Getty Lisa Vanderpump mourns the loss of a co-star.
Lisa Vanderpump paid tribute to a co-star from early in her career.
In a series of posts on social media, the former “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star gave fans a look back at one of her earliest acting roles before she switched gears and got into the restaurant business. Vanderpump’s posts came following the death of her co-star from a 1983 BBC series.
Here’s what you need to know:
Lisa Vanderpump Paid Tribute to Comedian Kelly Monteith
Rest in peace, Kelly Monteith.
On January 3, 2022, Vanderpump, 62, took to social media to pay tribute to her former BBC co-star Kelly Monteith. The actor and comedian died on January 2, 2023, at age 80, according to a statement shared by The Anglophile Channel.
Monteith’s cause of death was not revealed, but Chortle reported that he suffered two strokes in early 2021 and spent several months in Los Angeles’ Cedars Sinai Hospital.
On January 3, 2023, Vanderpump reshared a Twitter post that paid tribute to the late comedy star. The clip included a throwback scene from “The Kelly Monteith Show” with the comic meeting Vanderpump’s character, Sarah, for the first time.
In the scene, set at a charity dinner, a guest smiled at Vanderpump as he said to Monteith, “This must be your lovely companion.”
“No, we’ve never met,” Vanderpump said, before Monteith put out his hand and told her, “But we should! I’m Kelly Monteith.”
Vanderpump revealed that her character’s name was Sarah Wright as she shook Monteith’s hand.
The clip was captioned, “Rest in peace, Kelly Monteith.”
Vanderpump also posted a second tweet as she reacted to Monteith’s death. “Such sadness to hear this! #RIP Kelly Monteith…we had so much fun together.”
Monteith was an American comedian who had two shows on CBS in the 1970s. He performed for Queen Elizabeth at the Royal Variety Performance in 1983, according to Metro. He also appeared on “The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson” 35 times from 1973 to 1989, per IMDb.
Lisa Vanderpump Was a Co-Star on “The Kelly Monteith Show” in 1983
BBC/YouTube Lisa Vanderpump in a scene from “The Kelly Monteith Show” in 1983.
Monteith made a name for himself in the U.K. for his popular self-titled BBC series that ran from 1979 to 1984. According to Beyond the Joke, Monteith was one of the first American comedians to have a series on the BBC.
In 1983, Vanderpump appeared in six episodes of “The Kelly Monteith Show,” per IMDb.
Years later, Monteith looked back at his time with the future Bravo star. In the 2020 YouTube series, “Kelly Monteith’s BBC Memories,” the comedian recalled his first meeting with Vanderpump, who played his girlfriend on the long-running BBC comedy series.
In addition to the charity dinner scene, the look back included the duo’s second “meeting” at a dry cleaner’s.
“In this cold opening here you might recognize the actress, she plays my girlfriend through the entire series five of the show,” Monteith said. “She’s done quite well for herself over here. Her name is Lisa Vanderpump.”
“Lisa Vanderpump, she came in to audition for us and she’s a very smart woman very gorgeous very nice a terrific woman,” Monteith added. “She looked at [co-creator Neil Shand] and I and said. You guys have written this so you’ll probably have an idea however you want it played.’ And we said, ‘Well yeah we do.”
Monteith went on to reveal that the future “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star was a shoo-in for the role.
“She went on to audition and, well, she had the part hands down,” Monteith said of Vanderpump. “And she was delightful to work with, and it doesn’t surprise me at all that she had tremendous success here in the United States.”
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