Alethea Charlton

Alethea Charlton
Born	Alethea Blow Charlton 9 August 1931 Middlesbrough, North Riding of Yorkshire, England
Died	6 May 1976 (aged 44) Chelsea, London, England
Cause of death	malignant melanoma
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1961 - 1976

Alethea Blow Charlton (9 August 1931 – 6 May 1976) was a British actress.

Life

She was born in Middlesbrough, North Riding of Yorkshire, England, and attended Ripon High School and the Northern Theatre School.^[1] After working in repertory for a few years in Yorkshire, she moved to London in 1960 before touring American universities as a member of a group.^[1] Alethea's family history was traced by people investigating the Naylor family history. The report indicates that she was descended from a line of people with the surname Charlton, as well as Blow, Dickerson, Naylor and Heyes.^[2]

Acting career

Charlton was a cast member in episodes two, three and four of the first ever Doctor Who serial (An Unearthly Child) broadcast in late 1963, as a cavewoman called Hur. She returned playing the character Edith in the serial The Time Meddler in 1965.

Her other TV credits include: Z-Cars, Follyfoot, The Borderers, Doomwatch, Out of the Unknown, Upstairs, Downstairs and a three-year recurring role in the Granada Television drama Sam.^[3]

Death

She died of a malignant melanoma at the age of 44.^[4] Her last known acting role was in the soap opera The Cedar Tree, which was aired posthumously.

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role	Episodes
1961	Deadline Midnight	Objector	Season 3, Episode 9: "Why George Brown Hanged"
1962	Silent Evidence	Sister Cook	Season 1, Episode 6: "Prophet of Truth"
1962-63 1965 1969-71	Z-Cars	Vicky Carron Millie Lovegrove Mrs. Rosser Margaret Thomson Mary Smith Fran Rachel Edmunds	Season 1, Episode 22: ''Incident Reported'' Season 2, Episode 24: ''Follow My Leader'' Season 4, Episode 24: ''The Long Spoon'' Season 5, Episode 11: ''But the Crying...'' Season 6: (6 episodes)
1963 1965	Doctor Who	Hur Edith	Season 1, An Unearthly Child (3 episodes) Season 2, The Time Meddler (4 episodes)
1964	Sergeant Cork	Rose	Season 1, Episode 27: "The Case of the Medicine Man"
	The Sleeper	Ilina	TV Movie
	The Villains	Mary Bates	Season 3, Episode 1: ''Bent''
	The Indian Tales of Rudyard Kipling	Mrs. Bent	Season 1, Episode 23: ''A Second-Rate Woman''
1964 1965	Cluff	Miriam Bateson Liz Meller	Season 1, Episode 5: ''The Daughter in Law'' Season 2. Episode 13: ''The Village Constable''
1964 1967	Armchair Theatre	Unknown
1965	Sherlock Holmes	Mrs. Rucastle	Season 1, Episode 3: "The Copper Beeches"
1966	The Woman in White	Marian Halcombe	Season 1, (6 episodes)
1966 1969	The Wednesday Play	Elizabeth Delorea Sweeting	Season 1, Episode 51: ''A Game, Like, Only A Game Season 1, Episode 149: ''The Mark II Wife''
1966 1970 1971 1972	Thirty-Minute Theatre	Margot Winters Younger sister Cynthia Holmes Mrs. Runca	Season 2, Episode 6: ''Play to Win'' Season 6, Episode 3: ''Did the Nanny Come From Bergen?'' Season 6, Episode 12: ''Waugh on Crime: In Which Inspector Waugh Plays Cops and Robbers'' Season 7, Episode 19: ''The Penthouse Apartment''
1967	Sir Arthur Conan Doyle	Anastasia	Season 1, Episode 2: ''The Croxley Master''
	Out of Town Theatre	Sister Ursula	Season 1, Episode 5: '' A Nun's Tale''
	The Revenue Men	Janice Brent	Season 2, Episode 12: ''Fox in the High Street''
	ITV Playhouse	Madge	Season 1, Episode 2: "They Said Let's Live Together"
	Softly Softly	Mrs. Forbes	Season 3, Episode 9: ''The Hunt''
	Emergency-Ward 10	Renee	Season 3, Episode 8: "A Cry for Help"
1968 1969	The Expert	Alice Simpson Pat Elliot	Season 1, Episode 7: ''Nobody's Going to Hurt You'' Season 2, Episode 12: ''Do Not Go Gentle''
1968 1971	Public Eye	Maureen Judy Marchmont	Season 3, Episode 8: ''Honesty Is the Best Policy - But Who Can Afford the Premiums?'' Season 5, Episode 5: ''The Beater and the Game''
1969	The Gold Robbers	Fay Hartford	Season 1, Episode 2: ''Grounded''
	Detective	Harriet Ward	Season 3, Episode 7: ''Elimination Round''
	Paul Temple	Enid Bray	Season 1, Episode 5: ''The Man Who Wasn't There"
1970	Hardy Heating Company Ltd	Jean Wilkins	Season 1: (6 episodes)
	Manhunt	Helene	Season 1, Episode 20: ''Machine''
	Special Branch	Brenda Clifford	Season 2, Episode 7: ''Not to be Trusted''
	Ryan International	Unknown	Season 1, Episode 8: ''The Muck Raker''
	Menace	Alice Campbell	Season 1, Episode 6: ''Man with a Mission
1971	Out of the Unknown	Ann Meredith	Season 4, Episode 3: ''This Body is Mine''
	Trial	Julia Samuels	Season 1, Episode 4: '' On The Evidence You Will Hear''
	Upstairs, Downstairs	Enid	Season 1, Episode 3: "Board Wages"
	The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes	Doris Pratt	Season 1, Episode 11: "The Assyrian Rejuvenator"
1971 1972	Play for Today	Miss. Rone Anne	Season 2, Episode 4: ''O Fat White Woman'' Season 3, Episode 8: ''The Bankrupt''
1972	Six Days of Justice	Molly Foster	Season 1, Episode 5: ''With Intent to Deceive''
	The Lotus Eaters	Monica Turton	Season 1, Episode 6: '' A Tiger on Bristol Street''
1973	Thriller	Mrs. Oxhey	Season 1, Episode 3: ''Someone at the Top of the Stairs''
	Away From It All	Alice	Season 1, Episode 6, ''The Summer House''
	Follyfoot	Phyllis Weatherby	Season 3, Episode 10: ''The Helping Hand''
1973-75	Sam	Ethel Barraclough	Season 1: (13 episodes) Season 2: (13 episodes) Season 3: (13 episodes)
1974	Crown Court	Betty Tring	Season 3, Episode 112: ''Strange Past: Part 1''
1976	Big Boy Now!	Marjorie Marchant	Season 1, Episode 7: ''Staff Relations''
	The Cedar Tree	Mrs. Whickham	Season 1: (2 episodes)

References

1. Kenneth Passingham "How Alethea Sees Herself: I Want the Be Bawdy, Brassy and Beautiful", TV Times, 12–18 July 1975, p.48-49
2. Knottynaylor - Charlton connection
3. Aveleyman - Alethea Charlton
4. IMDb - Alethea Charlton

External links

• Alethea Charlton at the Internet Movie Database