Deddie Davies

Deddie Davies (born Gillian Nancy Davies, 2 March 1938 – 21 December 2016)^[1] was a Welsh character actress.^[2]

Deddie Davies
Born	Gillian Nancy Davies (1938-03-02)2 March 1938 Bridgend, Wales
Died	21 December 2016(2016-12-21) (aged 78) Swansea, Wales
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1967–2016

Biography

Davies was born in Bridgend, Wales.^[2] She trained at RADA and is most familiar to television viewers for comedy roles in a host of series, including The Rag Trade, That's My Boy, Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em and Chance in a Million.^[2][3]

She appeared in non-comedic roles in series such as The Bill, Upstairs, Downstairs, The Forsyte Saga and Grange Hill.^[2] Her film roles include that of Nell Perks in The Railway Children (1970), and The Amazing Mr. Blunden (1972).^[2]

In her later life, Davies was concerned for issues facing the elderly. In May 2007 she had musical success as a member of superannuated pop group The Zimmers. Their cover version of "My Generation" reached number 26 in the UK Singles Chart.^{[citation needed]} In 2008, Davies investigated the quality of life in elderly care facilities by posing as the aunt of a BBC reporter, being admitted to a rest home, and spending five days there.^[4] She recorded her experiences and treatment and concluded that life in many facilities was a "slow death", featuring inactivity, loneliness and minimal interpersonal interaction. Davies's research was reported on BBC Radio 4's Today programme.^[5][6] She became a trustee and recorded a video for UK registered charity Compassion in Care.^[7]

From 2012, she appeared as Marj Brennig in the British TV series Stella.^[8][9]

She died of ovarian cancer on 21 December 2016, aged 78.^[10]

Partial filmography

TV

Year	Title	Character	Original Network	Notes
1967	The Forsyte Saga	Millie	BBC Two	2 episodes
	Vanity Fair	Lady Crawley		2 episodes
1968	Late Night Horror	Yvonne		Episode: "The Kiss of Blood"
1971	Doctor at Large	Mrs. Coates	London Weekend Television	Episode: "Upton Sells Out"
1972	Both Ends Meet	Flo		7 episodes
	Clochemerle	Madame Fouache	BBC Two	7 episodes
1973	Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em	Miss Thomas	BBC One	Episode: "The Hospital Visit"
	The Adventures of Black Beauty	Miss Hudson	London Weekend Television	Episode: "Wild Justice"
1975	My Old Man	Bride	Yorkshire Television	1 episode
	Upstairs, Downstairs	Mrs Tibbitt	London Weekend Television	Episode: "Noblesse Oblige"
1977	Just William	Miss Fairman		Episode: "Waste Paper Please"
1977–78	The Rag Trade	Mabel		22 episodes
1978	Get Some In!	Akela	Thames Television	Episode: "Labrador"
	The Mayor of Casterbridge	Nancy	BBC Two	2 episodes
1981	You're Only Young Twice	Flo	Yorkshire Television	Episode: "Breakfast at Peabody's"
1982	A.J. Wentworth, B.A.	Miss Coombes	Thames Television	4 episodes
	The Gentle Touch	Miss Thing	London Weekend Television	Episode: "One of Those Days"
	Solo	Mrs McNally	BBC One	1 episode
1983	Give Us a Break	Penny		Episode: "When It Rains, It Pours"
	Grange Hill	Cook		1 episode
1984–86	Chance in a Million	Doreen Little	Channel 4[11]	6 episodes
	That's My Boy	Miss Edith Parfitt/Polly Bennett	Yorkshire Television	12 episodes
1985	The Pickwick Papers	Mrs. Cluppins	BBC One	2 episodes
	Titus Andronicus	Nurse	BBC Two	TV Movie [12]
1986	Miss Marple	Mrs. Salisbury	BBC1	Episode: "The Murder at the Vicarage"
1987	C.A.T.S. Eyes	Mrs Best	TVS	Episode: "Country Weekend"
	My Husband and I	Bambi Bamber	Yorkshire Television	15 episodes
	No Place Like Home	Mrs. Dagwood	BBC One	Episode: "Hero"
	The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole	Flapper	Thames Television	1 episode
1989	Forever Green	Rose	London Weekend Television	1 episode
1990	Close to Home	Miss Trible		Episode: "And Then There Was One"
	Jeeves and Wooster	Serving Lady	Granada Television	Episode: "The Purity of the Turf"
	You Rang M'Lord?	Queen of Dalmatia	BBC One	Episode: "Royal Flush"
1991	The Upper Hand	Mrs. Olive	Central	Episode: "Common Evidence"
	Trouble in Mind	Charlotte	London Weekend Television	Episode: "The Chance to Dream"
1992	Covington Cross	Sybil	ABC	Episode: "Blinded Passions"
1992-4	Waiting For God	Sister Sheila	BBC One	4 episode
1994–95	Time After Time	Auntie Dot	London Weekend Television	10 episodes[13]
1995	Coogan's Run	Post Office Barbara	BBC2	Episode: "Handyman For All Seasons"
1997	Casualty	Marjorie	BBC1	Episode: “Monday Bloody Monday”
1997	Cows	Cook	Channel 4	TV Movie [13]
1998	Dangerfield	Mrs. Robinson	BBC One	Episode: "The Last Picture"
	Keeping Mum	Elsie		Episode: "The Picnic"
2001	Bernard's Watch	Agnes Bell	Central	5 episodes
2005	My Hero	Mrs. Osborne	BBC One	Episode: "The First Husband's Club"
	Ultimate Force	Sylvia	ITV	Episode: "Deadlier Than the Male"
2007	Sensitive Skin	Deddie	BBC Two	Episode: "Three Lost Loves" [14]
2009	Midsomer Murders	Mrs Fuller	ITV	Episode: "The Great and The Good"
	The Catherine Tate Show	Gail	BBC Two	1 episode [15]
2011	Land Girls	Miss Betty Ganderton	BBC One	Episode: "Fight the Good Fight"
	White Van Man	Irene	BBC Three	Episode: "The Stand"
2012	The Neighbourhood	TBC	BBC North	Comedy pilot, screened at BBC's Salford Comedy Festival[16]
2013	Whitechapel	Dorothy Cade	ITV	3 episodes
2012–16	Stella	Marj Brennig	Sky One	Series 1–5

