Ruth Ellis in 1951 film 'Lady Godiva Rides Again'
Following extensive research I found that Ruth Ellis (4th on left in line-up) had an uncredited, walk-on part as a beauty queen in the 1951 film Lady Godiva Rides Again, about a seaside beauty queen contest, which starred Dennis Price and Kay Kendal and Ruth’s close friend Diana Dors.
For some reason, none of this has ever been documented in biographies about Ruth Ellis.
Both Gina Egan (hostess at the Little Club in London where Ruth was manageress in 1953) and Jane Hart (far left in line-up) were friends of Ruth Ellis and appeared in the film. At the time of filming, Jane Hart’s boyfriend was society osteopath and pimp, Dr Stephen Ward.
In Diana Dors’ 1981 autobiography Dors by Diana, Miss Dors wrote: “I commenced filming on location at Folkestone where I met a beautiful young girl named jane Hart who was playing a small role…when the boyfriend arrived at our hotel I did not take to him at all: he looked devious and was something of a show-off…he found fame as a slick society doctor among the jet set…My earlier opinion of him was confirmed in 1963, however, when Dr Stephen Ward died from an overdose of drugs after it had been revealed that he was behind the Christine Keeler affair…”
The scene in the photo was filmed on 4th and 5th May 1951 in Folkestone, Kent at the Leas Cliff Hall.
Ruth Ellis’s hair was dyed black for the part and styled into a bob. She was about 4 months pregnant at the time.
Other young starlets in the film included Joan Collins, Diana Russell, Yvonne Brooks, Simone Silva. And Pat Marlowe who was another young woman, like Ruth Ellis and several others, who were transformed by Dr Stephen Ward and who died in 1963 from an overdose.
It would appear, from my latest findings, that Ward supplied many of the models and young starlets that appeared in the film. The remainder were actual beauty queens.
The film Lady Godiva Rides Again was a direct outcome of the “Miss Kent 1950″ competition at Leas Cliff Hall. Frank Launder, joint producer of the film with Leslie Gilliatt, was one of the judges of the beauty queens in that competition. Whilst watching the parade, Launder had the germ of an idea for a new film. Lady Godiva Rides Again was the result.
