Jan Waters
Encyclopedia
Jan Waters is an English
actress of the theatre
, television
, and film
. She was particularly active in the London theatre scene during the 1960s and 1970s, notably appearing in the original West End
productions of Jule Styne
's Do Re Mi
and Noel Coward
's High Spirits
. She also made a moderate amount of appearances on British television and appeared in a small number of British films during this time. She was once married to actor Peter Gilmore
.
, Dorset
to Albert Edward and Florence May Waters. She made her professional stage debut in 1960 in the title role of a pantomime
version of the classic story of Cinderella
at the Adelphi Theatre
. The following year she made her first film appearance as Jackie in Lance Comfort
's Touch of Death
and she portrayed the role of Tilda Mullen in the original West End
production of Jule Styne
's Do Re Mi
at the Prince of Wales Theatre
. She remained highly active in London theatre throughout the 1960s in everything from musicals to classic plays to original stage works. Some of her more notable appearances during this time include Beatrice in William Shakespeare
's Much Ado about Nothing
(1962) at the Old Vic Theatre, Ruth Condomine in the original West End production of Noel Coward
's High Spirits
(1964) at the Savoy Theatre
, Polly Peachum in John Gay
's The Beggar's Opera
(1968) at the Apollo Theatre
, and Miss Ethel Monticue in Margaret MacKenzie's The Young Visitors (1968) at the Piccadilly Theatre
. Waters also appeared in the 1968 film Corruption and made several television appearances as a guest artist, including work on Crane
(1964), The Rat Catchers
(1966), The Saint
(1967), and Fraud Squad (1969) among others.
During the 1970s Waters continued to remain active on the stage and in television. In 1970 she toured with the United Kingdom with the Cambridge Theatre Company in productions of Ben Jonson
's The Alchemist
(portraying Dol Common) and David Turner
's Semi-Detached
(portraying Eileen Midway). That same year she appeared on the television series The Mating Machine and Menace. In 1971 she appeared at the Garrick Theatre
as Vivien in Don't Start without Me and guest starred on the show Jason King
for one episode. The following year she appeared as Julie in Show Boat
at the Adelphi Theatre. In 1973 she portrayed Eleanor in Only a Game at the Shaw Theatre
and toured the United Kingdom with the Prospect Theatre Company, performing the roles of Oello in The Royal Hunt of the Sun
, Maria in Twelfth Night, and both Boult and Dionyza in Pericles, Prince of Tyre
. In 1974 she repeated the role of Dionyza at Her Majesty's Theatre
and portrayed the role of Carla in Kennedy's Children at the King's Head Theatre. This was followed by a portrayal of the title role in Susanna Andler at the Haymarket Theatre
and television appearances on Sutherland's Law
and Softly Softly in 1975. Waters continued to make periodic stage and television appearance in the late 1970s, most notably portraying Eliza Doolittle in George Bernard Shaw
's Pygmalion
and Portia in Twelfth Night in tours through the United kingdom and the Far East
with the Watford Palace Theatre Company.
In 1980 she played Queenie in Born in the Gardens
at the Globe Theatre
, and later starred in the original production of Noises Off
at the Lyric Hammersmith and Savoy Theatres. Her latterday screen appearances include Take the High Road
, Sweet Sixteen
, Dramarama
, Paradise Postponed
, the 1987 film Lionheart
, September Song and Doctors. She is currently playing Mrs Boyle in Agatha Christie
's The Mousetrap
at the St Martin's Theatre
, London
.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
actress of the theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
, television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, and film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
. She was particularly active in the London theatre scene during the 1960s and 1970s, notably appearing in the original West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
productions of Jule Styne
Jule Styne
Jule Styne was a British-born American songwriter especially famous for a series of Broadway musicals, which included several very well known and frequently revived shows.-Early life:...
's Do Re Mi
Do Re Mi (musical)
Do Re Mi is a musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and a book by Garson Kanin, who also directed the original 1960 Broadway production. The plot centers on a minor-league con man who decides to go straight by going into the business of juke boxes and music...
and Noel Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
's High Spirits
High Spirits (musical)
High Spirits is a musical with a book, lyrics, and music by Hugh Martin and Timothy Gray, based on the play Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward, about a man's problems caused by the spirit of his dead wife....
. She also made a moderate amount of appearances on British television and appeared in a small number of British films during this time. She was once married to actor Peter Gilmore
Peter Gilmore
Peter Gilmore is a British actor, perhaps best known for his portrayal of Captain James Onedin in the BBC Television period drama The Onedin Line. He also had roles in eleven Carry On films, and played the heroic lead in the adventure film Warlords of Atlantis...
.
Career
Waters was born in BournemouthBournemouth
Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...
, Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
to Albert Edward and Florence May Waters. She made her professional stage debut in 1960 in the title role of a pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
version of the classic story of Cinderella
Cinderella
"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
at the Adelphi Theatre
Adelphi Theatre
The Adelphi Theatre is a 1500-seat West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiving house for a variety of productions, including many musicals...
