Heather Ripley is a Scottish former actress. She is best known for the film ''

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' is a 1968 children's film, children's Musical film, musical fantasy film directed by Ken Hughes and produced by Albert R. Broccoli. It stars Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes, Lionel Jeffries, Gert Fröbe, Anna Quayle, ...

'' (1968), in which she played Jemima Potts.

Early life

Ripley was raised in

Broughty Ferry Broughty Ferry (; ; ) is a suburb of Dundee, in Scotland. It is situated four miles east of the City Centre, Dundee, city centre on the north bank of the Firth of Tay. The area was a separate burgh from 1864 until 1913, when it was incorporated ...

, outside of

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

, Scotland. Her father and grandfather owned an opticians' business, and her mother worked as a wardrobe mistress at Dundee Rep. Ripley would accompany her mother to rehearsals and replaced a young actress in the play ''Roar Like a Dove'' one week before it opened, which gained the notice of a talent scout. Six months before filming began for ''

'', she travelled to London with her parents to audition for the role of Jemima Potts. It was the first film for the two child stars, Ripley and Adrian Hall, who were cast after an extensive talent search. Ripley took lessons to change her accent for the film, and later recalled: "They thought I was perfect for the part, apart from the accent. But they said that wasn't a problem as they'd get rid of it. I thought that sounded a bit ominous. What did they mean? Brain surgery?”Garfield, Simon
"After the big Bang Bang..."
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 24 February 2002 Accompanied by her mother, Ripley was away from her Dundee home for 14 months for the filming of ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang''.

Later years

After making ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'', Ripley continued to audition for roles and eventually left the film industry. Her earnings from the film were held in trust until her 18th birthday, but she later recalled "After 10 years of it being invested, it was only about £7,000". She returned to Dundee, where she later joined the family optician business. Ripley also became involved in anti-nuclear activism and campaigns for the environment. Ripley participated in the 1999 documentary ''After They Were Famous: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang''. She attended the London premiere of the musical ''

'' at the

London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in Soho. The theatre was designed by Frank Matcham and opened in 1910. The auditorium holds 2,286 people. Hundreds of stars have played there, many wit ...

in 2002.Smith, Laura
"The dream of fame that fell apart"
''

London Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free of charge in London, England. It is print ...

'', 7 April 2002 In 2004, she made a brief appearance in the independent film ''The Interview'' which was screened at that year's

Edinburgh Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF), established in 1947, is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all titles are World, international, European or UK Premieres), in al ...

.Farquharson, Kenny
"My escape from the child catcher: The child star of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang tells Kenny Farquharson how she has finally put the film behind her"
''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 2 January 2005 In 2004, she was interviewed with members of the original cast on ITV1 on Christmas Eve. She was a guest at the Broadway premiere of the musical ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' at the Hilton Theatre in 2005. In 2016, Ripley was a volunteer worker at the Lagadikia refugee camp outside

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

in Greece which provided food, clothing and support to about 875 people. In 2020, she voiced the character Babs in the independent-made short animation ''Lavatory of Terror'',Fairburn, Robert
"Forgotten child star of ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' is lured back by loo role"
''

'', 15 January 2020 telephoning her lines in via her smartphone.Knox, David
"''Chitty Bang Bang'' star lured out of retirement by Langlee film-makers"
''The Border Telegraph'', 15 January 2020

Filmography

Films

* ''

'' (1968) - Jemima Potts

Television

*''After They Were Famous'' (as herself) - TV documentary (1999) *''After They Were Famous: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' (as herself) - interview (2004)Filmography of Heather Ripley

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

Database

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ripley, Heather Living people 20th-century Scottish actresses 21st-century Scottish actresses Actresses from Dundee Scottish anti-nuclear activists Findhorn community Scottish child actresses Scottish film actresses Scottish stage actresses Scottish television actresses Year of birth missing (living people) People from Broughty Ferry