Rita Simons
Rita Joanne Simons (born 10 March 1977) is an English actress, singer, and model from London, who is known for playing Roxy Mitchell in the BBC soap opera "EastEnders" from 2007 to 2017, when her character was killed off. For her performance on the show Simons received many accolades, including the 2008 National Television Award for Most Popular Newcomer.
Rita Lawrence
Lawrence was born on 24 January 1911 at Beddington, Surrey. She was the first child of Albert Sam Cann who was an Englishman with African descent and his White British wife Emma Elizabeth, née Dowsett. Her father organised appearances at Wigmore Hall of performers including Dorothy Callender and Paul Robeson. Her home was in Britain, Austria and Germany where her father was arrested for fraud. It is said that Lawrence argued her own way into a judge's chambers at the age of fourteen to plead her father's case. His maternal grandmother had encouraged her daughter to marry Albert because she valued interracial marriages.