Heather Chasen
Encyclopedia
Heather Jean Chasen is a Singapore
-born English
actress. Her best known roles are playing Valerie Pollard in the ITV
soap opera
Crossroads (1982–86) and voicing many roles in BBC Radio 2
's The Navy Lark
(1959–77). She was in the soap opera
Marked Personal
, in which she played one of the leading characters alongside Stephanie Beacham
and in 2011 she was cast as Lydia Simmonds in the BBC
soap opera EastEnders
, replacing Margaret Tyzack
(who had pulled out of the role for personal reasons). She departed on 13 June 2011, after doing a voice-over for the 14 June episode.
occupation, which led to the Battle of Singapore
. They moved to England and Chasen trained at RADA
, where she then acted on stage and went on a tour with Frankie Howerd
in Hotel Paradiso. She also appeared with Sybil Thorndike in Call Me Jacky, as well as going on tour with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
in The Pleasure of his Company, in Toronto
. Chasen had a relationship with Amanda Barrie
although has never spoken about this. She lives in Regents Park, London
, and has two dogs, Gertrude and Tallulah. She married in 1949 to John Webster in Surrey
and has one son with him, Rupert, born in 1955 in Kensington
.
soap opera
Crossroads. She had before played a journalist for one episode: "I did an episode where I played this journalist which they must have quite liked because they got back to me about a month later. [They asked me] 'Would you come back and join the cast and change the colour of your hair?' Well, I said okay and so I changed my [hair] colour from red to blonde and I looked exactly the same! I didn't look any different at all. And so then I came back as this naughty lady, Valerie Pollard." Chasen used to buy her own clothes for the role, with the help of her friend Barrie
. She said she always received nice fan mail for portraying Valerie. She summed her time up on Crossroads saying, "Well I was very happy, it was a fun time, I enjoyed it. At the beginning, not at the very end. When I first joined it, for the first few months I was in it was great fun but after Jack (the producer) went it became less good and less fun and I didn't enjoy it so much." Chasen left the show in 1986.
)'s maternal grandmother and Norman Simmonds (George Layton
) mother, in the BBC
soap opera
EastEnders
after the original actress, Margaret Tyzack
had to pull out of the role due to personal reasons. Two episodes featuring Tyzack had already been broadcast, and she featured in a further one on 14 April. The producers wanted to keep Lydia in the show as they had plans for her, so Chasen was cast and she replaced Tyzack in the role, beginning filming on 15 April for scenes broadcast from 21 April. EastEnders executive producer, Bryan Kirkwood
, added: "In order to continue the current storyline we've taken the decision for Heather Chasen to take over the role of Lydia." The character was killed off and Chasen made her last appearance on 13 June 2011, and, though not credited for it, did a voice-over for the 14th June episode.
Bryan Kirkwood later said "Lydia's storyline was perfect" and that Chasen had made the part her own after Tyzack pulled out. Brooks said of the storyline as a whole, "I absolutely loved exploring Janine's background, I wanted to figure out why she behaves like she does. I was really proud with the scenes with Heather Chasen [Lydia]. It was really hard work, but worth it."
, where she played Madge Bennet for five episodes. She also has appeared in The Bill
and The Harry Hill Show. She has had guest roles in Z Cars and Dixon of Dock Green
and has voiced a number of characters in the radio show The Navy Lark
, most notably 'battle axe' Ramona Povey. In soaps, other than appearing in EastEnders
and Crossroads, she has had two separate stints in the BBC soap opera Doctors and played Sylvie Leigh in Holby City
. More earlier in her career include, playing 'rich bitches', Caroline Kerr in The Newcomers
and Isabel Neal in a daytime soap opera called Marked Personal
, alongside Stephanie Beacham
. She also played the evil headmistress in Schoolgirls in Uniform at the BAC
.
She has also appeared in stage play The Rat Trap
. Michael Billington from The Guardian
described Chasen's character, Burrage (the maid), as "trundling" and "announcing 'marriage is a snare'", he rated the play three stars. As well as this she has appeared in Pardon Ma Prime Minister alongside Gerald Flood
and Paul Curran. It was at the Alexandra Theatre and was written by Edward Taylor
and John Graham who created the popular BBC
radio series The Men from the Ministry
. The Birmingham Mail
described the play as "hilarious" and "promising." One of Chasen's more recent plays was My Three Angels in which she played Madame Parole. Chasen has appeared in many other plays, including, The Man Who Came to Dinner
, Who Bombed Birmingham playing Margaret Thatcher
and The Lizard of Rock, in which she played the main role, in 1960. She appeared alongside, actor Jack Hawkins
. Chasen opined that she had a "lovely time" playing Miss Marple
in A Murder is Announced
alongside, Richard Todd
and Barbara Murray
.
