Carry On's Valerie Leon at Ramsgate International Film & TV Festival
15:27, 26 February 2018
Carry On star Valerie Leon will be making her mark at this year’s Ramsgate Film Festival.
The actress had roles in several Carry On films and twice appeared as a Bond girl - in The Spy Who Loved Me with Roger Moore and in Never Say Never Again with Sean Connery.
As part of the festival’s celebration of 60 years of Carry On, Valerie will be giving a tribute talk, illustrated with vintage material.
Her most notable roles in the series were as Leda, the leader of an all women tribe desperately seeking men in Carry On Up The Jungle, and as a frumpy secretary who turns into a glamour girl in Carry On Girls.
Festival director Sylvie Bolioli invited Valerie to talk at the event having known her for 13 years.
Valerie said: “I worked with Sylvie 13 years ago, in 2005 when we were filming GAS, which was based on an unpublished short story by Hitchcock.
“We’ve kept in touch and our paths have crossed from time to time.
“I knew about the festival last year and then she rang and invited me to give one of my talks this year.
“My luck is to have been associated with three major British film series which have all become cults - which is Bond, Carry On and Hammer Horror. That’s what has kept me going.”
Valerie made her West End debut in Funny Girl with Barbra Streisand at London’s Prince of Wales Theatre and appeared in a number of TV shows and films including The Italian Job and The Avengers.
In 2009, Valerie put together an illustrated talk about her life and career which she premiered in Almeria, Spain and continues to perform in Spain and in the UK and on cruise ships.
Forever Carrying On with Valerie Leon will be at the Albion Hotel, Ramsgate, on Saturday, March 17 at 11am.
Ramsgate International Film & TV Festival runs from Thursday, March 15 until Sunday, March 18.