I saw her in a BBC production of Noel Coward’s “Design for Living.” She was kinda awesome.
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 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.
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.
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.”
I remember those ads, and recall asking my mom who Rula Lenska was. She had no idea either.
I haven’t seen the ads in 30+ years, but I think the memorable line was, “I’m showing some friends around London.”
Well, according to the link in Zeldar’s post:
So she apparently did do a coffee commercial, and the line was similar to, but not verbatim, what Jambi said.
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.
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.
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”
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).
“…and I’m going to show them London.”
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.
DVR alert: Ms Rula Lenska will be appearing in Fakers (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.
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.
Zombie Rula!
I always assumed she was like Zsa Zsa Gabor or Charles Nelson Reilly - well known for being well known.
Regards,
Shodan
Reilly was actually funny though.
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).