Chasen also appeared in an Anglo Russian feature film, called The Seasons Mists playing Jane in 2009. It was produced by Neil McCartney
. It received its UK premiere on 20 April 2011 at the Odeon
Covent Garden
in London
. Chasen appeared alongside Marina Blake, Sergei Chonishvili, Ifan Huw Dafydd and ex-EastEnders actor Dudley Sutton
. Other films Chasen has appeared in include, The Kiss of Tosca in 2000, The Toybox in 2003 and Cat Run
, a 2011 film, where she plays Bingham's Mum.
, while she appeared in the New York adaptation of A Severed Head
. She was in the cast of the Seasons of Mists which won a number of awards internationally.
Film
Radio
Stage/Theatre
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
-born English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
actress. Her best known roles are playing Valerie Pollard in the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Crossroads (1982–86) and voicing many roles in BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
's The Navy Lark
The Navy Lark
The Navy Lark was a radio sit-com about life aboard a British Royal Navy frigate named HMS Troutbridge, based in HMNB Portsmouth, though in series 1 and 2 the ship and crew were stationed offshore at an unnamed location known simply as "The Island." In series 2 this island was revealed to be...
(1959–77). She was in the soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Marked Personal
Marked Personal
Marked Personal was a British daytime television drama created by Charles Dennis and starring Stephanie Beacham and Heather Chasen. The series was made by Thames Television and consisted of 90 episodes, shown twice weekly on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons during 1973-74...
, in which she played one of the leading characters alongside Stephanie Beacham
Stephanie Beacham
Stephanie Beacham is a British television, film and theatre actress. Making her film debut in 1971's The Nightcomers opposite Marlon Brando and becoming more well-known on British television in the BBC series Tenko and the ITV series Connie , her worldwide breakthrough came as a result of playing...
and in 2011 she was cast as Lydia Simmonds in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
soap opera EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
, replacing Margaret Tyzack
Margaret Tyzack
Margaret Maud Tyzack, CBE was a British actress.-Early life:Tyzack was born in Essex, England, the daughter of Doris and Thomas Edward Tyzack. She grew up in West Ham...
(who had pulled out of the role for personal reasons). She departed on 13 June 2011, after doing a voice-over for the 14 June episode.
Early and personal life
Chasen was born on 20 July 1927. She and her mother escaped the country on the last boat before the JapaneseJapanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
occupation, which led to the Battle of Singapore
Battle of Singapore
The Battle of Singapore was fought in the South-East Asian theatre of the Second World War when the Empire of Japan invaded the Allied stronghold of Singapore. Singapore was the major British military base in Southeast Asia and nicknamed the "Gibraltar of the East"...
. They moved to England and Chasen trained at RADA
Rada
Rada is the term for "council" or "assembly"borrowed by Polish from the Low Franconian "Rad" and later passed into the Czech, Ukrainian, and Belarusian languages....
, where she then acted on stage and went on a tour with Frankie Howerd
Frankie Howerd
Francis Alick "Frankie" Howerd OBE was an English comedian and comic actor whose career, described by fellow comedian Barry Cryer as "a series of comebacks", spanned six decades.-Early career:...
in Hotel Paradiso. She also appeared with Sybil Thorndike in Call Me Jacky, as well as going on tour with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
Douglas Elton Fairbanks, Jr. KBE was an American actor and a highly decorated naval officer of World War II.-Early life:...
in The Pleasure of his Company, in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
. Chasen had a relationship with Amanda Barrie
Amanda Barrie
Amanda Barrie is an English actress.-Career:Born as Shirley Anne Broadbent, Barrie attended St Anne's College, St Anne's on Sea. She then trained at the Arts Educational School in London and later at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School...
although has never spoken about this. She lives in Regents Park, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and has two dogs, Gertrude and Tallulah. She married in 1949 to John Webster in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
and has one son with him, Rupert, born in 1955 in Kensington
Kensington
Kensington is a district of west and central London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street, and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington.To the north, Kensington is...
