Get a closer look at some of Hollywood's perfect pairs.

Hollywood Power Couples

Get a closer look at some of Hollywood&#39;s perfect pairs.

"The Gentlemen" and "Slow Horses" return this fall, while the "Reacher" spin-off series "Neagley" makes its debut. See our guide of the biggest Fall TV and streaming releases.

2026 Fall TV and Streaming Watch Guide

&quot;The Gentlemen&quot; and &quot;Slow Horses&quot; return this fall, while the &quot;Reacher&quot; spin-off series &quot;Neagley&quot; makes its debut. See our guide of the biggest Fall TV and streaming releases.

Get a closer look at these actors from their many TV and streaming series roles.

Streaming Stars, Then and Now

A popular musical name noted on film for one delightfully feisty Cockney lass, Shani Wallis was born in 1933 in Tottenham (North London), England and initially studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art on a scholarship. On stage from age 4 and performing in repertory as a young teen, she became one of the brighter young singing voices of her day. She made her West End musical debut at 18 with "Call Me Madam" at the Coliseum in 1952, and immediately established herself in the role of Princess Maria, the leading ingénue. Following other starring roles in the mediocre musicals "Happy as a King" and "Wish You Were Here," she scored again in "Wonderful Town" (1955) playing a comic soubrette, and as another spirited ingénue in "Finian's Rainbow" (1958). In-between were a number of musical-revue shows. In 1960 she replaced Tony winner Elizabeth Seal in the title role of "Irma La Douce" at London's Lyric Theatre. After the show closed, few offers came her way, so she decided to try her luck in America.

She went about rebuilding her name on the cabaret, concert, and club circuits, and added more musical roles such as "South Pacific," "The King and I" and "Bells Are Ringing" to her credits. She finally made it to Broadway in 1966, co-starring with the legendary Tessie O'Shea in "A Time For Singing," a musical version of "How Green Was My Valley." Backed by three strong numbers, she had a chance to shine in the Maureen O'Hara colleen role, but the show closed after a disappointing run of 41 performances.

A few inconsequential film roles had come her way earlier in England, including The Extra Day (1956) and Ramsbottom Rides Again (1956), not to mention a minor singing bit in Charles Chaplin's A King in New York (1957). Other than assorted variety show appearances and a televised performance supporting Carol Burnett in Once Upon a Mattress (1964), she found only a modicum of on-camera work, so it was all the more astounding when she nabbed the role of a lifetime as the ill-fated Nancy in the Oscar-winning picture Oliver! (1968). Successfully replacing the seemingly-irreplaceable Georgia Brown, Shani made a durable marquee name for herself while giving her all in the rousing "Oom-pah-Pah" number and putting her own indelible stamp on the show-stopping "As Long as He Needs Me, which is now considered her signature song. She went on to perform Nancy on the theatre stage as well.

Shani was seen only sporadically in films following this breakthrough, including the horror opus Terror in the Wax Museum (1973), for the live stage was still her first love. Over the years she has gamely performed in a number of musical staples, including "42nd Street" and "Follies," and toured with Liberace for five years during the 1980s. In 1996, she returned to England to appear in the musical "Always" at the Victoria Palace Theatre.

Shani's most recent on-camera appearances were a 2004 recurring nanny-type role on the daytime soap The Young and the Restless (1973) and a small role in the film Mojave Phone Booth (2006).

Long is married to agent and former actor Bernard Rich; their daughter Rebecca Rich is a costume designer.

[after the success of <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/title/tt0063385/?ref_=nmqu_qu">Oliver! (1968)</a>] When I came back to America, I had offers to do what became a very famous series on television, The Brady Bunch. I didn&#39;t want to do that. I wanted to do movies. But then movie musicals like Doctor Dolittle flopped and they decided not to make any more, which was a big blow. I went back into theatre and nightclubs.

Oliver Reed [her co-star in <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/title/tt0063385/?ref_=nmqu_qu">Oliver! (1968)</a>] never actually hurt me but he was very frightening. The truth is, I had little to nothing to do with Oliver Reed off-set, his life, I believe was complicated.

Quotes

Shani Wallis

Contribute to this page

More from this person

More to explore

Recently viewed