Laura Elizabeth Campbell (born 24 May 1953), better known as Nell Campbell or by her stage name Little Nell. She was born in Sydney, to Ruth and Ross Campbell.
Humourist and columnist Ross Campbell is affectionately remembered for the thousands of columns he wrote over three decades in The Women's Weekly and The Sunday Telegraph. The Campbell children - with the psuedonyms Theodora, Lancelot, Little Nell and Baby Pip appeared regularly in his columns. Little Nell was born Laura Campbell, May 24, 1953 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Attended Abbotsleigh, a private girl's school and when she turned 18 her father moved her brother, her, and her younger sister to London.
Nell worked many jobs including selling shoes with Freddie Mercury, she had a small part in the film, "Barry McKenzie Holds His Own" (the sequel to The Adventures of Barry McKenizie), before being cast by Jim Sharman in his new show The Rocky Horror Show as Columbia, with the play a success, she reprised her role in the film version. Other films followed including the awful Ken Russell film "Lisztomania"(1975) and some interesting Independent Australian films including Summer of Secrets (also by Sharman)(1976) and Journey Among Women (1977). A short lived recording career has left us with the fabulous "Do the Swim" and "See You Round Like a Record" written by Jim Sharman.
In 1980 she moved to New York and made the sequel to the cult success Rocky Horror called Shock Treatment (1981). She also had a bit part in Pink Floyd The Wall (1982) and appeared in several pictures subsequently. In 1987, she opened the successful night club appropriately named Nell's. She gave birth to her daughter Matilda Violet in June 1998, the father being American-Irish sculptor and property developer, Eamon Roche. Nell has since sold Nell's, E&O and her other club, Kiosk.
The first time I heard Nell Campbell's voice on the soundtrack to the motion picture "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" in 1975, I had no idea what kind of accent that was she had. Even after many viewings of the film, I was still intrigued as to where on earth an accent like that could possibly come. Then I saw her interviewed and of course she's an Aussie like me, I realised how rare it was to hear our own accent on screen at that time, and particularly such an extreme version. I'm so proud of her and her fantastic Aussie voice, she is my favourite Rocky Horror individual.
 |
| Singles / EPs
Guest vocals
- Tuff Little Surfer Boy (featured as "Roxanne" for the song by Truth & Beauty) (1974)
Soundtracks and Cast Recordings
|
1973 Original London Cast |
Film |
The LOOK of Columbia was inspired by the Marlene Dietrich film The Blue Angel |