.
Crossroads
In 1982, Chasen was cast as Valerie Pollard in the ITVITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Crossroads. She had before played a journalist for one episode: "I did an episode where I played this journalist which they must have quite liked because they got back to me about a month later. [They asked me] 'Would you come back and join the cast and change the colour of your hair?' Well, I said okay and so I changed my [hair] colour from red to blonde and I looked exactly the same! I didn't look any different at all. And so then I came back as this naughty lady, Valerie Pollard." Chasen used to buy her own clothes for the role, with the help of her friend Barrie
Amanda Barrie
Amanda Barrie is an English actress.-Career:Born as Shirley Anne Broadbent, Barrie attended St Anne's College, St Anne's on Sea. She then trained at the Arts Educational School in London and later at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School...
. She said she always received nice fan mail for portraying Valerie. She summed her time up on Crossroads saying, "Well I was very happy, it was a fun time, I enjoyed it. At the beginning, not at the very end. When I first joined it, for the first few months I was in it was great fun but after Jack (the producer) went it became less good and less fun and I didn't enjoy it so much." Chasen left the show in 1986.
EastEnders
In 2011, Chasen was cast as Lydia Simmonds, Janine Butcher (Charlie BrooksCharlie Brooks
Charlene "Charlie" Brooks is a Welsh actress, best known for playing Janine Butcher on the BBC soap opera EastEnders.-Acting career:...
)'s maternal grandmother and Norman Simmonds (George Layton
George Layton
George Layton is an English actor, director, screenwriter and author. He was educated at Belle Vue Boys' Grammar School in Bradford and later studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts where he won the Emile Littler award. He went on to leading parts at Coventry and Nottingham and...
) mother, in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
after the original actress, Margaret Tyzack
Margaret Tyzack
Margaret Maud Tyzack, CBE was a British actress.-Early life:Tyzack was born in Essex, England, the daughter of Doris and Thomas Edward Tyzack. She grew up in West Ham...
had to pull out of the role due to personal reasons. Two episodes featuring Tyzack had already been broadcast, and she featured in a further one on 14 April. The producers wanted to keep Lydia in the show as they had plans for her, so Chasen was cast and she replaced Tyzack in the role, beginning filming on 15 April for scenes broadcast from 21 April. EastEnders executive producer, Bryan Kirkwood
Bryan Kirkwood (producer)
Bryan Kirkwood is a Scottish-born British television producer. He was the producer of teen Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks from 2006 until 2009 and has been the executive producer of the BBC soap EastEnders since 2010.- Personal life :...
, added: "In order to continue the current storyline we've taken the decision for Heather Chasen to take over the role of Lydia." The character was killed off and Chasen made her last appearance on 13 June 2011, and, though not credited for it, did a voice-over for the 14th June episode.
Bryan Kirkwood later said "Lydia's storyline was perfect" and that Chasen had made the part her own after Tyzack pulled out. Brooks said of the storyline as a whole, "I absolutely loved exploring Janine's background, I wanted to figure out why she behaves like she does. I was really proud with the scenes with Heather Chasen [Lydia]. It was really hard work, but worth it."
Other work
Chasen has appeared in many other TV programmes such as the Channel 5 soap opera, Family AffairsFamily Affairs
Family Affairs was a British soap opera broadcast on Five, from 1997 to 2005. It was the second programme to be broadcast on the channel on 30 March 1997, the channel's launch night...
, where she played Madge Bennet for five episodes. She also has appeared in The Bill
The Bill
The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
and The Harry Hill Show. She has had guest roles in Z Cars and Dixon of Dock Green
Dixon of Dock Green
Dixon of Dock Green was a popular BBC television series that ran from 1955 to 1976, and later a radio series. Despite being a drama series, it was initially produced by the BBC's light entertainment department.-Overview:...
and has voiced a number of characters in the radio show The Navy Lark
The Navy Lark
The Navy Lark was a radio sit-com about life aboard a British Royal Navy frigate named HMS Troutbridge, based in HMNB Portsmouth, though in series 1 and 2 the ship and crew were stationed offshore at an unnamed location known simply as "The Island." In series 2 this island was revealed to be...
