Louise Jameson

Louise Jameson

Louise Jameson (left) with Janet Dibley (right), May 2009
Born Louise Marion Jameson
(1951-04-20) 20 April 1951
Wanstead, London, England
Residence Tunbridge Wells, Kent
Occupation Actress, drama teacher
Partner(s) David Warwick
Robert Ashby
Children 2
Website www.louisejameson.com

Louise Jameson (born 20 April 1951) is an English actress, with a wide variety of British TV and theatre credits. She is best known for her appearances in British TV series EastEnders, Doctor Who, Bergerac, and Tenko.

Biography

Career

Jameson was born in Wanstead, London. She attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and spent two years with the Royal Shakespeare Company, performing in Romeo and Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew, King Lear, Summerfolk, and Blithe Spirit. In 1995 she appeared in the RSC production of Botho Strauß's The Park. Other stage appearances include the first production of Peter Nichols's Passion Play produced at the Aldwych Theatre, London, in 1981.

She appeared opposite Mike Raven in the low budget British horror film Disciple of Death (1972). Her early TV career highlights included appearances on Emmerdale in 1973 (as Sharon Crossthwaite), as Leela, the leather-clad barbarian warrior companion of the fourth Doctor in Doctor Who (1977–78), and in The Omega Factor (1979) as Dr. Anne Reynolds.

She later had a leading role as Blanche Simmons in the first two series of Tenko, her favourite job,[1] before starring for five years in the late 1980s in Bergerac as Susan Young, Jim Bergerac's girlfriend. In the mid-1980s, she played Tania Braithwaite, Pandora's mother, in both 'The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4' and 'The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole' for Thames Television. In the early 1990s she starred in the two series of Rides, and made numerous one-off appearances in various TV drama series, as well as numerous Doctor Who spin-off projects including the 1993 Children in Need special Dimensions in Time.

In 1998 she began a long run in the hit BBC soap EastEnders as Rosa di Marco, appearing in over 200 episodes over two and a half years until August 2000. More recently she has appeared in episodes of the BBC Scotland soap River City as Viv Roberts, as a guest artist in episodes of Doctors, Holby City and The Bill, and as a regular in Doc Martin.[2]

She continues to reprise the characters of Leela and Anne Reynolds in audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions and has also starred in Sapphire & Steel and Dark Shadows audio dramas for the same company. She has also appeared in documentaries and commentaries accompanying numerous BBC DVD releases of her Doctor Who serials.

Jameson is the subject of MJTV's The Actor Speaks Volume 5, where she discusses herself, her acting career and the various series she has been in.

In 2007, Jameson toured nationally in her one-woman show, Face Value, inspired by her near decision to have a face-lift.[3]

In 2013, Louise starred in the play Gutted by Rikki Beadle-Blair and has been nominated for Best Female Performance at the 2013 Off West End Theatre Awards (Offies). In November 2013 she appeared in the one-off 50th anniversary comedy homage The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot.[4]

In 2016 she toured in Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap" the longest running show in British theatre.

Personal life

She attended the independent Braeside School, Buckhurst Hill.

Jameson was married to Martin Bedford.[5] She is also good friends with her Big Finish Productions co-star Lalla Ward. For many years she has lived in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

Jameson was a regular prison visitor, monitoring prisoners' welfare, during the first few years of her career; and, during the early 1970s, she met Leslie Grantham at Leyhill Prison in Gloucestershire, where he was serving 12 years of a life sentence for murder. She encouraged Grantham to become an actor; and, by 1985, he had secured the role of Den Watts in EastEnders.

Jameson also works as a teacher of drama, directing youth productions of Shakespeare for local festivals.

TV and filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1972 Disciple of Death Betty
1973 Emmerdale Sharon Crossthwaite 4 episodes
1975 Space: 1999 Survivor (uncredited) 1 episode: "Mission of the Darians"
1977–1978 Doctor Who Leela 9 stories (40 episodes)
1979 The Omega Factor Dr. Anne Reynolds 10 episodes
1981–1982 Tenko Blanche Simmons 13 episodes
1985–1990 Bergerac Susan Young 35 episodes
1990–1995 Casualty Janet Tolchard / Judy 2 episodes in total
1991–2004 The Bill Julie Willets / Irene Harris 3 episodes
1992–1993 Rides Janet 10 episodes
1992 My Friend Walker Joan Throckmorton TV movie
1995 Wycliffe Silly Tilly "Wild Oats"
1998–2000 EastEnders Rosa di Marco 210 episodes
2001 Lily Savage's Blankety Blank Herself [6]
2006–2015 Doctors Celeste / Shirley Carter / Joanna Chippington / Andrea Dodson 4 episodes in total
2008 River City Viv Roberts / Viv TV Series; 3 episodes
2011 The Vessel Kim's Mum TV Series; 2 episodes
2011 Doc Martin Eleanor Glasson 5 episodes
2011 Cleaning Up Mrs. Pellman Short
2012 Run for Your Wife Lady in gym class
2012 Holby City Mary Thorne 1 episode: "Fault Lines"
2013 The Dumping Ground Angel 1 episode: "The Truth Is Out There"
2013 Mother Knows Best Stephanie Harper video short
2013 The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot Louise Jameson TV movie
2013 The Tractate Middoth Mary Simpson TV Movie
2014 A Quiet Courage Doreen Short
2014 Toast of London Wendy Nook 1 episode: "Match Fit"
2015 Modern Love Mum (filming)
2015 Crossing Over Angela Winters Short (pre-production)

References

  1. ↑ Barber, Richard (2012-11-16). "Tenko turned us anorexic! Thirty years on, the stars of the ground-breaking women's prison camp drama reveal the toll the series took on their lives off screen". Dailymail.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  2. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 15 September 2013. Retrieved 2013-08-15.
  3. ↑ Good Health. Daily Mail. 27 March 2007
  4. ↑ "The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot", BBC programmes, retrieved 26 November 2013
  5. ↑ Corcoran, Rachel (5 October 2011). "Louise Jameson: My friends say I don't have a man because all I eat is hummus and mackerel!". The Mail on Sunday. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  6. ↑ Lily Savage's Blankety Blank. 6 May 2001. ITV.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/11/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.