Jean Marsh: Difference between revisions

| known_for = ''[[Upstairs, Downstairs (1971 TV series)|Upstairs, Downstairs]]''<br>''[[Doctor Who]]''<br>''[[Willow (1988 film)|Willow]]''

| yearsactive = 1953–2014

Marsh also co-created the television series ''[[The House of Eliott]]'' in 1991. Her film appearances include ''[[Cleopatra (1963 film)|Cleopatra]]'' (1963), ''[[Frenzy]]'' (1972), [[The Eagle Has Landed (film)|The Eagle Has Landed]] (1976), ''[[The Changeling (1980 film)|The Changeling]]'' (1980), ''[[Return to Oz]]'' (1985), ''[[Willow (1988 film)|Willow]]'' (1988) and its [[Willow (TV series)|sequel television series]] (2023), ''[[Fatherland (1994 film)|Fatherland]]'' (1994) and [[Monarch (film)|''Monarch'']] (2000).

Marsh was born and grew up in [[Stoke Newington]], London.<ref name="screenonline"/>

During the 1950s and 1960s, Marsh made many appearances on British and American television, including an episode of ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]'' called "[[The Lonely (The Twilight Zone)|The Lonely]]" (1959), in which she portrayed a lifelike robot; ''[[The Moon and Sixpence (TV movie)|The Moon and Sixpence]]'' (1959) opposite [[Laurence Olivier]] and [[Denholm Elliott]]; ''[[The Wonderful World of Disney]]'' (1961); an episode of the series ''[[Danger Man]]'' (1961) entitled "Name, Date and Place" as Kim Russell, ''[[Gideon's Way]]'' (1965); ''[[I Spy (1965 TV series)|I Spy]]'' (1967); in four episodes of ''[[The Saint (TV series)|The Saint]]'' (1964–1968); and one episode of ''[[UFO (British TV series)|UFO]]'' ("[[Exposed (UFO episode)|Exposed]]" 1970, as Janna). She was also a regular in the ITV series ''[[The Informer (TV series)|The Informer]]'' (1966–67) starring [[Ian Hendry]].

Marsh has appeared several times in the BBC series ''[[Doctor Who]]''. She first appeared alongside [[William Hartnell]] in the 1965 serial ''[[The Crusade (Doctor Who)|The Crusade]]'' as [[Joan of England, Queen of Sicily|Lady Joanna]], the sister of [[Richard I of England|Richard I (The Lionheart)]]. She returned later that year as [[Companion (Doctor Who)|companion]] [[Sara Kingdom]] in 9 episodes of the 12-part serial ''[[The Daleks' Master Plan]]''. Marsh reprised the role in the audio plays ''[[Home Truths (Doctor Who audio)|Home Truths]]'' (2008), ''[[The Drowned World (Doctor Who audio)|The Drowned World]]'' (2009), ''[[The Guardian of the Solar System]]'' (2010), ''[[The Five Companions]]'' (2011), ''[[The Anachronauts]]'' (2012), ''The Light At The End'' (2013), ''An Ordinary Life'' (2014) and ''The Sontarans'' (2016). She also appeared in the 1989 television serial ''[[Battlefield (Doctor Who)|Battlefield]]'' as [[Morgan le Fay|Morgaine]], as well as the 2007 audio play ''[[The Wishing Beast & The Vanity Box|The Wishing Beast]]''. She made an un-billed cameo appearance in the 2013 docudrama about ''Doctor Who'', ''[[An Adventure in Space and Time]]''.

Marsh featured as [[Bertha Mason|Bertha Mason Rochester]] in the [[George C. Scott]]-[[Susannah York]] version of ''[[Jane Eyre]]'', directed by [[Delbert Mann]]. The film was released theatrically in the United Kingdom in 1970 and shown in the United States on [[NBC]] television in 1971.

With [[Eileen Atkins]], Marsh created the British [[period drama]] ''[[Upstairs, Downstairs (1971 TV series)|Upstairs, Downstairs]]'' and played the role of the house [[parlourmaid]] [[List of Upstairs, Downstairs characters#Rose|Rose Buck]] for the duration of the series, from 1971 until 1975. The programme was screened internationally and received numerous awards including two [[BAFTA awards]], two [[Royal Television Society]] awards, eight [[Emmy]]s and a [[Golden Globe]]. Marsh received a Royal Television Society award in 1971 and an [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress - Drama Series|Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress]] for her role in 1975, and was nominated for the same award on three more occasions – 1974, 1976, and (for the show's revival) in 2011. She also received awards from the American Drama Centre and American Drama Critics Circle for the role as well as two Golden Globe Award nominations.

She and Atkins created ''[[The House of Eliott]]'', another television series broadcast between 1991 and 1994. This time, Marsh did not act in the series, but she did write some of the episodes.

