Actress and environmentalist Rula Lenska is a passionate and amusing speaker who speaks with knowledge and humour. She is also an expert conference host and event facilitator.
Rula Lenska was born in England of Polish parents. Rula is bilingual, being fluent in Polish and English, she is also good in French and Italian with passable German. She renounced her title as a Polish Countess at the beginning of her acting career saying “in England it doesn’t count – if you’ll excuse the pun.”
She trained at Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Arts, and made her stage debut as Ruth in ‘Suddenly at Home’, which transferred from Windsor to the Fortune Theatre where it played for a year. Rep seasons include Westcliff and Worcester in The Secretary Bird, Forget-Me-Not Lane, Romeo and Juliet and Ghosts and Titania in a Midsummer Nights Dream at Regents Park Open Air Theatre. National and International tours include: Doris in Same Time Next Year, Phillipa in Double Double, Patricia in Flarepath, and The Real Thing. Other notable stage appearances include Freda Caplan in J.B. Priestley’s Dangerous Corner in the West End and on tour, Annie Wilkes in Misery; Frances in Present From the Past; Madame Lyuba Ranyevskaya in The Cherry Orchard at the Redgrave; Desiree Arnfelt in A Little Night Music at Plymouth; Valerie Vilma in Vaclav Havel’s Temptation at the Westminster; Elvria in Blithe Spirit at the Churchill and Lyric Theatre; a tour of Alan Ayckbourn’s Confusions; Macbeth at Stafford Festival; Duchesse de Surennes in Our Betters at Chichester Festival Theatre; Dangerous to Know at Theatre Royal Windsor, Churchill Theatre and tour; Pericles at the Ludlow Festival; Mrs Birling in An Inspector Calls at the Garrick theatre and Masterpieces at Birmingham Rep and on tour. She has also played the Principal Boy in all the major pantomimes. Rula toured the UK last year performing the role of Helen Hans in 84 Charing Cross Road. This year Rula has starred in the premier of Sense of Justice at Perth Theatre and in The Vagina Monologues in the West End at the Wyndhams Theatre.
Rula’s first major television role was as Q in Rock Follies, which became a major cult hit, recently released on video and DVD. Many leading roles followed in Boon; Minder; Kappatoo II; Mrs Peacock in Cluedo; Majorie in An Actors Life For Me with John Gordon Sinclair and Victor Spinetti; Stay Lucky; The Detectives and One Foot in the Grave. Rula played Gilda in BBC’s A Design for Living and starred in Fay Weldon’s Watching Me Watching You. Other appearances on our screens have included The Saint; Private Schultz; The Miser and Take A Letter Mr Jones with John Inman. She played the title role in Morgan of Ravenscar -part of the Robin of Sherwood series and co-starred with John Stride in Conversations with a Stranger. Rula played Krystal in Eastenders - a four episode special shot in Spain featuring a major story line with Mike Reid and Barbara Windsor and the black comedy, Paradise Grove, alongside Ron Moody. In 2006, Rula appeared in Celebrity Big Brother with her chosen charities being Wildlife Line and Children in Crisis. Recently she has appeared as Claudia Colby, an old friend of Audrey Roberts, in Coronation Street and as Princess Purpelovna in Cbeebies Grandpa in my Pocket.
She has also made guest appearances on Loose Women and GMTV with Lorraine.
Rula made her film debut in Soft Beds, Hard Battles with Peter Sellers and went on to appear in Alfie Darling. She has recently starred in Fakers and Paradise Grove which was shown at Cannes in 2004 and this year at Cannes, Rula stars in the first British Dogma film Gypo with Paul McCann.
Rula has many radio credits, most recently as Lintilla in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Blakes 7 and in Half Name for Half Person. Rula also has recorded numerous audio books, including The Sun At Midnight, Looking Down, If My Father Loved Me and Ripe For The Picking and narratives about Joy Adamson and Anglia TV’s Survival series. She also narrated the Archive hour for BBC4 entitled Red Runs the Vistula. Her first book Mammouth Hunt was published in 1997.