, most notably 'battle axe' Ramona Povey. In soaps, other than appearing in EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
and Crossroads, she has had two separate stints in the BBC soap opera Doctors and played Sylvie Leigh in Holby City
Holby City
Holby City, stylised as Holby Ci+y, is a British medical drama television series that airs weekly on BBC One.The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama Casualty, and premiered on 12 January 1999...
. More earlier in her career include, playing 'rich bitches', Caroline Kerr in The Newcomers
The Newcomers (TV series)
The Newcomers was a late 1960s BBC soap opera which dealt with the subject of a London family, the Coopers, who moved to a housing estate in the fictional country town of Angleton. It was broadcast in bi-weekly half hour episodes from 5 October 1965 until 28 November 1969...
and Isabel Neal in a daytime soap opera called Marked Personal
Marked Personal
Marked Personal was a British daytime television drama created by Charles Dennis and starring Stephanie Beacham and Heather Chasen. The series was made by Thames Television and consisted of 90 episodes, shown twice weekly on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons during 1973-74...
, alongside Stephanie Beacham
Stephanie Beacham
Stephanie Beacham is a British television, film and theatre actress. Making her film debut in 1971's The Nightcomers opposite Marlon Brando and becoming more well-known on British television in the BBC series Tenko and the ITV series Connie , her worldwide breakthrough came as a result of playing...
. She also played the evil headmistress in Schoolgirls in Uniform at the BAC
Battersea Arts Centre
The Battersea Arts Centre is a performance space near Clapham Junction in Battersea, in the London Borough of Wandsworth that specialises in music and theatre productions.-History:...
.
She has also appeared in stage play The Rat Trap
The Rat Trap
The Rat Trap is a four act drama by Noel Coward, his 'first really serious attempt at psychological conflict,' written when he was only 18....
. Michael Billington from The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
described Chasen's character, Burrage (the maid), as "trundling" and "announcing 'marriage is a snare'", he rated the play three stars. As well as this she has appeared in Pardon Ma Prime Minister alongside Gerald Flood
Gerald Flood
Gerald Flood was a British actor of stage and television.Born in Portsmouth, Hampshire but lived for most of his life in Farnham, Surrey, where he regularly appeared on stage at the Castle Theatre...
and Paul Curran. It was at the Alexandra Theatre and was written by Edward Taylor
Edward Taylor
Edward Taylor was a colonial American poet, pastor and physician.-Early life:...
and John Graham who created the popular BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
radio series The Men from the Ministry
The Men from the Ministry
The Men from the Ministry was a British radio comedy series broadcast by the BBC between 1962 and 1977, starring Wilfrid Hyde-White, Richard Murdoch and, from 1966, when he replaced Hyde-White, Deryck Guyler...
. The Birmingham Mail
Birmingham Mail
The Birmingham Mail is a tabloid newspaper based in Birmingham, UK but distributed around Birmingham, The Black Country, Solihull, Warwickshire and parts of Worcestershire and Staffordshire. The newspaper, which was re-branded from the Birmingham Evening Mail in October 2005, is one of the biggest...
described the play as "hilarious" and "promising." One of Chasen's more recent plays was My Three Angels in which she played Madame Parole. Chasen has appeared in many other plays, including, The Man Who Came to Dinner
The Man Who Came to Dinner
The Man Who Came to Dinner is a comedy in three acts by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. It debuted on October 16, 1939 at the Music Box Theatre in New York City. It then enjoyed a number of New York and London revivals. The first London production was staged at The Savoy Theatre starring Robert...
, Who Bombed Birmingham playing Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
and The Lizard of Rock, in which she played the main role, in 1960. She appeared alongside, actor Jack Hawkins
Jack Hawkins
Colonel John Edward "Jack" Hawkins CBE was an English actor of the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s.-Career:Hawkins was born at Lyndhurst Road, Wood Green, Middlesex, the son of master builder Thomas George Hawkins and his wife, Phoebe née Goodman. The youngest of four children in a close-knit family,...
