Esma Cannon


Esma Ellen Charlotte Littmann, credited as Esme or Esma Cannon, was an Australian-born character actress who moved to Britain in the early 1930s. Although she frequently appeared on television in her latter years, Cannon is best remembered as a film actress, with a lengthy career in British productions from the 1930s to the 1960s.

Career

After early experience at Minnie Everett's School of Dancing in Sydney, Cannon began acting on the stage at the age of four in Madama Butterfly. She appeared in productions for both the J. C. Williamson and Tait companies – including the early prominent role of Ruth Le Page in Sealed Orders at the Theatre Royal in 1914, and played Baby in an adaptation of Seven Little Australians the same year. She was given children's parts well into adulthood. In an interview with the Australian Women's Weekly published in 1963, she claimed it was the theatrical impresario Percy Hutchinson who told her if she visited London he would give her work; her first London role was in the play Misadventure.
She worked not only as an actress in Britain in the 1930s but also in stage management and production.
Her film début was an uncredited part in The Man Behind the Mask. She was first credited, as Polly Shepherd, in The Last Adventurers, and appeared in 64 films over the next 26 years. She had small parts in three early Powell and Pressburger films: The Spy in Black, Contraband and A Canterbury Tale. Apart from her usual comedy roles, she gave two dramatic performances, the first in Holiday Camp, playing a pathetic spinster who is lured to her death as a murder victim, and the other as a girl struck dumb by terror, alongside Margaret Lockwood in Jassy.
Towards the end of her career, she appeared in Inn for Trouble, Doctor in Love, Raising the Wind, What a Carve Up!, Over the Odds, We Joined the Navy, On the Beat, Nurse on Wheels and Hide and Seek. She was cast as Edie Hornett opposite Peggy Mount in the comedy Sailor Beware!. She played "Brother" Lil in the British television comedy series The Rag Trade, and also appeared in four Carry On films: Carry On Constable, Carry On Regardless, Carry On Cruising and Carry On Cabby.

Retirement and death

Cannon married Ernst Littmann in London in 1945 and had a son, Michael Anthony, born in 1946. They remained married until her death in 1972. Cannon, whose first name sometimes appears incorrectly as "Esme", retired in 1964 after Hide and Seek. She died in 1972 at the age of 66 and is buried at Saint-Benoît-la-Forêt in France. Her elusiveness was such that her former colleagues and friends discovered she had died only after a "Where are They Now?" feature appeared in Films and Filming a number of years after her death.
She was played by the actress Marcia Warren in the 2011 TV play Hattie, a drama based on the career of Hattie Jacques. The play featured a number of scenes with the two actresses on the set of Carry On Cabby with Cannon characterised as being disenchanted with acting and proposing leaving show business.

Selected filmography

The Man Behind the Mask – Waitress The Five Pound Man – LucyCotton Queen – Telephonist The Last Adventurers – Polly ShepherdI See Ice – Bride It's in the Air – Sir Philip's Maid Trouble Brewing – Maid The Nursemaid Who Disappeared – Mary – Nursemaid I Met a Murderer – Blonde CamperThe Spy in Black – Maggie Poison Pen – Mrs WarrenContraband – Erik Skold's Niece The Briggs Family – MyrtleQuiet Wedding – Asking for Trouble – AdaThe Young Mr. Pitt – Servant at Lord Auckland's It's in the Bag – Commandant W.T.C. Fanny by Gaslight – Maid A Canterbury Tale – AgnesThe Way Ahead – Mrs. BrewerEnglish Without Tears – QueenieDon't Take It to Heart – MaidThe Years Between – EffieHoliday Camp – Elsie DawsonJassy – Lindy WicksHere Come the Huggetts – Youth LeaderVote for Huggett – Bit Role The Huggetts Abroad – Miss Hawker, Brown OwlFools Rush In – Mrs. AtkinsMarry Me! – Pleasant Little Woman Helter Skelter – Autograph Huntress Guilt Is My Shadow – PeggyDouble Confession – Madam CleoLast Holiday – Miss FoxCrow Hollow – Aunt JudithNoose for a Lady – Miss GinchThe Steel Key – Patient in Doctor's Waiting RoomTrouble in Store – Lady Customer In Park Cafe The Sleeping Tiger – Cleaner with ladderOut of the Clouds – Her CompanionSimon and Laura – Laura from NewcastleSailor Beware! – Edie HornettThree Men in a Boat – Meek Woman A [Touch of the Sun (1956 film)|A Touch of the Sun] Miss TickleFurther Up the Creek – Maudie LovelaceJack the Ripper – Nelly the Woman at Police StationI'm [All Right Jack] – SpencerExpresso Bongo – Night Club Cleaner Inn for Trouble – DollyThe Flesh and the Fiends – AggieCarry On Constable – Deaf Old LadyDoctor in Love – Rafia Woman No Kidding – District NurseCarry On Regardless – Miss CoolingRaising the Wind – Mrs. DeevensWhat a Carve Up! – Aunt EmilyOver the Odds – AliceCarry On Cruising – Bridget MadderleyIn the Doghouse – Mrs. RaikesWe Joined the Navy – Consul's WifeThe Fast Lady – Lady on Zebra CrossingOn the Beat – Mrs. TimmsNurse on Wheels – Mrs. JonesCarry On Cabby – Flo SimsHide and Seek – Tea Lady