[[File:Jean Marsh "9 to 6" (1982 ABC press photo).jpg|thumb|Marsh as Roz Keith in [[9 to 5 (TV series)|''9 to 5'']], 1982]]

Marsh's film credits include the [[Tony Hancock]] film ''[[The Rebel (1961 film)|The Rebel]]'' (1961), ''[[Cleopatra (1963 film)|Cleopatra]]'' (1963) as Octavia, ''[[Unearthly Stranger]]'' (1964), ''[[Charlie Bubbles]]'' (1967), ''The Limbo Line'' (1968), [[Alfred Hitchcock]]'s ''[[Frenzy]]'' (1972),<ref name="screenonline"/> ''[[Dark Places (1973 film)|Dark Places]]'' (1973), ''[[The Eagle Has Landed (film)|The Eagle Has Landed]]'' (1976),<ref name="screenonline"/> ''[[The Changeling (1980 film)|The Changeling]]'' (1980) and the fantasy films ''[[Return to Oz]]'' (1985)<ref name="screenonline"/> and ''[[Willow (1988 film)|Willow]]'' (1988).<ref name="screenonline">{{cite web |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/1399007/index.html |title=Jean Marsh |publisher=[[British Film Institute]]}}</ref> In 1994, she starred in a villain role in the [[Nickelodeon]]/[[Thames Television]] remake of ''[[The Tomorrow People]]''. Her television films include ''[[Goliath Awaits]]'' (1981), ''See China and Die'' (1981), ''[[Master of the Game (miniseries)|Master of the Game]]'' (1984), ''The Corsican Brothers'' (1985), ''A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court'' (1989), ''[[Fatherland (1994 film)|Fatherland]]'' (1994) for which she won a CableACE award for supporting actress, and ''[[The Pale Horse]]'' (1997). From 1982 to 1983, she portrayed the part of Roz Keith in the American sitcom ''[[9 to 5 (TV series)|9 to 5]]''.

Marsh served as the presenter for ''International Animation Festival'', an American public television series featuring award-winning animated short films from around the world. The thirteen-part series was broadcast in 1975 on PBS.<ref>{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of Television Series, Pilots and Specials |last=Terrace |first=Vincent |year=1985 |publisher=BASEline |location=New York |isbn=0918432618 |page=206 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AKlgjBCPPnsC&pg=PA206}}</ref>

From 2000 until 2002, Marsh appeared in ''[[The Ghost Hunter (TV series)|The Ghost Hunter]]''. Her many stage credits included the [[West End theatre|West End]] stage revival of ''[[Boeing Boeing (play)|Boeing Boeing]]'' at the [[Comedy Theatre]] in 2007 and in Peter Hall's production of ''The Portrait of a Lady'' in 2008. She made an appearance in the 2008 BBC adaptation of [[Jane Austen]]'s ''[[Sense and Sensibility (2008 miniseries)|Sense and Sensibility]]''; played the recurring character Lizzie Galbraith alongside [[Joanna Lumley]] as Davina Jackson (the lead character) in Babycow Productions' ''[[Sensitive Skin (British TV series)|Sensitive Skin]]'', which aired on BBC Two in 2005 and 2007. She appeared in BBC Four's ''[[Crooked House (TV series)|Crooked House]]'' in December 2008 in a role written for her by [[Mark Gatiss]].

A three-part revival of ''[[Upstairs Downstairs (2010 TV series)|Upstairs, Downstairs]]'' was commissioned by the BBC with the first episode broadcast on BBC One on 26 December 2010. Marsh reprised her role as Rose Buck, who had returned to London to run an agency for domestic servants after a period spent nursing her mother in Suffolk. Eileen Atkins, who co-created the original series with Marsh, also starred in the revived series. It was set in the same London house as the original ITV series, 165 Eaton Place, resuming in 1936.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} Subsequently, a six-part second series was commissioned, and began transmission in February 2012 with Marsh's character appearing less frequently due to the stroke suffered by the actress.<ref name=stroke/>

Marsh has written several books: ''Fiennders Abbey'', ''The House of Eliott'', and ''Iris''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/ll-acting-forever-says-Jean/story-13214530-detail/story.html |title=I'll keep acting forever |work=[[Gloucestershire Echo]] |date=27 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120925082147/http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/ll-acting-forever-says-Jean/story-13214530-detail/story.html |archive-date=25 September 2012}}</ref>

==Honours==

*''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]'' (1959) Episode: ''[[The Lonely]]'' - Alicia

*''[[Edgar Wallace Mysteries]]'': "[[Face of a Stranger]]" (1964) - Grace Howard

*''[[Doctor Who]]'' (1965) "[[The Crusade (Doctor Who)|The Crusade]]" - [[Joan of England, Queen of Sicily|Joanna]]; (1965)『[[The Daleks’ Master Plan]]』- [[Sara Kingdom]]; (1989) "[[Battlefield (Doctor Who)|Battlefield]]" - [[Morgan le Fay|Morgaine]]

*''[[The Limbo Line]]'' (1968) - Dilys

*''[[A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (film)|A Day in the Death of Joe Egg]]'' (1972) - Mother in Toy Store (uncredited)

*''Goliath Awaits'' (1980) –Dr Goldman

*''[[Willow (1988 film)|Willow]]'' (1988) - Queen Bavmorda

*''[[Sensitive Skin (British TV series)|Sensitive Skin]]'' (2007) - Lizzie Galbraith

*Jean Marsh, ''The House of Eliott'', [[Sidgwick & Jackson]] (November 1993), 978–0283061554; [[St Martin's Press]] (February 1994), {{ISBN|978-0-312-10996-7}}

[[Category:20th-century English actresses]]

[[Category:21st-century English actresses]]

[[Category:Actors from the London Borough of Hackney]]

[[Category:Actresses from London]]

[[Category:Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actress in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award winners]]

[[Category:Television show creators]]

[[Category:People from Stoke Newington]]