Angela Browne, British actress
a.w.dace
the late 1950s and the 1960s. Pin-up good looks helped her secure roles in
many television serials as well as work as a regular panellist on the
television quiz show Tell the Truth, but she went on to show her skill and
range on the London stage.
Born in Weybridge, Surrey, Angela Browne showed both appetite and ability
for a per- forming career from an early age, and at just 13 she left her
convent school to attend the Colne Ritman Drama School. At 17 she won a
scholarship to RADA, where her contemporaries in a golden age included
Albert Finney, Tom Courtney, Peter O'Toole, Richard Briers and Peter Bowles.
As a RADA prizewinner she moved straight into repertory at Worthing, one of
the most highly regarded local companies in the country. There she worked
with other young actors, including Edward Petherbridge and Ian Holm, as well
as seasoned performers such as Beryl Reid, before continuing her stage
education in rep at York and Scarborough. In 1958 she moved into the West
End, winning both critical and popular acclaim in productions including The
Marriage Go-Round with John Clements and Kay Hammond, The Bride Comes Back
with Cicely Courtnedge and Wolf's Clothing with Derek Farr and Muriel
Pavlow.
By the turn of the decade she was one of the most sought after actresses on
the London stage, and her beauty had also come to the notice of television
and film producers. It was while filming the spy series The Dark Island in
the Hebrides with Robert Hardy that she met her future husband, Francis
Matthews, whose girlfriend she played in the series. She came back from
Scotland engaged, and in 1963 their glamorous showbiz wedding made the front
pages of some of the Sunday newspapers. From then on, her family al- ways
came first - she turned down Peter Hall's offer of Strindberg's Miss Julie
to go on honeymoon - and within two years she had two sons.
While coping with a young family, she found it easier to switch her work to
guest appearances in the major television series of the day, many of which
now enjoy cult status, including Dangerman, Court Martial, Man in a
Suitcase, The Saint and The Avengers. Her role as No 86 in "A Change of
Mind", an episode of The Prisoner, earned her the devotion of fans of the
series to this day - along with many invitations to attend their
conventions.
During this time she also made two movies: appearing as the love interest
with Norman Wisdom in Press for Time, a satire on local newspaper life, and
in Salome.
During the 1970s she managed to make a graceful transition into early middle
age, which many glamorous actresses find difficult, thanks to her natural
ability as a character actress and her strong comic touch. For some
auditions she was even known to dress down, disguising her beauty behind
severe hair arrangements, unstylish glasses and clothes. As a result she
enjoyed more interesting roles, which never dried up.
Over the next few years she showed her range by taking on plays as different
as Coward's Present Laughter, Ibsen's Wild Duck, several Ray Cooney farces,
Ayckbourn's Absurd Person Singular and Sheridan Morley's Noel and Gertie,
about the life and work of Noël Coward and Gertrude Lawrence. In the last
two, she worked alongside her husband, and throughout her career it was
always important to have family close by; she never worked far from her
Esher home for long. During this period she was also developing her career
on television: guest roles in popular series including Upstairs Downstairs,
Callan, Bergerac and Sherlock Holmes were complemented by leading
performances in serials such as Brat Farrar and Kizzy.
Her part as a drunken, morally challenged nouveau-riche wife in the serial
Chelworth proved to be her last major role, and 12 years ago she gave up
acting altogether, devoting herself to an increasingly strong Christian
faith. She devoted the rest of her life to her family and to charity work.
She is survived by husband and their three sons, one of whom, Damien, is
currently playing in The Woman in Black in the West End.
Angela Browne, actress, was born on June 14, 1938. She died, after a short
illness, on June 20, 2001, aged 63.
MadCow57
All British stars have been in movies with Robert Hardy, mainly because he's in
every British movie. Or so it seems.
lynn paden
news:20010625182323...@ng-fn1.aol.com...
hope they all didn't marry him.
jamison
MadCow57
he's in
> every British movie. Or so it seems.
>
>>hope they all didn't marry him.<< -- Lynn Paden
I thought he wasn't "the marrying kind" - somebody please correct me if I'm
wrong.
a.w.dace
He was married for many years and then got divorced - for what reason I
don't know but it was a long marriage.