Nell Campbell


Laura Elizabeth Campbell, better known as Nell Campbell or by her stage name Little Nell, is an Australian actress, singer and former club owner. She is best known for her role as Columbia in the 1975 film The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and the original stage play from which it was adapted. Campbell released her EP, The Musical World of Little Nell , through A&M Records in 1978. She appeared as Nurse Ansalong in the 1981 film Shock Treatment, the sequel of Rocky Horror Picture Show. In 1984, she appeared as Beth in the BAFTA and Oscar Award-winning drama film The Killing Fields.

Early life

Campbell was born in Sydney, to Ruth and Ross Campbell. Ross, a writer, referred to her as "Little Nell" in his family life column in the Sydney Daily Telegraph. She grew up with three siblings: Sally, Patrick and Cressida. Elder sister Sally was a property master, a set designer and a fashion designer; younger sister Cressida Campbell is an artist; elder brother Patrick was a solar engineer at the University of [New South Wales]. Nell began dancing when she was 10, in order to remain healthy following being diagnosed with hepatitis A. She was called Laura E. Campbell until the age of about 17, when she went by the nickname "Sonny", short for "Sonata". She attended high school at Abbotsleigh School for Girls in Sydney, supporting herself as a waitress.

Career

Campbell decided to use the name "Little Nell" as a stage name after her arrival in Britain in the early 1970s with her family. She sold clothes at Kensington Market; her stall was next to Freddie Mercury's. She also worked as a busker and as a soda jerk in a café, where her tap dancing is often noted as the reason why she was cast as Columbia in the original production of The Rocky Horror Show following an impromptu audition. She reprised the role in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, released in 1975, and starred as Nurse Ansalong in the 1981 sequel, Shock Treatment.
After The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Campbell signed a recording contract with A&M Records. Her debut single was "Stilettos and Lipstick" backed with "Do the Swim", released in 1975. She also recorded a disco version of the song "Fever (Little [Willie John song)|Fever]" in 1978, which was again backed with "Do the Swim". The B-side of both of these releases became better known, perhaps helped by a performance on British television in which she accidentally exposed her breasts. While edited out of the original broadcast in 1975, the unedited version was shown worldwide on bloopers shows. Following this notoriety, another effort was made to promote the recordings made in 1975 and 1976. In 1978, a "triple B-side" extended play titled The Musical World of Little Nell was released which featured both "Do the Swim" and "Stillettos and Lipstick" along with the track "Dance that Cocktail Latin Way" which originally appeared as the B-side of her second single from 1976. Following some success with the EP, the other two tracks, singles "Fever" and "See You Round like a Record", were released as a single but that was to be her last release on A&M. A final single, "Beauty Queen" from the film The Alternative Miss World, was released on PRE Records in 1980.
Campbell has also appeared in several stage productions, including the Off-Broadway play You Should Be So Lucky and the Broadway musical Nine. She appeared as Sandra LeMon in the British TV series Rock Follies of '77.
In 1986, Campbell opened the nightclub Nell's on West 14th Street in Manhattan with Keith McNally and Lynn Wagenknecht. In 1995 she opened two restaurants in New York: The Kiosk and E&O. Nell's was sold in 1998 to Noel Ashman and his business partner, actor Chris Noth, right before Campbell gave birth to her daughter, Matilda Violet, with ex-boyfriend and business partner, Eamon Roche. The club closed in 2004.
Campbell has written several magazine articles, including regular segments called "MamaTalks" and "FirstLook" in the now-defunct Talk magazine, starting in the December 1999 issue.

Filmography

Film

Television

Television (as self)

Theatre

Discography

Singles / EPs
  • "Stillettos and Lipstick" / "Do the Swim"
  • "See You Round like a Record" / "Dance that Cocktail Latin Way"
  • "Fever" / "Do the Swim"
  • The Musical World of Little Nell
  • "Fever" / "See You Round like a Record"
  • "Beauty Queen"
Guest vocals
  • Tuff Little Surfer Boy
Soundtracks and Cast Recordings