Ruth Goring (June King in Special Offer)

Goring was born as Ruth Gorb in Willesden, Middlesex in 1927. She worked extensively on the stage and was active on British television from the early 1950s, often in supporting roles, as house wives or mother in laws. Her stage career started in repertory theatre with engagements in Windsor, Salisbury and the Bristol Old Vic. During the period of 1949 to 1951 she appeared in stage productions such as A Pair of Spectacles, Rookery Nook and The Heiress. One particularly noteworthy stage appearance was at the Theatre Royal in Bath during September 1952 when she was cast as Minnie in the comedy Pagan in the Parlour. The play, produced by esteemed film director James Whale (Frankenstein), also provided an early role for Joss Ackland.

Her television debut came with the BBC Sunday Night Theatre production 'The Lake' (29th March 1953) when she played the role of Ethel. This was followed by the role of Bella Manchester in a BBC transmission of the musical play The Two Bouquets (31st August 1953) featuring the cast of the then current West End theatre run at St Martin’s theatre. In 1955 she married fellow actor Lee Montague and the union would result in two sons. More small roles followed in TV plays such as her appearance as a nurse on the BBC Sunday Night Theatre production 'Epitaph' (27th May 1956) and Florrie in the Welsh comedy Without Vision (10th July 1956). Goring continued to be a popular stage player and she appeared in a touring production of Peter Ustinov’s play The Empty Chair during September and October 1956. More substantial was the role of Mrs Appleby in the first episode of the BBC television thriller series Joyous Errand (6th April 1957). Goring was quietly carving a career as a dependable character actor, especially in stage productions, and so her television appearances were limited over the next few years. Her third and final appearance in an episode of the BBC Sunday Night Theatre came with 'Street Scene' (15th November 1959) when she took on the role of Shirley Kaplan. Her next screen appearance was nearly two years later with a role in 'Take a Fellow like Me' (21st September 1961), an episode of the ITV Television Playhouse.

Her next assignment made Goring a familiar face to young children throughout the country when for the first season of Playschool she was cast as the regular storyteller between March and September 1966. She then returned to narrate further stories for a further week during June 1967. She was a presenter for the documentary TV series Discovering London during 1968 which examined different historical aspects of the capitol city. Goring worked extensively in theatre for the next few years and then returned to television with the role of Mrs Bradshaw in Don Taylor’s play The Roses of Eyam (12th June 1973). Taylor directed the Beasts stories 'Buddyboy' and 'During Barty’s Party'.

She made her first appearance in an episode of Z Cars, 'Have You Seen This Child?' (18th November 1974), playing Mrs Wilson. Her role as June King in 'Special Offer' was her next TV appearance. Following on from her Beasts appearance she undertook the role of Madame Gondelaurier in the BBC’s adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame (18th July 1977) which was scripted by Robert Muller. She was also cast as Mrs Wrightson for her second Z Cars role with the episode 'The Man Who Killed Songbirds' (5th April 1977).

For the remainder of the 1970s Goring was heavily involved in fringe and repertory theatre shows. She was a Member of the Richmond Fringe group, who staged plays at the Orange Tree public house based in Richmond. The 1977 season included The Island during January and Bodies during April. Also during the same year Goring appeared in a double bill of Tennessee Williams plays, Something Spoken and Suddenly Last Summer at the Thorndike, Leatherhead during September and October 1977. In 1978 she was a cast member of a ten week touring production of Hamlet which debuted in September 1978 at Southport Art Centre. She rejoined the Richmond Fringe group, still based at the Orange Tree, in 1979 and was involved in such productions as a revival of Pinter’s The Room during August 1979. During the 1980 season with Richmond Fringe she took part in plays that included Random Moments in a May Garden. At the Soho Poly she took part in lunchtime performances of the play Post Mortems staged during December 1980 and January 1981. Her first television appearance for a considerable time was as Mrs Cohen in an episode of Angels (3rd December 1980), a series which also featured her 'Special Offer' co-stars Shirley Cheriton and Pauline Quirke.

Back in the world of theatre she joined a touring production of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible during September – November 1981. The cast also included Peter Halliday who has featured in the cast of the Beasts episode 'Buddyboy'. For her only cinema role she was cast by Barbara Striesand as Esther Rachel Vishkower for the film Yentl (1983) which Streisand starred in and directed

Her guest and small supporting roles for television continued on an occasional basis with roles in Minder playing Helena Mancini in 'Windows' (7th March 1984), a blink and miss her role as a registrar appearing alongside her husband Lee Montague in the TV movie Sakharov (20th June 1984) and popping up as Mrs Langer in the TV movie Hitler’s S.S.: Portrait In Evil (17th February 1985). She was also seen as Mrs Joseph in The Bill instalment 'Outmoded' (22nd December 1988).

Her final television appearance saw her reunited with Pauline Quirke when Goring appeared as Dorien’s mother in the Birds of a Feather Christmas episode 'Falling In Love Again' (26th December 1990).