Judy Campbell (born Judith Mary Gamble; 31 May 1916 – 6 June 2004)[1] was an English film, television and stage actress, widely known to be Noël Coward's muse.
While touring with Coward from September 1942 to March 1943, she created the roles of Joanna in Present Laughter and Ethel in the stage production of This Happy Breed, and played Elvira in Blithe Spirit.
[1] In 1981, Campbell appeared in Andrew Birkin's BAFTA-winning and Academy Award-nominated short film Sredni Vashtar (1981), playing the fearsome Aunt Augusta.
The evening recalled her Grantham childhood, the 1950s with Sandy Wilson, by way of the Liverpool rep with Robert Helpmann, wintry tours and troop concerts with Noël Coward and cheering up West End audiences during the Blitz on London, including her unique renderings of "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square", the Eric Maschwitz standard that made her a star in the New Faces revue at the Comedy Theatre in 1940.
[citation needed] In September 2003, Campbell finally recorded "Nightingale" (and Coward's "If Love Were All"), as part of a cabaret performance with Sheridan Morley and Michael Law at Pizza on the Park.