. The following year she made her first film appearance as Jackie in Lance Comfort
Lance Comfort
Lance Comfort was an English film director and producer born in Harrow, London.With a career spanning over 25 years he became one of the most prolific film directors in Britain though never gained critical attention and remained on the fringes of the film industry creating mostly B movies.Comfort...
's Touch of Death
Touch of Death (film)
Touch of Death was a black and white British crime genre film released in 1961, starring William Lucas and directed by Lance Comfort.-Cast:*William Lucas as Pete Mellor*David Sumner as Len Williams*Ray Barrett as Maxwell*Jan Waters as Jackie...
and she portrayed the role of Tilda Mullen in the original West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
production of Jule Styne
Jule Styne
Jule Styne was a British-born American songwriter especially famous for a series of Broadway musicals, which included several very well known and frequently revived shows.-Early life:...
's Do Re Mi
Do Re Mi (musical)
Do Re Mi is a musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and a book by Garson Kanin, who also directed the original 1960 Broadway production. The plot centers on a minor-league con man who decides to go straight by going into the business of juke boxes and music...
at the Prince of Wales Theatre
Prince of Wales Theatre
The Prince of Wales Theatre is a West End theatre on Coventry Street, near Leicester Square in the City of Westminster. It was established in 1884 and rebuilt in 1937, and extensively refurbished in 2004 by Sir Cameron Mackintosh, its current owner...
. She remained highly active in London theatre throughout the 1960s in everything from musicals to classic plays to original stage works. Some of her more notable appearances during this time include Beatrice in William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's Much Ado about Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....
(1962) at the Old Vic Theatre, Ruth Condomine in the original West End production of Noel Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
's High Spirits
High Spirits (musical)
High Spirits is a musical with a book, lyrics, and music by Hugh Martin and Timothy Gray, based on the play Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward, about a man's problems caused by the spirit of his dead wife....
(1964) at the Savoy Theatre
Savoy Theatre
The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre located in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre opened on 10 October 1881 and was built by Richard D'Oyly Carte on the site of the old Savoy Palace as a showcase for the popular series of comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan,...
, Polly Peachum in John Gay
John Gay
John Gay was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for The Beggar's Opera , set to music by Johann Christoph Pepusch...
's The Beggar's Opera
The Beggar's Opera
The Beggar's Opera is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of satirical ballad opera to remain popular today...
(1968) at the Apollo Theatre
Apollo Theatre
The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. Designed by architect Lewin Sharp for owner Henry Lowenfield, and the fourth legitimate theatre to be constructed on the street, its doors opened on 21 February 1901 with the American...
, and Miss Ethel Monticue in Margaret MacKenzie's The Young Visitors (1968) at the Piccadilly Theatre
Piccadilly Theatre
The Piccadilly Theatre is a West End theatre located at 16 Denman Street, behind Piccadilly Circus and adjacent to the Regent Palace Hotel, in the City of Westminster, England.-Early years:Built by Bertie Crewe and Edward A...
. Waters also appeared in the 1968 film Corruption and made several television appearances as a guest artist, including work on Crane
Crane (TV series)
Crane is a British black and white adventure series that aired on ITV from 1963 to 1965. It was shown on Monday nights at 8 PM.-Plot:The series was based around Richard Crane who was a successful city businessman who was tired of the big city rat race...
(1964), The Rat Catchers
The Rat Catchers
The Rat Catchers is a 1960s British television series about a top secret British Intelligence Unit who receive orders from the Prime Minister and without questions battles enemy spies, saboteurs, and other criminals in order to protect the security of Great Britain and the Western Alliance...
(1966), The Saint
The Saint (TV series)
The Saint was an ITC mystery spy thriller television series that aired in the UK on ITV between 1962 and 1969. It centred on the Leslie Charteris literary character, Simon Templar, a Robin Hood-like adventurer with a penchant for disguise. The character may be nicknamed The Saint because the...
(1967), and Fraud Squad (1969) among others.
During the 1970s Waters continued to remain active on the stage and in television. In 1970 she toured with the United Kingdom with the Cambridge Theatre Company in productions of Ben Jonson
Ben Jonson
Benjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems...
's The Alchemist
The Alchemist (play)
The Alchemist is a comedy by English playwright Ben Jonson. First performed in 1610 by the King's Men, it is generally considered Jonson's best and most characteristic comedy; Samuel Taylor Coleridge claimed that it had one of the three most perfect plots in literature...
(portraying Dol Common) and David Turner
David Turner (dramatist)
David Turner was a British playwright.From a working class background, he studied French at Birmingham University and subsequently worked as a school teacher in that city...
's Semi-Detached
Semi-Detached (play)
Semi-Detached is a play written by David Turner. It was premiered at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry in June 1962 with Leonard Rossiter in the lead role and directed by Tony Richardson....
