Rita Webb

Who was Rita Webb?

Rita Webb was an English character actress, mainly in comedy roles. She was the eldest child of Henry Augustus Webb and Rose Jeannette Keysor. She had a younger brother, Henry Richard Webb, also an actor, and two elder identical twin half-brothers, Leslie and Gordon Durlacher, from her mother's first marriage to Samuel Durlacher. She was the niece of Leonard Keysor, the first Jewish serviceman to win the Victoria Cross in World War I. A half-brother was the actor George Webb.

Born Olive Webb in Willesden, Middlesex, England, she is best known for her appearances as a stooge for Benny Hill in his long-running Thames Television series. At under five feet tall, with a booming voice and dyed flame-red hair, she was often cast as a blowsey mother-in-law or Cockney type character. Her vital statistics were 48 inch bust, 46 inch waist, 52 inch hips, 4' 10" inches in height and 15 stone in weight.

Following her separation from her husband she lived with Al Jeffery "Jeffie", an accomplished banjo player, whom she adored. She was called "Podge" by Jeffie and was proud that she still had all her own teeth.