. Chasen opined that she had a "lovely time" playing Miss Marple
Miss Marple
Jane Marple, usually referred to as Miss Marple, is a fictional character appearing in twelve of Agatha Christie's crime novels and in twenty short stories. Miss Marple is an elderly spinster who lives in the village of St. Mary Mead and acts as an amateur detective. She is one of the most famous...
in A Murder is Announced
A Murder is Announced
A Murder is Announced is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in June 1950 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in the same month...
alongside, Richard Todd
Richard Todd
Richard Todd OBE was an Irish-born British stage and film actor and soldier.-Early life:Richard Todd was born as Richard Andrew Palethorpe-Todd in Dublin, Ireland. His father, Andrew William Palethorpe Todd, was an Irish physician and an international Irish rugby player who gained three caps for...
and Barbara Murray
Barbara Murray
Barbara Ann Murray is an English actress. She was married to the actor John Justin and had three daughters, but they divorced in 1964....
.
Chasen also appeared in an Anglo Russian feature film, called The Seasons Mists playing Jane in 2009. It was produced by Neil McCartney
Neil McCartney
Neil McCartney is a UK-born journalist, consultant, producer and entrepreneur.He has been co-founder of a number of initiatives, including a series of specialist newsletters for the Financial Times in the 1980s, the British Independent Film Awards in 1998, and more recently a group of companies...
. It received its UK premiere on 20 April 2011 at the Odeon
Cineplex Odeon Films
Cineplex Odeon Films was the film distribution unit of the Canadian cinema chain Cineplex Odeon Corporation....
Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Chasen appeared alongside Marina Blake, Sergei Chonishvili, Ifan Huw Dafydd and ex-EastEnders actor Dudley Sutton
Dudley Sutton
-Life:He served in the RAF as a mechanic before enrolling in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art from which he was later expelled.Known for his eccentricity, he became a cult figure after playing a gay biker in The Leather Boys . He married American actress Marjorie Steele in 1961; she had previously...
. Other films Chasen has appeared in include, The Kiss of Tosca in 2000, The Toybox in 2003 and Cat Run
Cat Run
- Plot :Anthony always dreamed of being a famous chef. Julian only thought about women. With neither really working out, the childhood best friends decide to start a detective agency. Unfortunately for them, on their first case they must help protect a sexy, high class escort who holds the key...
, a 2011 film, where she plays Bingham's Mum.
Awards and nominations
Chasen was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a MusicalTony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
This is a list of the winners and nominations of the Tony Award for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical. The award, introduced in 1950, was previously named as Best Performance by a Featured or Supporting Actress in a Musical until 1976....
, while she appeared in the New York adaptation of A Severed Head
A Severed Head
A Severed Head is a satirical, sometimes farcical 1961 novel by Iris Murdoch.Primary themes include marriage, adultery, and incest within a group of civilized and educated people. Set in and around London, it depicts a power struggle between grown-up middle class people who are lucky to be free of...
. She was in the cast of the Seasons of Mists which won a number of awards internationally.
Filmography
Television| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | No Hiding Place No Hiding Place No Hiding Place is a British television series that was produced at Wembley Studios by Associated-Rediffusion for the ITV network between 16 September 1959 and 22 June 1967.... |
Brenda | 1 Episode |
| The Cheaters | Mary Calder | ||
| The World of Tim Frazer | Helen Baker | 6 Episodes | |
| 1960, 1961 | Danger Man Danger Man Danger Man is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the program and wrote many of the scripts... |
Helen Hamilton (1960) Lorain Zameda (1961) | 2 Episodes |
| 1961 | Walk a Crooked Mile | Angela Charles | 1 Episode |
| Inspector Maigret Maigret (1960 TV series) Maigret is a British television series made by the BBC and which ran for 52 episodes from 1960 to 1963.Based on the Maigret stories of Georges Simenon, the series starred Rupert Davies as the Sûreté detective Commissaire Jules Maigret, and featured Ewen Solon as Lucas, Helen Shingler as Madame... |