(portraying Eileen Midway). That same year she appeared on the television series The Mating Machine and Menace. In 1971 she appeared at the Garrick Theatre
Garrick Theatre
The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster. It opened on 24 April 1889 with The Profligate, a play by Arthur Wing Pinero. In its early years, it appears to have specialised in the performance of melodrama, and today the theatre is a...
as Vivien in Don't Start without Me and guest starred on the show Jason King
Jason King (TV series)
Jason King was a British television series produced from 1971 to 1972. Each episode was one hour in duration , and the series had a run of one season of 26 episodes. As well as its native UK, the series was also screened in countries as far afield as Australia, Norway, Argentina and Peru...
for one episode. The following year she appeared as Julie in Show Boat
Show Boat
Show Boat is a musical in two acts with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It was originally produced in New York in 1927 and in London in 1928, and was based on the 1926 novel of the same name by Edna Ferber. The plot chronicles the lives of those living and working...
at the Adelphi Theatre. In 1973 she portrayed Eleanor in Only a Game at the Shaw Theatre
Shaw Theatre
The Shaw Theatre is a theatre in Somers Town, in the London Borough of Camden. It is located near the Euston Road, beside the British Library and St Pancras Chambers , equidistant from King's Cross station and Euston station....
and toured the United Kingdom with the Prospect Theatre Company, performing the roles of Oello in The Royal Hunt of the Sun
The Royal Hunt of the Sun
The Royal Hunt of the Sun is a 1964 play by Peter Shaffer that portrays the destruction of the Inca empire by conquistador Francisco Pizarro.-Premiere:...
, Maria in Twelfth Night, and both Boult and Dionyza in Pericles, Prince of Tyre
Pericles, Prince of Tyre
Pericles, Prince of Tyre is a Jacobean play written at least in part by William Shakespeare and included in modern editions of his collected works despite questions over its authorship, as it was not included in the First Folio...
. In 1974 she repeated the role of Dionyza at Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre, in Haymarket, City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the theatre...
and portrayed the role of Carla in Kennedy's Children at the King's Head Theatre. This was followed by a portrayal of the title role in Susanna Andler at the Haymarket Theatre
Haymarket Theatre
The Theatre Royal Haymarket is a West End theatre in the Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use...
and television appearances on Sutherland's Law
Sutherland's Law
Sutherland's Law is a television series made by BBC Scotland between 1973 and 1976.The series had originated as a stand alone edition of the portmanteau programme Drama Playhouse in 1972 in which Derek Francis played Sutherland and was then commissioned as an ongoing series.Sutherland's Law dealt...
and Softly Softly in 1975. Waters continued to make periodic stage and television appearance in the late 1970s, most notably portraying Eliza Doolittle in George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
's Pygmalion
Pygmalion (play)
Pygmalion: A Romance in Five Acts is a play by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. Professor of phonetics Henry Higgins makes a bet that he can train a bedraggled Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, to pass for a duchess at an ambassador's garden party by teaching her to assume a veneer of...
and Portia in Twelfth Night in tours through the United kingdom and the Far East
Far East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...
with the Watford Palace Theatre Company.
In 1980 she played Queenie in Born in the Gardens
Born In The Gardens
Born In The Gardens is a comedy play by Bristol-born playwright Peter Nichols.Nichols wrote the play in 1979, after his now famous drama Privates On Parade was rejected by the Bristol Old Vic for being too controversial. Born In The Gardens was staged in the Theatre Royal to celebrate its 200th...
at the Globe Theatre
Globe Theatre
The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613...
, and later starred in the original production of Noises Off
Noises Off
Noises Off is a 1982 play by English playwright Michael Frayn. The idea for it was born in 1970, when Frayn was standing in the wings watching a performance of Chinamen, a farce that he had written for Lynn Redgrave...
at the Lyric Hammersmith and Savoy Theatres. Her latterday screen appearances include Take the High Road
Take the High Road
Take the High Road was a Scottish soap opera produced by Scottish Television, and set in the fictional village of Glendarroch , and claims to have about 2 million fans, including the Queen Mother...
, Sweet Sixteen
Sweet Sixteen (TV series)
Sweet Sixteen is a British sitcom that aired on BBC1 in 1983. It stars Penelope Keith and was written by Douglas Watkinson and directed and produced by Gareth Gwenlan.-Cast:*Penelope Keith — Helen Walker*Christopher Villiers — Peter Morgan...
, Dramarama
Dramarama (TV series)
Dramarama is the name of a British children's' anthology series broadcast on ITV between 1983 and 1989. It tended to feature drama of a science fiction or supernatural bent. The programme was administered by Tyne Tees Television in Newcastle, who had a track-record for organising cross-franchise...
, Paradise Postponed
Paradise Postponed
Paradise Postponed is a 1986 TV serial based on a novel by John Mortimer. The plot focused on inquires into why the leftist Reverend Simeon Simcox left the Simcox brewery millions to the loathsome Leslie Titmuss, a city developer and Conservative cabinet minister...
, the 1987 film Lionheart
Lionheart (1987 film)
Lionheart is a 1987 adventure film directed by Academy Award-winner Franklin J. Schaffner...
, September Song and Doctors. She is currently playing Mrs Boyle in Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
's 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...
at the St Martin's Theatre
St Martin's Theatre
St Martin's Theatre is a West End theatre, located in West Street, near Charing Cross Road, in the London Borough of Camden. It was designed as one of a pair of theatres with the Ambassadors Theatre by W.G.R...
, 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...
.