Susan Beaumont (1936 - 2020)
Susan Beaumont was born as Susan Smythe in 1936 (contrary to online accounts). Her parents divorced not long after Susan was born and her mother, musical comedy actress Roma Beaumont, re-married producer/impresario Alfred Black who accepted Susan as his daughter and who she always thought of as her dad. She was therefore also the step granddaughter of the producer/impresario George Black.
She became contracted to Rank at the age of 19 and starred as a leading lady in many films throughout the 1950’s including ‘Eyewitness’, ‘The Spaniard's Curse’, ‘No Safety Ahead’ and ‘Man of the Moment’. Susan’s contribution to the ‘Carry On’ series came in the early days of ‘Carry On’, playing Nurse Frances James in ‘Carry On Nurse’.
I had tried to track Susan down for a few years without success. However, in May 2020 I discovered a new lead that I hoped would perhaps shed some light on her whereabouts. I hoped to try and talk to her about her career but was aware that Susan left the acting profession many years ago, possibly around the late 1950’s. Her career and reason for leaving the profession was something that I know many ‘Carry On’ fans , as well as fans of films from that era, often pondered. Of course, you also have to appreciate that sometimes people don’t want to be tracked down or contacted for a variety of reasons and it is of course imperative that any fan, collector or academic respects that position without further question.
However, a few days later I received a very nice reply from Susan’s son, Gabe Solomon, who confirmed to me that sadly his mum had passed away in February 2020, a day short of her 84th birthday. Offering my condolences, we then chatted and exchanged emails for a few more days and I asked him if he would be happy for me to feature a special section on his mum, which he kindly agreed to. I had the opportunity to ask him more about his mum’s career and he very kindly provided some photographs from his mum’s personal collection that he had discovered when he was sorting through her belongings after she passed away.
Despite lots of publicity shots from the 1950’s featuring some of her Rank co-stars such as Donald Sinden, Nicholas Parsons & Ian Carmichael there was not anything specifically relating to ‘Carry On Nurse’. However, although some of these pictures may already be out there, many have never been publicly shared.
Gabe kindly agreed for me to share these on my website along with the following account of his memories of his mum. I asked him why his mum left the profession and what she did afterwards and in her final years. The below excerpt is taken from our conversations. I hope that fellow fans of the 'Carry On' series, as well as fans of Susan, Rank films and that era, find the following of interest…
“I’m sorry to say that, sadly, my mum passed away on the 25th February this year, one day short of her 84th birthday.
We have had fans, collectors and film buffs contact us before about her time as an actress and she was always reluctant to get involved. Some were quite persistent and we found them hard to shake off. Having said that, we have no objection to helping you out, if we can.
Since she died, I have been going through her boxes of photos and there are lots of publicity shots from the 1950’s featuring some of her Rank co-stars like Donald Sinden, Nicholas Parsons & Ian Carmichael but nothing specifically ‘Carry On'. The stills we have are pretty well all official publicity photos. There are shots of her at home or out walking the dog etc. There are also stills from individual movie sets or lots of her publicising the Rank Organisation (with others that I mentioned before), at Cannes, in Scandinavia and in the UK. Let me know what photos you want and I’ll send some across.
My understanding is that she was never completely sold on the acting career, being essentially quite a shy person. After marrying my dad (who she met in the chorus line at the London Palladium), I was born in late 1959 and that was pretty much it. My main memory of her acting career was seeing her pop up in occasional adverts in the 1960’s and 1970’s for ‘Heinz Baked Beans’, ‘Fairy Liquid’ and ‘Spangles’, to name but a few. She did a few assorted nine to five jobs to earn some money but nothing you would call a career. In the 1990’s she opened a successful gift shop in Twickenham which she certainly enjoyed but she was first and foremost a housewife and mum. Of course, some of her films, like ‘Carry On Nurse’ or ‘Eyewitness’, did sometimes get an airing on TV and they were always good for a laugh!
Her film acting career finished in the late 1950’s though she did ads until well into the 1970’s. They actually moved to Canada for a few years at the beginning of the 1960’s, so that my dad could get his union ticket working as a film editor. She did ads out there as a way of earning money.
Above: Susan with co-stars Kenneth Connor & Ann Firbank in 'Carry On Nurse' (1959).
After my dad died in 1987, she re-married twice, bought a flat in Spain and played an awful lot of golf. She was always a very warm, positive, active person who enjoyed travelling and meeting people but her priority was definitely her family - her children, her parents (when they were alive) and in later years, her grandchildren.
Presumably you have seen the Barry Norman BBC documentary on the Rank Charm School in which my mum features? It’s on the BBC iPlayer, I believe.
I’m afraid I don’t recall her speaking about ‘Carry On Nurse’. It’s one of those things that, in retrospect, I should have asked her about. The only thing that stayed with me about her career was that
(*a famous leading man)
was very ’touchy feely’ and would have made a prime target for the ‘Me Too’ movement!
She was a great mum, a doting grandmother and a lovely person. She will be sadly missed but looking back, I’m pleased to say that, although there was inevitably sadness, she lived a really good life".
My sincere thanks & gratitude to Gabe Solomon for his kind help with this special section on his mum, the gorgeous Susan Beaumont!
*Please note: I have applied some discretion to one part of the conversation due to the nature of the content.
Susan Beaumont Picture Archive
During my research and conversation with Susan's son, Gabe Soloman, I have been provided with a large collection of photographs from Susan's personal collection and archive. This collection of 55 images includes studio publicity pictures, pictures from her career, with her co-stars and also personal family pictures. Some may have previously been seen but many of these pictures have never been shared publicly. I am delighted, with the kind permission of Susan's family, to be able to share these for the first time below.
Photographs courtesy of Gabe & Beth Solomon shared from their personal collection from the estate of the late Susan Beaumont. The author does not hold or assert any right to ownership or copyright of these photographs but has been granted permission by the digital image holder to share these images on this section of the website with the appropriate credit. Any request or permission to duplicate, share, use or store any of these images should, in the first instance, be sought by contacting the author and owner of this website.
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