Connie Booth facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Connie Booth
Booth in 1968
Born	(1940-12-02) December 2, 1940 (age 84) Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
Occupation	Writer, actress, psychotherapist
Years active	1968–1995
Spouse(s)	John Cleese ​ ​ (m. 1968; div. 1978)​ John Lahr ​ (m. 2000)​
Children	1
Relatives	Bert Lahr (father-in-law), Ed Solomon (former-son-in-law)

Connie Booth (born December 2, 1940) is an American actress and writer. She is well-known for her role as Polly Sherman in the British TV show Fawlty Towers. She also helped write this popular comedy series with her former husband, John Cleese. After 1995, Connie Booth stopped acting. She then became a psychotherapist, which is a type of therapist who helps people with their thoughts and feelings. She worked in this field until she retired.

Early Life and Beginnings

Where Connie Booth Grew Up

Connie Booth was born Constance Booth Bollinger in Indianapolis, Indiana, on December 2, 1940. Her father, Elmer Edward Bollinger, worked as a stockbroker on Wall Street. Her mother, Virginia Caylor Bollinger, was an actress. Connie also had an older brother named Conrad. Her family later moved to New York State.

How Connie Booth Started Acting

Connie Booth began her acting career by working as an understudy on Broadway. An understudy is an actor who learns a role so they can perform it if the main actor is unable to. She also worked as a waitress. She met actor and writer John Cleese when he was working in New York City. They got married on February 20, 1968.

Acting Career Highlights

Early TV and Film Roles

Connie Booth appeared in several episodes of the famous comedy show Monty Python's Flying Circus from 1969 to 1974. She also acted in some of the Monty Python films, like And Now for Something Completely Different (1971) and Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975). In Monty Python and the Holy Grail, she played a woman accused of being a witch.

She also appeared in other projects with John Cleese. These included How to Irritate People (1968), a film made before Monty Python started. She was also in a short film called Romance with a Double Bass (1974). Later, she played Mrs. Hudson in The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It (1977), which was a funny take on Sherlock Holmes.

Fawlty Towers: A Famous Role

Connie Booth and John Cleese worked together to write and star in Fawlty Towers. This very popular comedy series aired in 1975 and 1979. In the show, Connie Booth played Polly Sherman, an art student who also worked as a chambermaid. For many years, she did not talk about the show. However, in 2009, she agreed to be part of a documentary about Fawlty Towers.

Other Television and Stage Work

Connie Booth took on various roles in British television. She played Sophie in Dickens of London (1976) and Mrs. Errol in a BBC version of Little Lord Fauntleroy (1980). Her final acting role was Miss March in The Buccaneers (1995). She also starred in a drama called The Story of Ruth (1981). In 1994, she appeared in an episode of the children's science fiction TV series The Tomorrow People.

Connie Booth also had a career in theatre, mostly in London. She performed in 10 plays between the mid-1970s and mid-1990s. One notable role was with John Mills in the play Little Lies (1983–1984) at Wyndham's Theatre.

Life After Acting

Becoming a Psychotherapist

Connie Booth stopped acting in 1995. She then spent five years studying at the University of London. After her studies, she started a new career as a psychotherapist. A psychotherapist helps people understand and deal with their thoughts and emotions. She was registered with the British Psychoanalytic Council.

Personal Life Details

Family and Relationships

In 1971, Connie Booth and John Cleese had a daughter named Cynthia. Cynthia later appeared in some films with her father, including A Fish Called Wanda and Fierce Creatures. Connie Booth and John Cleese divorced in 1978. Even though they were divorced, they finished writing the second series of Fawlty Towers together. Their daughter Cynthia married screenwriter Ed Solomon in 1995.

In 2000, Connie Booth married John Lahr. He was an author and a senior drama critic for The New Yorker magazine.

Selected Appearances

Television Roles

Film Roles

Theatre Appearances