Born as Ruby Kathleen Head in Totnes, Devon on November 14th 1916 Head would carve out a respectable stage career with the Royal Shakespeare Company as well as balancing film and television roles. In both of these careers she was usually seen in small and supporting roles though she occasionally undertook bigger roles in local and repertory theatre. Head attended RADA where she was received several awards for her acting ability including the Public Performance Award in 1936.
Ruby had a television career that stretched back to the very start of the medium before the Second World War. Her first TV credit appears to have been the BBC play
Doctor Knock (17th January 1938) which was adapted from a story by Jules Romains. Her character is not credited with a name.
Badger’s Green (22nd June 1938) was another BBC adaptation of a stage play, this time from the mind of R C Sherriff, and featured her future 'The Dummy' co-star Thorley Walters in the cast. Next was the short comedy film
Queens of France (20th November 1938) and another uncredited role. Her final TV appearance before the start of the Second World War was as Cathy, a maid, in a production of the play
Rake’s Progress (26th April 1939). Head would eventually return to the small screen, but after a considerable break.
Her first post-war role was as a shop customer in the
Dixon of Dock Green episode 'The High Price of Freedom' (13th October 1962) and followed by the role of Barbara’s mother in two episodes of the BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens’
The Old Curiosity Shop (6th January 1963 and 10th February 1963). Over the next few years she established herself a character niche as middle aged married women or housewives with a succession of roles in ongoing series including playing Mrs Quade in 'The Edge of Discovery' (13th May 1963), an episode of anthology series
Suspense, Mrs Biggins in the
Sergeant Cork story 'The Case of the Wounded Warder' (29th August 1964), Mrs Manning in 'The Commuters' (29th September 1964), an instalment of the themed drama anthology
Love Story, and Mrs Taylor in 'The Quiet Load' (26th January 1965) an episode of
Front Page Story. She also played the role of Alice in the
Love Story episode 'In Loving Memory' (28th July 1964).
Her stage credits for 1964 included
Philadelphia, Here I Come at the Dublin Gate Theatre during October as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival, and
The Bacchae at the Mermaid Theatre between February and March 1964. Back on television Head was cast as a landlady in 'First Offender' (3rd December 1965) an episode of the ITV drama anthology series
Blackmail. The rest of the decade saw Head more active in the area of theatre which limited her television appearances.
During 1967 her stage work included a production of Isaac Babel’s
Marya at the Royal Court theatre during October. Written in Russia during 1933
Marya was banned in 1934 and was never performed in the Soviet Union. This was the play’s debut performance in the UK. During 1968 she was attached to the Royal Shakespeare Company appearing in productions of
The Merry Wives of Windsor and
Julius Caesar. Head then made a rare film appearance, possibly one of her more recognisable roles, as Edith in the film version of the BBC play
Up the Junction (1968).
As part of the Royal Shakespeare Company she was involved in a stage production of Ben Johnson’s
Bartholomew Fair staged at the Aldwych theatre during October 1969. This was followed by a run of
The Revenger’s Tragedy, also for the RSC and in the same venue, during November and December. Back on television she undertook the roles of Mrs Krause in a single episode of
The Silver Sword (5th September 1971) and of Mrs Hunter in 'Smith' (3rd December 1971), an episode of the superior BBC horror anthology series
Dead of Night. Sadly this is one of the missing episodes of the series. She was a hospital matron in the
Special Branch instalment 'Inquisition' (18th April 1973), and prior to appearing in
Beasts, she could be seen as Mrs Rivallack in the fifth episode (5th June 1975) of the original
Poldark series. Stage work for the year of 1975 included
The Doctor’s Dilemma at The Mermaid theatre during April and May.
Her next role was as the tea lady in
Beasts and this was followed by Head undertaking the role of Mrs Dibble in two episodes a BBC version of
Little Lord Fauntleroy (5th and 19th December 1975). The director of the series, Paul Annett, had previously worked on the horror anthology series
Dead of Night and ATV’s anthology
Against the Crowd. It was Annett that cast Head in the role of Joan in 'She: Carol' (17th April 1977), an episode of the London Weekend Television drama anthology
Seven Faces of Woman. Head also had a recurring role as Lily the Maid in the romantic drama
Love For Lydia (9th September – 2nd December 1977). Stage work for this period included
Factory Blinds at RSC’s Warehouse Theatre over November 1977 followed by a RSC production of
The Alchemist at the Aldwych theatre. During January 1978 she was engaged to appear in the play
Frozen Assets produced at the Warehouse theatre in London. This was also a RSC production. Head popped up in the role of Mrs Tompkins in 'The Virus' (19th February 1978), an episode of the sitcom
Two’s Company, before moving on to the
BBC Play of the Week instalment
'Iron Age' (17th May 1978) in the small role of a doctor’s widow. She also turned up in episode three of the sporting drama
Fallen Hero (28th November 1978). Her final television appearance for the year was in the BBC single drama
Thank You, Comrades (19th December 1978). Following this Head featured in the Alan Bennett play
One Fine Day (17th February 1979) in a small unnamed role and was credited as Madame Gladwin in 'A Day At The Metropole' (25th February 1979), an episode of the
Upstairs Downstairs spin-off
Thomas and Sarah. She essayed the role of Mrs Holley in two episodes of
A Question of Guilt (8th and 10th April 1980) before another rare recurring role, this time as Aunt Ethel Wagstaff, in
Turtles Progress, which ran for two seasons between 1979 and 1980. Another rare, and equally memorable, film role was as Harold’s mother in the British gangster drama
The Long Good Friday (1980). Next was an appearance in the Thames Television production
Never Never Land (25th December 1980) which capped the year’s work. Between 1980 and 1982 she had a recurring role as Mrs Whicker in the sitcom
Nobody’s Perfect, a vehicle for American actress Elaine Stritch. More comedy work followed with 'Little Green-Eyed Monster' (19th April 1983) an episode of the Central sitcom
Goodnight and God Bless.
Head was still committed to working with the RSC with roles in their theatre production
Philistines in 1985 and
Mephisto at the Barbican in 1986. During April and May 1987 she was involved in lunchtime performances of Harold Pinter’s
Family Voices at Lyric Studio, Hammersmith. Fellow
Beasts cast member Mark Dignam was also involved in the production. One of Ruby's final television roles was as Mrs Bates in an episode of the action thriller series
Dempsey and Makepeace – 'Not Without Cause' (7th December 1987). Head passed away, aged 80, on 12th October 1997 in Denville Hall
[1], Northwood, London.
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