Background
She is the daughter of actor Esmond Knight and his first wife, Frances Clare, and the stepdaughter of actress Nora Swinburne. Knight was born in Marylebone, London. She was inspired by a visit to the bombed-out Old Vic Theatre in 1949 with her father to see performances of The Snow Queen and As You Like lieutenant
Career
Her career has spanned fifty years on stage, screen and television, and she continues to acting Being from a theatrical family, she was introduced to theatre at an early age. After studying there for two years under Glen Byam Shaw and George Devine, she was offered a position as Assistant Stage Manager at the Midland Theatre Company in Coventry.
From Coventry, she moved to Ipswich Repertory Company where Joe Orton was a fellow American Society for Microbiology. Two years later she joined a touring group, the West of England Theatre Company, for an eight-month stint.
She was spotted by a producer, which led to her being cast as a schoolgirl in Blue Murder at Street Trinian"s in 1957. An earlier film role, albeit uncredited, was as a lady-in-waiting in Laurence Olivier"s film, which also starred her father.
She performed in two early Carry On films. She has made countless appearances on television, in shows such as Mapp & Lucia (1985), Only Fools and Horses (1989), Agatha Christie"s Poirot (1992), Jeeves and Wooster (1993), The Upper Hand (1995), Wycliffe (1996), Dalziel and Pascoe (1999), Heartbeat (2000), Casualty (2002), Midsomer Murders (2003 and 2011), Doctors (2005 and 2009), Agatha Christie"s Marple (2006), Holby City (2008), Sherlock (2012) and Friday Night Dinner (2012).
From 1999 to 2001 she co-starred in the sitcom Gimme Gimme Gimme, playing Beryl Merit, the retired prostitute landlady of the two main characters, Linda (Kathy Burke) and Tom (James Dreyfus).
Her other films include and Throughout her career, Rosalind Knight has continued to work in the theatre. They had two daughters – Marianne Elliott, a theatre director, and Susannah Elliott-Knight.
Marianne is married to actor Nick Sidi and they have a daughter, Eve, born in August 2004.