Rula is a keen conservationist (elephants and dolphins in particular) and has been on several working expeditions including India and Nepal. For the BBC she has done various travel programmes to Poland, Thailand and Nepal. Rula also has a license to pilot a hot air balloon, an achievement that she gained after initially taking part in a charity balloon race.
She trained at Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Arts, and made her stage debut as Ruth in ‘Suddenly at Home’, which transferred from Windsor to the Fortune Theatre where it played for a year. Rep seasons include Westcliff and Worcester in The Secretary Bird, Forget-Me-Not Lane, Romeo and Juliet and Ghosts and Titania in a Midsummer Nights Dream at Regents Park Open Air Theatre. National and International tours include: Doris in Same Time Next Year, Phillipa in Double Double, Patricia in Flarepath, and The Real Thing. Other notable stage appearances include Freda Caplan in J.B. Priestley’s Dangerous Corner in the West End and on tour, Annie Wilkes in Misery; Frances in Present From the Past; Madame Lyuba Ranyevskaya in The Cherry Orchard at the Redgrave; Desiree Arnfelt in A Little Night Music at Plymouth; Valerie Vilma in Vaclav Havel’s Temptation at the Westminster; Elvria in Blithe Spirit at the Churchill and Lyric Theatre; a tour of Alan Ayckbourn’s Confusions; Macbeth at Stafford Festival; Duchesse de Surennes in Our Betters at Chichester Festival Theatre; Dangerous to Know at Theatre Royal Windsor, Churchill Theatre and tour; Pericles at the Ludlow Festival; Mrs Birling in An Inspector Calls at the Garrick theatre and Masterpieces at Birmingham Rep and on tour. She has also played the Principal Boy in all the major pantomimes. Rula toured the UK last year performing the role of Helen Hans in 84 Charing Cross Road. This year Rula has starred in the premier of Sense of Justice at Perth Theatre and in The Vagina Monologues in the West End at the Wyndhams Theatre.
Rula’s first major television role was as Q in Rock Follies, which became a major cult hit, recently released on video and DVD. Many leading roles followed in Boon; Minder; Kappatoo II; Mrs Peacock in Cluedo; Majorie in An Actors Life For Me with John Gordon Sinclair and Victor Spinetti; Stay Lucky; The Detectives and One Foot in the Grave. Rula played Gilda in BBC’s A Design for Living and starred in Fay Weldon’s Watching Me Watching You. Other appearances on our screens have included The Saint; Private Schultz; The Miser and Take A Letter Mr Jones with John Inman. She played the title role in Morgan of Ravenscar -part of the Robin of Sherwood series and co-starred with John Stride in Conversations with a Stranger. Rula played Krystal in Eastenders - a four episode special shot in Spain featuring a major story line with Mike Reid and Barbara Windsor and the black comedy, Paradise Grove, alongside Ron Moody. In 2006, Rula appeared in Celebrity Big Brother with her chosen charities being Wildlife Line and Children in Crisis. Recently she has appeared as Claudia Colby, an old friend of Audrey Roberts, in Coronation Street and as Princess Purpelovna in Cbeebies Grandpa in my Pocket.
She has also made guest appearances on Loose Women and GMTV with Lorraine.
Rula made her film debut in Soft Beds, Hard Battles with Peter Sellers and went on to appear in Alfie Darling. She has recently starred in Fakers and Paradise Grove which was shown at Cannes in 2004 and this year at Cannes, Rula stars in the first British Dogma film Gypo with Paul McCann.
Rula has many radio credits, most recently as Lintilla in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Blakes 7 and in Half Name for Half Person. Rula also has recorded numerous audio books, including The Sun At Midnight, Looking Down, If My Father Loved Me and Ripe For The Picking and narratives about Joy Adamson and Anglia TV’s Survival series. She also narrated the Archive hour for BBC4 entitled Red Runs the Vistula. Her first book Mammouth Hunt was published in 1997.
Rula is a keen conservationist (elephants and dolphins in particular) and has been on several working expeditions including India and Nepal. For the BBC she has done various travel programmes to Poland, Thailand and Nepal. Rula also has a license to pilot a hot air balloon, an achievement that she gained after initially taking part in a charity balloon race.
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