Marianne Stone

Who was Marianne Stone?

Marianne Stone was an English character actress. She appeared in many films from the early 1940s to the late 1980s. She usually played working class parts such as barmaids, secretaries and landladies, and is probably best known for her contribution to the Carry On films where she appeared in nine in total and took part in an episode of the Carry On Laughing television series.

Among her many other films are appearances in such classics as Brighton Rock, Seven Days to Noon, The 39 Steps, Lolita, Ladies Who Do, Oh! What a Lovely War and the first two "Quatermass" films. Her most serious and arguably most dramatic role was as Lena Van Broecken in three episodes of the BBC's Secret Army between 1977 and 1978.

Stone, whose nickname was "Mugsie", was credited in her early films under the name "Mary Stone", and also has been credited as "Marion Stone". She was married for fifty years, from 1947 to 1997, to actor turned theatre critic and film historian Peter Noble, with whom she had two children, one of whom is DJ Kara Noble. Although she appeared in a record 201 films, in the 1980s the offers dried up and she retired.