Maureen Rippingale (27 May 1935, in Chelmsford – 28 February 1974, in New Barnet), known professionally as Carole Lesley, was a British actress who had a short but significant career as a "blonde bombshell". Lesley ran away from home at the age of 16, "aiming to become a star". She starred in several films in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including the 1957 film Woman in a Dressing Gown, which won the 1958 Golden Globe Award for Best English-Language Foreign Film. She also appeared in Doctor in Love, Operation Bullshine and What a Whopper, and played Helen of Troy in a television play. However Associated decided to end her contract, which devastated her and she disappeared from the public eye. She subsequently lived in a semi-detached house overlooking New Barnet station, but by 1973 was felt by some to be "a deeply depressed, once beautiful woman, still haunted by a glamorous past". She died of a drug overdose.
What a Whopper
(Charlotte 'Charlie' Pinner)
Operation Bullshine
(Pvt. Marge White)
These Dangerous Years
(Dinah Brown)
Woman in a Dressing Gown
(Hilda Harper)
The Pot Carriers
(Wendy)
Three on a Spree
(Susan)
The Embezzler
(Tea Shop Waitress)
Doctor in Love
(Kitten Strudwick)
The Good Companions
(Film Star (as Leslie Carroll))
Trottie True
(Clare as a child)
The Silver Darlings
(Una (child))
No Trees in the Street
(Lova)