Guest | ||
| Dixon of Dock Green Dixon of Dock Green Dixon of Dock Green was a popular BBC television series that ran from 1955 to 1976, and later a radio series. Despite being a drama series, it was initially produced by the BBC's light entertainment department.-Overview:... |
Laura Beckley | ||
| 1962 | Saki Saki Hector Hugh Munro , better known by the pen name Saki, and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirised Edwardian society and culture. He is considered a master of the short story and often compared to O. Henry and Dorothy... |
Agnes Huddle | |
| Dixon of Dock Green Dixon of Dock Green Dixon of Dock Green was a popular BBC television series that ran from 1955 to 1976, and later a radio series. Despite being a drama series, it was initially produced by the BBC's light entertainment department.-Overview:... |
Stella Judd | ||
| 1963 | Suspense Suspense (disambiguation) Suspense is a feeling of uncertainty and anxiety about the outcome of certain actions.Suspense may also refer to:* Suspense , a silent film* Suspense , a film featuring Walter Summers... |
Clarice Morrison | |
| 1965 | The Newcomers The Newcomers (TV series) The Newcomers was a late 1960s BBC soap opera which dealt with the subject of a London family, the Coopers, who moved to a housing estate in the fictional country town of Angleton. It was broadcast in bi-weekly half hour episodes from 5 October 1965 until 28 November 1969... |
Caroline Kerr | |
| 1967 | Z Cars | Pamela Raven | 2 Episodes |
| 1969 | Call My Bluff | Herself | 1 Episode |
| 1971 | Naughty! | Victorian Madame | |
| 1972 | On the Game | Madame | |
| 1973–74 | Marked Personal Marked Personal Marked Personal was a British daytime television drama created by Charles Dennis and starring Stephanie Beacham and Heather Chasen. The series was made by Thames Television and consisted of 90 episodes, shown twice weekly on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons during 1973-74... |
Isabel Neal | 84 Episodes |
| 1973 | Commuter Husbands Commuter Husbands Commuter Husbands is a 1973 comedy film by noted British sexploitation director Derek Ford. The film was directed and written by Derek Ford, and stars Gabrielle Drake, Robin Bailey, and Claire Gordon.-Cast:* Gabrielle Drake as Carol Appleby... |
Wife | 1 Episode |
| 1977 | BBC Play of the Month | Lady Julia Farrant | |
| 1978 | A Traveller in Time | Mary, Queen of Scots | 3 Episodes |
| 1981 | Ladykillers | Mrs. Martinetti | 1 Episode |
| 1982 | Crossroads | Reporter | |
| Young Sherlock: The Mystery of the Manor House Young Sherlock: The Mystery of the Manor House Young Sherlock: The Mystery of the Manor House was a 8-episode television series about the youthful years of Sherlock Holmes. The show was produced by Granada Television and premiered on 31 October 1982.-Cast:*Guy Henry as Sherlock Holmes... |
Aunt Rachel | 5 Episodes | |
| 1982–86 | Crossroads | Valerie Pollard | Unknown |
| 1983 | Shades of Darkness | Minor Role | 1 Episode |
| 1989 | Heat of the Day | Mrs Kelway | |
| 1990 | Who Bombed Birmingham | Margaret Thatcher Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990... |
|
| 1992 | The Eligible Bachelor | The Hon Amelia | |
| Surgical Spirit Surgical Spirit Surgical Spirit is a British situation-comedy television series starring Nichola McAuliffe and Duncan Preston that was broadcast from 1989 through 1995. It was written by Peter Learmouth, Graeme Garden, Raymond Dixon, Annie Bruce, Annie Wood and Paul McKenzie... |
Sabatini's Mother | ||
| 2003 | The Bill The Bill The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work... |
Mrs. Belstram | |
| 2002 | Holby City Holby City Holby City, stylised as Holby Ci+y, is a British medical drama television series that airs weekly on BBC One.The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama Casualty, and premiered on 12 January 1999... |
Sylvie Leigh | |
| 2003 | The All New Harry Hill Show | Betty | |
| Doctors | Norma | ||
| 2005 | Casualty Casualty (TV series) Casualty, stylised as Casual+y, is a British weekly television show broadcast on BBC One, and the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast on 6 September 1986, and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The... |
Bessie Symes | |
| Family Affairs Family Affairs Family Affairs was a British soap opera broadcast on Five, from 1997 to 2005. It was the second programme to be broadcast on the channel on 30 March 1997, the channel's launch night... |
Madge Bennett | 5 Episodes | |
| 2006 | Doctors | Ida Price | 1 Episode |
