# I'm Rula Lenska. Friends are visiting from Europe. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 16, 2010, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rula-lenska-friends-are-visiting-from-europe/539604 "2010-05-16T02:38:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rula-lenska-friends-are-visiting-from-europe/539604/21 "2010-05-16T19:07:21Z")
I saw her in a BBC production of Noel Coward’s “Design for Living.” She was kinda awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2010, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rula-lenska-friends-are-visiting-from-europe/539604/22 "2010-05-16T19:13:24Z")
I definitely remember her in a coffee commercial. Now whether she said that exact line, I can’t specifically recall. It would make sense, though. At the time, most American coffee was pretty crappy. So if you could impress “friends from Europe” with your coffee you were doing well. Guy [here](http://www.amazon.com/Rock-Follies-77-Vol-2/dp/B00004TRE4) says the ads were for International Coffee by General Foods. That brand was being marketed to Americans who had been to Europe and who therefore realized just how crappy American coffee was at the time, so the ad would make even more sense in that context. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2010, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rula-lenska-friends-are-visiting-from-europe/539604/23 "2010-05-16T19:39:23Z")
She was a reasonably well-known TV actor in Britain in the 70s and 80s, but not as famous as the “I’m Rula Lenska” commercials would suggest. We heard about those commercials in due course, and were bemused by them. I guess the exotic-sounding name contributed to the mystique, as it did here. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rula-lenska-friends-are-visiting-from-europe/539604/24 "2010-05-16T21:35:41Z")
I think the setup was that Rula was in her fabulous London flat, or smart countryside home or some damn place like that, and the line was “friends are coming _from_ America.” ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rula-lenska-friends-are-visiting-from-europe/539604/25 "2010-05-17T01:00:34Z")
I remember those ads, and recall asking my mom who Rula Lenska was. She had no idea either. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rula-lenska-friends-are-visiting-from-europe/539604/26 "2010-05-17T05:10:08Z")
I haven’t seen the ads in 30+ years, but I think the memorable line was, “I’m showing some friends around London.” ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rula-lenska-friends-are-visiting-from-europe/539604/27 "2010-05-17T06:53:22Z")
Well, according to the link in **Zeldar** ’s post: > [@](#): > > She did a coffee commercial that began ‘Friends from Europe are here.’ So she apparently did do a coffee commercial, and the line was similar to, but not verbatim, what Jambi said. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rula-lenska-friends-are-visiting-from-europe/539604/28 "2010-05-17T11:56:39Z")
I saw the coffee commercials when they aired, and like everyone else in the US, my response was “Who the hell is Rula Lenska?” I still don’t understand the rationale behind running those commercials (and don’t remember what they were for). Obviously a lot of other peope felt the same way, because I saw a picture of her in _People_\* magazine wearing a T-shirt that read **Who the Hell is Rula Lenska?**. It wasn’t until years later, when listening to tapes of the original Hirchiker’s Guide, that I actually heard her voice in a non-commercial setting. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rula-lenska-friends-are-visiting-from-europe/539604/29 "2010-05-17T12:03:47Z")
Sadly, all I can think of now when I think of Rula Lenska is George Galloway pretending to lick milk out of her hands. No, I’m not going to link to a video of it. No. I won’t. Please don’t make me look at a video of it again. I’m begging you. ---
**Author:** ![Hrududu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Hrududu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hrududu)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rula-lenska-friends-are-visiting-from-europe/539604/30 "2010-05-17T12:24:56Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Sadly, all I can think of now when I think of Rula Lenska is George Galloway pretending to lick milk out of her hands. > > No, I’m not going to link to a video of it. > > No. I won’t. > > Please don’t make me look at a video of it again. I’m begging you. Nobody should ever have to see that. Its still burned into my brain all this time later. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rula-lenska-friends-are-visiting-from-europe/539604/31 "2010-05-17T12:36:14Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > No, sorry. > > Watch this [Alberto VO5 commercial](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-SJoIpTPk8). It also says at the beginning of that ad that she is a English TV and Stage Star. I just assume that someone wanted to make an American ad with a Brit in it to add some foreign glamour and when they went looking Rula Lenska was the biggest most affordable star they could find. She was quite a big star back in the day. It’s a bit like how they use Kate Moss and UK models to advertise “The London Look” ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rula-lenska-friends-are-visiting-from-europe/539604/32 "2010-05-17T13:19:50Z")
There may have been different commercials, but the one I know is: “Hello. I’m Rula Lenska. Friends are here from America.” I know this because my sister’s name had the same initials and sound of Rula Lenska and she’d repeat the line ad nauseum (substituting her own name). ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rula-lenska-friends-are-visiting-from-europe/539604/33 "2010-05-17T15:03:35Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > “Hello. I’m Rula Lenska. Friends are here from America.” “…and I’m going to show them London.” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rula-lenska-friends-are-visiting-from-europe/539604/34 "2010-05-17T16:14:49Z")
I only ever saw her in that Alberto V05 shampoo ad. My sister and I mocked her mercilessly for her confident but profoundly mistaken assumption that every American - of course! how could they not? - already knew who the hell she was. We also enjoyed the _Muppet_-esque Swedish Chef singsong of her voice. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rula-lenska-friends-are-visiting-from-europe/539604/35 "2010-05-17T18:11:12Z")
DVR alert: Ms Rula Lenska will be appearing in [Fakers](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338022/) (2004) early Tuesday morning (5/18), 4:05 am, on Encore Love premium channel. 38% at Rotten Tomatoes, so not too awful. The only other actor in the film I recognize is Kate Ashfield from _Shaun of the Dead_. Watch at your own peril. Didn’t see anything else listed with Ms Lenska in the next couple of weeks. ---
**Author:** ![bal-de-vis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@bal-de-vis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bal-de-vis)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rula-lenska-friends-are-visiting-from-europe/539604/36 "2011-09-01T03:09:19Z")
As near I can recall, the line in the Rula Lenska commercial was “I’m showing some American friends around London”…but it’s been a long time, and I might not have it quite exactly right. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rula-lenska-friends-are-visiting-from-europe/539604/37 "2011-09-01T13:47:30Z")
Zombie Rula! ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rula-lenska-friends-are-visiting-from-europe/539604/38 "2011-09-01T14:17:29Z")
> [@Robin Williams](#): > > I’m Rula Lenska. When friends come from America, they always ask, “Rula! Who are you?” I always assumed she was like Zsa Zsa Gabor or Charles Nelson Reilly - well known for being well known. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rula-lenska-friends-are-visiting-from-europe/539604/39 "2011-09-01T16:18:44Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I always assumed she was like Zsa Zsa Gabor or **Charles Nelson Reilly** - well known for being well known. Reilly was actually funny though. ---
**Author:** ![Caesius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caesius/32/4670_2.png) [@Caesius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caesius)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rula-lenska-friends-are-visiting-from-europe/539604/40 "2020-09-10T19:17:45Z")
While I initially only knew the quote from the Pee-wee Herman show, I just saw Mike Nelson say it on Mystery Science Theater 3000 during the film Samson vs. The Vampire Women (the last appearance of TV’s Frank). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rula-lenska-friends-are-visiting-from-europe/539604.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rula-lenska-friends-are-visiting-from-europe/539604.md?page=3)