Esma Cannon
Birthday: Born in 1905-12-27 in Randwick, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Deathday: 1972-10-18
Esma Ellen Charlotte Littman, credited as Esme or Esma Cannon, was a diminutive (4 feet 7 inches) Australian-born character actress and comedian, who moved to Britain in the early 1930s. Although she frequently appeared on television in her latter years, Cannon is best known as a film actress, with a lengthy career in British productions from the 1930s to the 1950s.
TV Credits
The Rag Trade
Character:
The Rag Trade is a British television sitcom broadcast by the BBC between 1961 and 1963 and by LWT between 1977 and 1978. The scripts were by Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney, who later wrote Wild, Wild Women, Meet the Wife and On the Buses. Wild, Wild Women was a period variation of The Rag Trade. The action centred on a small clothing workshop, Fenner Fashions in London. Although run by Harold Fenner and Reg the foreman, the female workers are led by militant shop steward Paddy Fleming, ever ...
Maigret
Character:
BBC series based on the novels by Georges Simenon which starred Rupert Davies as Inspector Maigret, a French police detective who preferred to watch and listen in order to solve crimes. The series ran from 1960-63 on British television....
Movie Credits
Carry On Regardless
Character: Miss Cooling
After a bunch of no-hopers approaches an employment agency, the anarchy mounts as they do a series of odd jobs, including a chimp's tea party, trying to stay sober at a wine tasting… and demolishing a house....
Carry On Cruising
Character: Bridget Madderley
Captain Crowther's lot is not a happy one! Five of his crew have to be replaced and at such short notice before the voyage begins there isn't much to choose from. Not only does he get the five most incompetent shipmates ever to sail the seven seas, but the passengers turn out to be a rather strange bunch too. The SS Happy Wanderer will never be the same....
The Way Ahead
Character: Mrs. Ted Brewer
A mismatched collection of conscripted civilians find training tough under Lieutenant Jim Perry and Sergeant Ned Fletcher when they are called up to replace an infantry battalion that had suffered casualties at Dunkirk....
Raising the Wind
Character: Mrs. Deevens
'Carry On' director Gerald Thomas helms this comedy caper featuring early appearances by James Robertson Justice, Sid James, Leslie Phillips, Kenneth Williams, Liz Fraser and Eric Barker. The film follows the hi-jinks of a group of music students who move into a shared flat in order to cut costs and have somewhere to practice their instruments. Things get tricky when Mervyn Hughes (Phillips) accidentally sells one of his compositions to an advertising agency and risks losing his scholarship. Can...
Hide and Seek
Character: Tea Lady
A professor of astronomy helping on a missile development program. An old friend of his is a Russian chess champion. The Russian is working with shady businessman Marek and they plan to kidnap the professor and make it look as though he has defected to the Soviet Union....
That's Carry On!
Character: Various Characters
Celebrating twenty years of classic Carry On films, two of the films’ best-loved stars, Kenneth Williams and Barbara Windsor return to Pinewood film studios to unwrap some rib-tickling moments from the series. From the original, military mayhem of Carry On Sergeant, through to the really ancient archaeological gags of Carry On Behind, our saucy hosts get their titters out for this laugh-a-second gallop through the most successful series of British comedy films ever made....
Carry On Cabby
Character: Flo Sims
Speedee Taxis is a great success, which means its workaholic owner Charlie starts neglecting Peggy, his wife. Suddenly a fleet of rival taxis appears from nowhere and start pinching all the fares. The rivals are Glamcabs, and they have a secret weapon. All their drivers are very attractive women! Who's behind Glamcabs? It's open warfare and only one fleet can survive!...
The Sleeping Tiger
Character: Scrubwoman with ladder
A petty thief breaks into the home of a psychiatrist and gets caught in a web of a doctor who wishes to experiment on him and a doctor's wife who wishes to seduce him....
No Kidding
Character: District Nurse
A young couple, David and Catherine Robinson, has to turn their large country house into a money-making proposition. Their solution is to invite the kids of the rich and famous to spend a summer enjoying all the loving care and attention they miss at home. After the youngsters arrive, David quickly realizes what the offensive little punks need is some real discipline, and so the summer begins....
Crow Hollow
Character: Aunt Judith Armour
A greedy woman tries to poison her nephew's bride in a dark mansion....
The Years Between
Character: Effie
After hearing news that her officer husband has been killed in battle, Diana Wentworth forges a new life for herself, becoming an MP and learning to love again. Then, out of the blue comes the shattering news that her husband is not dead after all....
Nurse on Wheels
Character: Mrs. Jones
Quietly competent young Joanna moves with her scatterbrain mother to a country village to take up her first job as District Nurse. She soon overcomes the suspicion of her patients used to someone rather older, while becoming romantically involved with a local farmer - at least until he tries to evict a newly-arrived expectant couple who park their caravan on his land....
Further Up the Creek
Character: Maudie Lovelace
The sequel to 'Up The Creek' sees David Tomlinson return as bumbling navy boffin Lieutenant Humphrey Fairweather. This time he is skipper of the ship Aristotle and, together with his second-in-command, Fairweather wreaks havoc when he is ordered to deliver the Aristotle to its new owners in a mythical Middle-Eastern country....
