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Jean Marsh plays a ghostly amalgamation of Henry VIII's past wives, visiting the sickly Monarch shortly before his death.

Trivia

Jean Marsh

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  • Co-created (with actress Eileen Atkins), her most memorable series Upstairs, Downstairs (1971) which ran from 1971 to 1975. The two actresses later co-created The House of Eliott (1991) for BBC TV.
  • She was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2012 Queen's Birthday Honours List for her services to drama.
  • A cabaret singer and photo model in her early years while studying acting and mime.
  • Suffered a stroke and minor heart attack in 2011, causing her to miss much of the second series of the revival of Upstairs Downstairs (2010).
  • Along with Harold Innocent and Terence de Marney, she is one of only three actors to appear in both Doctor Who (1963) and The Twilight Zone (1959).
  • She played two different versions of Morgan Le Fay, the half-sister of King Arthur, in 1989: Morgana in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1989) and Morgaine in Battlefield: Part One (1989).
  • She was partially paralised as a child so her parents sent her to a stage school thinking that dancing would strengthen her muscles.
  • Along with Lalla Ward, she is one of two actresses to play a companion in Doctor Who (1963) who was once married to an actor who played the Doctor. She portrayed the short-lived companion Sara Kingdom from December 1965 to January 1966 in the William Hartnell serial "The Daleks' Master Plan". Prior to the series' creation, she was married to Jon Pertwee from 1955 to 1960, who later played the Third Doctor on the series.
  • Spent 5 years living and working in America.
  • Her father was an outdoor maintenance man and printer's assistant. Her mother was a bar employee and dresser for the theatre.
  • Voted for best actress for Battlefield by Readers of Doctor Who Magazine.
  • Daughter of Henry Charles John Marsh and Emmeline Susannah Nightingale Poppy Bexley.
  • Sister of Yvonne Marsh.
  • Born on the same date as Sydney Pollack.
  • She lived in Bray, Berkshire for many years before moving to Bermondsey, south London in 2006.
  • Marsh wrote several books: Fiennders Abbey, The House of Eliott, and Iris.
  • Upon the passing of William Russell in 2024, she became the oldest living actor/actress to play a Dr Who companion.
  • At 16 played Prince Peko in panto at Bournemouth.
  • As a child she suffered from Bell's palsy. Her parents sent her to a dancing school, hoping that exercise would make her stronger.
  • Marsh studied at the Aida Foster Theatre School. She danced in the West End in a Christmas show and made her acting debut opposite Sonnie Hale in the play 'Pardon My Claws', in which she played a woman who becomes a cat.
  • Died less than two weeks after "Willow" costar, Val Kilmer.

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