| 2010 | Holby City Holby City Holby City, stylised as Holby Ci+y, is a British medical drama television series that airs weekly on BBC One.The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama Casualty, and premiered on 12 January 1999... |
Sylvie Leigh | |
| 2011 | EastEnders EastEnders EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End... |
Lydia Simmonds | 12 Episodes |
| Lydia Simmonds (voiceover) | 1 Episode |
Film
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1949 | Meet the Duke | Carol |
| 1972 | Surburban Wives | Kathy Lambert |
| 1976 | The Deadly Females | Frances |
| 1989 | The Plot to Kill Hitler The Plot to Kill Hitler (film) #The Plot to Kill Hitler is a 1990 television movie. It is about the 20 July 1944 plot by German officers to kill Adolf Hitler. Brad Davis stars as Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg who plants a bomb in the conference room of the Führer's headquarters in East Prussia.- Plot summary :“The... |
The Baroness |
| 2000 | The Kiss of Tosca | Tosca |
| 2003 | The Toybox | Gran |
| 2009 | The Seasons of Mists | Jane |
| 2011 | Cat Run Cat Run - Plot :Anthony always dreamed of being a famous chef. Julian only thought about women. With neither really working out, the childhood best friends decide to start a detective agency. Unfortunately for them, on their first case they must help protect a sexy, high class escort who holds the key... |
Bingham's Mom |
Radio
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1959–77 | The Navy Lark The Navy Lark The Navy Lark was a radio sit-com about life aboard a British Royal Navy frigate named HMS Troutbridge, based in HMNB Portsmouth, though in series 1 and 2 the ship and crew were stationed offshore at an unnamed location known simply as "The Island." In series 2 this island was revealed to be... |
WRN Chasen, Mrs Ramona Povey, Rita Murray, Morpeth Goldstein, Natasha Snogitoff, Lady Quirk, Miss Simpkins, Lady Todhunter-Brown, Lucy Doll and Queen Jaratova |
| 1966–1968 | The Embassy Lark The Embassy Lark The Embassy Lark was a radio comedy series broadcast from 1966 to 1968 as a spin-off from The Navy Lark. It was written by Lawrie Wyman and starred Frank Thornton and Derek Francis. It was produced by Sir Alistair Scott-Johnston... |
Unknown |
| 1967 | Sexton Blake Sexton Blake Sexton Blake is a fictional detective who appeared in many British comic strips and novels throughout the 20th century. He was described by Professor Jeffrey Richards on the BBC in The Radio Detectives in 2003 as "the poor man's Sherlock Holmes"... adventures |
Paula Dane |
Stage/Theatre
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1945 | Donna Clarines | Marcella |
| 1954 | Blood Wedding | Leonardo's wife |
| 1958 | Little Eyolf Little Eyolf Little Eyolf is an 1894 play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The play was first performed on January 12, 1895 in the Deutsches Theater in Berlin.-Plot:... |
Rita Allmers |
| Templeton | Anna Dasousa | |
| The Mousetrap The Mousetrap The Mousetrap is a murder mystery play by Agatha Christie. The Mousetrap opened in the West End of London in 1952, and has been running continuously since then. It has the longest initial run of any play in history, with over 24,500 performances so far. It is the longest running show of the modern... |
Mollie Ralston | |
| 1960 | The Lizard of the Rock | Main Role |
| 1962 | A Midsummer Night's Dream A Midsummer Night's Dream A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta... |
Helena Helena (A Midsummer Night's Dream) Helena is one of the iconic four young lovers in William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and is a very desperate woman. She is generally interpreted as being tall, slim and blonde - her best friend Hermia calls her a "painted maypole" during an argument. Although she does not see herself... |
| Policy for Murder | Lee Miller | |
| 1963 | The Maids The Maids The Maids is a play by the French dramatist Jean Genet. It was first performed at the Théâtre de l'Athénée in Paris in a production that opened on 17 April 1947, which Louis Jouvet directed... |
Solange |
| 1963, 1964, 1965 | A Severed Head | Antonia Lynch Gibbon |
| 1966 | Love from Liz | Nancy Morrow |
| Jorrocks | Mrs Barnington | |
| Thriller of the Year | Gillian Howard | |
| 1967 | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a play by Edward Albee that opened on Broadway at the Billy Rose Theater on October 13, 1962. The original cast featured Uta Hagen as Martha, Arthur Hill as George, Melinda Dillon as Honey and George Grizzard as Nick. It was directed by Alan Schneider... |
Martha |