Trouble Brewing
Character: Maid
Ealing comedy starring music hall star George Formby. An eager newspaper reporter (Formby) goes undercover to expose a gang of counterfeiters. Posing as a wrestler and waiter in his investigative efforts, George proves a greater menace to public order than the criminals he is chasing....
Jassy
Character: Lindy Wicks
In 19th century England, Jassy is a young Gypsy girl blessed with the gift of second sight. Pursued by superstitious villagers, she is rescued by the son of the owner of Mordelaine, a vast stately home. Unfortunately, his father's drinking and gambling threaten the very ownership of the house. Despite her humble origins as a servant girl, Jassy must try to use her talents to climb the social ladder and save Mordelaine for the man whom she loves....
Here Come the Huggetts
Character: Youth Leader
The Huggetts have their first telephone installed, sleep rough on The Mall whilst waiting for the Royal Wedding and deal with a fire at the 'Oatibix' factory....
The Huggetts Abroad
Character: Brown Owl
Life is not going well for the Huggetts. Father has lost his job. Jimmy and his wife cannot get to South Africa where he has a new job. So the family decide that they should go to South Africa by truck. With their travelling companion they travel across the desert which includes a brush with the law....
What a Carve Up!
Character: Aunt Emily
Ernie's Uncle Gabriel has just died but to claim his inheritance he must spend the night in the ancestral family home with the rest of his rather eccentric relatives. Ernie's imagination has been affected by his constant immersion in cheap horror novels, but his wildest fears turn out to be justified when the guests begin to drop dead....
Holiday Camp
Character: Elsie Dawson
The Huggett family go to a holiday camp, and get involved in crooked card players, a murderer on the run, and a pregnant young girl and her boyfriend missing from home....
Out of the Clouds
Character: Rich Woman's Companion
A day following workers at an airport...
On the Beat
Character: Mrs. Stammers
Norman Pitkin wants to be a policeman like his father was, but he fails the height test (amongst others). One day he gets out his father's old uniform and "walks the beat". This leads to a level of chaos that only Pitkin could cause...
I'm All Right Jack
Character: Spencer
Naive Stanley Windrush returns from the war, his mind set on a successful career in business. Much to his own dismay, he soon finds he has to start from the bottom and work his way up, and also that the management as well as the trade union use him as a tool in their fight for power....
Poison Pen
Character: Mrs Warren
The inhabitants of a peaceful village begin receiving mysterious hate mail penned by someone with malicious thoughts....
The Spy in Black
Character: Maggie
A German submarine is sent to the Orkney Isles in 1917 to sink the British fleet....
I See Ice
Character: Bride
George Bright is a props man in an ice ballet company, and a keen amateur photographer who accidentally snaps crooks at work. Comic complications ensue.......
It's in the Air
Character: Sir Philip's Maid
George Brown is rejected as an Air Raid Warden and in doing so sees his potential to join the Royal Air Force. His dreams could soon come true as he realises that in fact his friend has left behind some very important papers, he dons a his Royal Air Force uniform and delivers the papers when he is mistaken for a dispatch driver from HQ. He soon becomes the butt of jokes from his sergeant which ends him staying indefinitely at the air base. George soon falls in love with the Sergeant Major's daug...
Inn for Trouble
Character: Dolly
Peggy Mount and David Kossoff star as Ada and Alf Larkin in this big screen version of the hugely popular 1950s TV comedy. Alf Larkin has finally made good his dream to own a pub. The trouble is, it's got no customers. But leave it to the Larkins to find unorthodox ways to bring in the punters....
Contraband
Character: Erik Skold's Niece
When a neutral Danish merchant ship is forced to put into port after trying to evade British wartime contraband control, its captain becomes involved in a beautiful British Naval Intelligent agent's efforts to capture a group of German spies operating from a London cinema....
The Man Behind the Mask
Character: Waitress
A young couple attend a masked ball before their planned (but secret) elopement. Suddenly everything goes wrong when the young woman is attacked and held hostage by a crazed attacker....
Carry On Constable
Character: Deaf Old Lady
With a flu epidemic running rife, three new bumbling recruits are assigned to Inspector Mills police station. With help from Special Constable Gorse, they manage to totally wreck operations of the police force and let plenty of criminals get away, even before they arrive at the station. They all have to prove themselves or else they'll be out of a job and Sgt. Wilkins will be transferred....
Doctor in Love
Character: Rafia Woman
Doctors Burke and Hare leave the confines of St Swithins for the world of general practice, stopping off on the way as patients at the Foulness Anti-cold Unit. Hare then takes up a position as junior in a well-healed G.P.'s surgery while Burke continues to sow his doctorial wild oats....
Last Holiday
Character: Miss Fox
George Bird is a salesman of agricultural machinery who finds out that he hasn't long to live. On his doctor's advice, he goes to an exclusive seaside resort to spend his savings on one last holiday....
