are thwarted, however, when a former detective, Rough (Rossiter) arrives and believes Manningham to be a murderer.

Leonard played the role of Rough, the ex-detective.

A comedy about a Northern family, including a daughter and her dimwitted boyfriend Alf Hall.

Leonard played the role of Bill Brown, the father.

The attempts of an aged fop to become nobility by marrying his daughter off to a knight of the realm.

Leonard played Canton, Lord Ogleby's French companion.

Leonard's Role Remembered:
"He was a glorious comic, and a good deal more beside...He was always full of marvellous energy and life...Besides his talent and timing and all the qualities widely acclaimed during his career, what I most admired was his steely pursuit of excellence. He was an up-by-his-bootstraps character and in that sense we shared a background..." - John Hale.

Critical Review:
"Leonard Rossiter never fails to raise a chuckle with his ingratiating smile and bundle of twitches. Their partnership provides some of the best of the evening's amusement and it is a pity there is not more of it." - Peter Rodford, Western Daily Press.

Pictured: Leonard as Canton and Newton Blick as Lord Ogleby.

Links:
 Bristol Old Vic Theatre

The endearing tale of love gained and lost between the wealthy houses of the Montagues and the Capulets.

Leonard played the role of Sampson, the Capulet's servant, and Friar John.

A comedy that hinges on a huge joke, played by a heartless nephew on his misanthropic uncle, who is induced to take to himself a wife, young, fair, and warranted silent, but who, in the end, turns out neither silent nor a woman at all.

Leonard played the role of Sir John Daw.

Critical Review:
"Leonard Rossiter's Sir John Daw was a minutely observed piece of comedy playing that embraced those characteristics of fussy frustration and timorous anxiety associated with Robertson Hare..." - John Coe, Bristol Evening Post.
 
 

The story of an isolated platoon of soldiers in the Malayan jungle, arguing over what to do with their Japanese prisoner.

Leonard played the role of 877 Pte. Bamforth, C. (Private Bamforth).

Leonard's Role Remembered:
"He was superb...As a young, not widely-known actor, he had such self-discipline, such as puts a guest director on his mettle; you had to be ready for him in rehearsal. He was a stimulating actor who made directing fun and his involvement was total. He could be infuriating in rehearsal - but on reflection I found his intuitive interruption to be sound...I often felt he would have been a splendid director, being a he was a total professional with a wicked sense of humour." - David Scace.

Critical Review:
"Mr. Rossiter speaks the part with the authority of Bow Bells." - Peter Rodford, Western Daily Press.

Picture: Leonard as Pte. Bamforth with John Harwood.

A Christmas pantomime, featuring a part specially written for Leonard.

Leonard played the role of Harry Tuck, the postman.

Leonard's Role Remembered:
"...I envied him his extraordinary energy and it was always a delight to talk to a man of such dazzling talent who was so completely untouched by his success." - Julian Slade.
"...All his energy, concentration and passion went into his work and he could be a frightening actor because of this. You felt it was a kind of pressure on you all the time..." - Annette Crosby, co-star.
"We were a double act...It got a bit tricky because my comedy timing was different from his; when it came to choosing a style that was right for our roles we couldn't agree and ended up having a tremendous argument. Even so, I enjoyed working with Len and we developed a great respect for each other...Len was a remarkable actor with a unique style. I remember his spring-footedness more than anything. His stylistic approach was very powerful and was something he was unaware of until later in his career, when he began exploiting it. He was a great actor." - Peter Bowles, co-star.

Picture: Left to right - Angus Mackay, Ewan Hooper, Dorothy Reynolds, James Cairncross, Leonard Rossiter and Annette Crosby.

Note: A recording of the songs from this show was made and released as a 12-track EP.

Move on to Theatre: 1960s
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Text (c) Paul Fisher
Pictures (c) their respective owners.