| 1967–68 | Call me Jacky | Countess, Ardele, Gina Ekdal, The Wild Duck, and Jacqueline du Bois |
| 1969 | Forty Years On Forty Years On (play) Forty Years On is a 1968 play by Alan Bennett. It was his first West End play.-Subject:The play is set in a British public school called Albion House , which is putting on an end of term play in front of the parents, i.e. the audience... |
Matron |
| Lady S | Lady Susan | |
| 1970 | Lady Frederick | Marchioness of Mereston |
| 1970–72 | The Pleasure of his Company | Katherine Daugherty |
| 1971 | Hello and Goodbye | Hester |
| The Amorous Prawn The Amorous Prawn The Amorous Prawn is a 1962 British comedy film directed by Anthony Kimmins and starring Ian Carmichael, Joan Greenwood and Cecil Parker. General Fitzadam receives his final posting in the remote Scottish Highlands, where his wife decides to run their residence as a hotel for wealthy Americans... |
Mrs. Fitzadam | |
| The Magistrate The Magistrate (play) The Magistrate is a farce by the English playwright Arthur Wing Pinero. The plot concerns a respectable magistrate who finds himself caught up in a series of scandalous events that almost cause his disgrace.... |
Queen Margaret, Richard III, and Agatha | |
| 1972 | Children of the Wolf | Helena |
| 1973 | Baby Love | Mrs. Taylor |
| 1975 | Hay Fever Hay Fever Hay Fever is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1924 and first produced in 1925 with Marie Tempest as the first Judith Bliss. Laura Hope Crews played the role in New York... |
Judith Bliss |
| Butterflies Are Free Butterflies Are Free (play) Butterflies Are Free is a play by Leonard Gershe.Loosely based on the life of attorney Harold Krents, the plot revolves around a Manhattan blind man whose controlling mother disapproves of his relationship with a free-spirited hippie. The title was inspired by a passage in Charles Dickens' Bleak... |
Mrs. Baker | |
| Madame de Sade Madame de Sade Madame de Sade is a 1965 play written by Yukio Mishima. It was first published in English, translated by Donald Keene by Grove Press and is currently out of print.... |
Alison, Diaries, and Comtesse de Saint Fond | |
| 1977 | Rebecca | Beatrice Lacy |
| 1978 | Murder in a Bad Light | Olivia Waynward |
| 1979 | The Eagel Has Two Heads | Edith de Berg |
| The Man Who Came To Dinner The Man Who Came to Dinner The Man Who Came to Dinner is a comedy in three acts by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. It debuted on October 16, 1939 at the Music Box Theatre in New York City. It then enjoyed a number of New York and London revivals. The first London production was staged at The Savoy Theatre starring Robert... |
Miss Preen | |
| 1994 | A Murder is Announced A Murder is Announced A Murder is Announced is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in June 1950 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in the same month... |
Miss Marple Miss Marple Jane Marple, usually referred to as Miss Marple, is a fictional character appearing in twelve of Agatha Christie's crime novels and in twenty short stories. Miss Marple is an elderly spinster who lives in the village of St. Mary Mead and acts as an amateur detective. She is one of the most famous... |
| 1996 | Black Chiffon Black Chiffon Black Chiffon is a play in Two Acts by Lesley Storm. Starring Flora Robson, the play premiered at the Westminster Theatre in London's West End on 3 May 1949, running for over 400 performances. The play debuted on Broadway on 27 September 1950 and ran until 13 January 1951, totalling 109 performances... |
Nanny |
| 1997 | School Girls in Uniform | The Headmistress |
| 1999 | Sweet Bramleys | June |
| Laying the Ghost | Freda | |
| 2000 | Getting On Getting On Getting On is a satirical British sitcom based in an NHS hospital. It is written by its core cast, Jo Brand, Vicki Pepperdine, and Joanna Scanlan, and is directed by Peter Capaldi. It first aired in July 2009... |
Minor Role |
| 2001 | Mountain Language Mountain Language Mountain Language is a one-act play written by Harold Pinter, first published in The Times Literary Supplement on 7–13 October 1988. It was first performed at the Royal National Theatre in London on 20 October 1988 with Michael Gambon and Miranda Richardson. Subsequently, it was published by... |
Elderly Lady |
| 2002 | My Three Angles | Madame Parole |
| 2006 | The Rat Trap The Rat Trap The Rat Trap is a four act drama by Noel Coward, his 'first really serious attempt at psychological conflict,' written when he was only 18.... |
Burrage the Maid |
| 2008 | Pardon Ma Prime Minister | Lead Role |