I Met a Murderer
Character: A Hiker
An Englishwoman who writes novels meets a farmer who has just killed his nagging wife....
Quiet Wedding
Character: (uncredited)
A young couple become engaged, but enjoy a number of comedic aventures before their wedding day....
In the Doghouse
Character: Mrs. Raikes
After 10 years of failure a bumbling vet finally graduates and takes on his own practice....
Sailor Beware
Character: Edie Hornett
Battle-axe Emma Hornett dominates her hen-pecked husband Henry, his meek sister Edie and daughter Shirley. Shirley is to marry young sailor Albert,raised in an orphanage,and he and best man Carnoustie stay with the Hornetts on the eve of the wedding....
Jack the Ripper
Character: Nelly
A serial killer is murdering women in the Whitechapel district of London. An American policeman is brought in to help Scotland Yard solve the case....
Double Confession
Character: Madam Cleo
The hero discovers his estranged wife dead and tries to frame her lover for the murder. He becomes involved with the criminals who make various unsuccessful attempts on his life while the police clear up the mystery....
Vote for Huggett
Character: (uncredited)
A firm of solicitors do battle with the head of the local council over a parcel of river front land, owned by the Huggett family, in order to build a lido/community center....
Expresso Bongo
Character: Nightclub Cleaner
A seedy London promoter turns a naive, working-class teenager into a pop singing sensation....
Guilt Is My Shadow
Character: Peggy
A woman is haunted by her conscience after she murders a man and then hides the body. Based on the novel 'You're Best Alone' by Norah Lofts....
We Joined the Navy
Character: Consul's Wife
Lt Commander Badger, RN: an exceptionally likeable fellow, the Artful Bodger has one besetting sin a shining honesty which compels him to say the right thing at entirely the wrong time! When untimely remarks to some new recruits are splashed across the tabloids, the rush is on to find him a new posting somewhere far away....
Three Men in a Boat
Character: Meek Woman (Maze)
Three London gentlemen take a vacation rowing down the Thames, encountering various mishaps and misadventures along the way....
The Large Rope
Character: Screaming Woman
After being framed for a murder he didn't commit, Tom Penney (Donald Houston) serves his time and returns to his rural English home to establish a quiet life. When another victim is found, however, Tom is blamed for the crime and flees rather than returnng to prison. Hoping to find the real killer -- or killers -- Tom investigates while keeping a low profile to elude his pursuers, and a vital clue leads him on the path to possible redemption....
Noose for a Lady
Character: Miss Ginch
A woman has been sentenced to death by hanging. Her cousin believes she is innocent and he works against time to prove it before she is executed....
A Canterbury Tale
Character: Agnes
Three modern day pilgrims investigate a bizarre crime in a small town on the way to Canterbury....
Helter Skelter
Character: Autograph Huntress
A detective gets involved with a wealthy socialite who can't seem to stop hiccuping....
Simon and Laura
Character: Laura from Newcastle
A couple of bickering, married performers agree to star in a "Mr. and Mrs." TV show....
The Fast Lady
Character: Lady on Zebra Crossing
A Scottish civil servant must learn how to drive a Bentley to impress his girlfriend's tycoon father....
English Without Tears
Character: Queenie
While Lady Christabel Beauclark, a bird fancier, is scurrying about demanding certain territorial rights for British birds from other countries, Her Ladyship's niece is falling in love with the family butler, Tom Gilbey. The birds are forgotten when war breaks out, and Gilbey now finds himself in love with the niece whose love was previously unrequited. Written by Les Adams...
Marry Me
Character: Pleasant Little Woman (uncredited)
The stories of several individuals who consult a marriage bureau, including a peer of the realm, his butler, a lonely school teacher, a French girl on the run from a violent boyfriend, a country vicar, and a newspaper reporter, sent by his editor, to do an undercover story....
The Steel Key
Character: Patient in Doctor's Waiting Room
An adventurer investigates the theft of a formula for hardened steel, assisted by his girlfriend....
Fanny by Gaslight
Character: Maid (uncredited)
Returning to 1870s London after finishing at boarding school, Fanny winesses the death of her father in a fight with Lord Manderstoke. She then finds that her family has for many years been running a bordello next door to their home. When her mother dies shortly after, she next discovers that her real father is in fact a well-respected politician. Meeting him and then falling in love with his young advisor Harry Somerford leads to a life of ups and downs and conflict between the classes. Periodi...
A Touch of the Sun
Character: Miss Tickle
A hotel porter is left a fortune but after living it up for a while he returns to his old place of work which is in financial difficulties....
The Flesh and the Fiends
Character: Aggie
Edinburgh surgeon Dr. Robert Knox requires cadavers for his research into the functioning of the human body; local ne'er-do-wells Burke and Hare find ways to provide him with fresh specimens......
The Young Mr. Pitt
Character: Servant at Lord Auckland's
This biopic tells the story of the life of Pitt The Younger, who became Prime Minister of Great Britain at the age of 24....
Over the Odds
Character: Alice
A bookmaker struggles to cope with his two mothers-in-law....