Jean Marsh

Infobox actor


imagesize = 150px
name = Jean Marsh
birthname = Jean Lyndsey Torren Marsh
birthdate = birth date and age|1934|7|1|df=yes
location = Stoke Newington, London, England
deathdate =
location =
spouse = Jon Pertwee (1955-60)
emmyawards = Outstanding Lead Actress - Drama Series
1975 "Upstairs, Downstairs"

Jean Lyndsey Torren Marsh (born 1 July 1934) is a Golden Globe-nominated English actress and writer, who is perhaps best known for co-creating the British period drama "Upstairs, Downstairs" with Eileen Atkins. She also portrayed house parlourmaid Rose Buck in the same series. Marsh and Atkins also co-created the 1991 television series "The House of Eliott". Marsh has had several film appearances, including playing the primary villainess in both the popular fantasy films "Return to Oz" (1985) and "Willow" (1988).

Marsh was born in Stoke Newington, London, England, the daughter of Emmeline Susannah Nightingale Poppy (née Bexley), a bar employee and dresser for the theatre, and Henry Charles John Marsh, an outdoor maintenance person and printer's assistant. [ [http://www.filmreference.com/film/95/Jean-Marsh.html Jean Marsh Biography (1934-) ] ]

Marsh made many appearances on British and American television programmes in the 1950s and 1960s, including "The Twilight Zone" (in a memorable episode in which she played a prisoner's robotic companion) and "UFO". In the early '70s, she hosted the short-lived "International Animation Festival" on PBS. She also had a role as the office spy, Roz in the failed television series based on the movie of the same name, "9 to 5" as well as an appearance in "Hawaii Five-0" ("The Miracle Man" playing Sister Harmony).

She was once married to Jon Pertwee, the third actor to play the character of Doctor on the television series "Doctor Who". Marsh herself appeared three times in the series, both before and after Pertwee's era, playing different characters, including the First Doctor's companion Sara Kingdom. Her part of Morgaine in the serial "Battlefield" is similar to her roles in the above-mentioned fantasy films. In the 1990s, she starred in a villain role in the Nickelodeon re-make of "The Tomorrow People".

In 2000, Marsh had a starring role in the CBBC drama "The Ghost Hunter", as the evil Mrs Croker. "The Ghost Hunter" ran for three series from 2000–2002. Marsh also made an appearance in the "Blue Peter" Quest in 2003 as the villain, Stryker. As of October 2007, Marsh was again playing the part of a maidservant, this time playing the housekeeper Bertha on the London West End stage in a revival of "Boeing Boeing" at the Comedy Theatre. She also made an appearance in the 2007 BBC adaptation of Jane Austen's "Sense and Sensibility", playing the Dowager Mrs Ferrars.

Marsh lives in Boxford, Berkshire.

References

External links

*imdb|0550577
* [http://www.waltdisneysreturntooz.com/Jean.htm Jean Marsh at ReturntoOz.com]