Film

Year	Title	Character	Notes
1970	The Railway Children	Nell Perks
1972	The Amazing Mr Blunden	Miss Meakin	[17]
1986	The Canterville Ghost	Aunt Caroline	[18]
1988	Consuming Passions	Mrs Coot
1990	The Fool	TBC
1997	Food of Love	Village Woman
2010	Bad Night for the Blues	Dorothy	Short film
2011	Swinging with the Finkels	Older woman
2014	Pride	Old Lady

References

1. Hayward, Anthony (2 January 2017). "Deddie Davies obituary". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
2. "Railway Children actor Deddie Davies dies aged 78". The Guardian. 21 December 2016. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
3. Eddie Pedder (1985). Who's Who on Television, 3rd Edition. Michael Joseph. ISBN 0-907965-31-8.
4. "BBC NEWS | UK | Care home life is 'slow death'". BBC. 4 June 2008. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
5. Ceci, Christine (2012). Perspectives on Care at Home for Older People. New York: Routledge. p. 39.
6. "BBC NEWS | UK | Deddie Davies". BBC. 4 June 2008. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
7. "Videos | Compassion in Care". Compassionincare.com. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
8. "Cast List - TV Guide UK TV Listings". Archived from the original on 24 November 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
9. Hayward, Anthony (2 January 2017). "Deddie Davies obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
10. Williams, Kathryn (21 December 2016). "Stella actress Deddie Davies dies at the age of 78". Walesonline. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
11. Blethyn, Brenda; Callow, Simon (1 January 2013), Chance in a million: the complete series., OCLC 862848950
12. Howell, Jane; Sutton, Shaun; Ranson, Malcolm; Simpson, Dudley George; Lavers, Colin; Anthony, Chick; Wilders, John; Burrough, Tony; Davies-Prowles, Paul (1 January 1984). Titus Andronicus. New York, N.Y.: Ambrose Video Publishing.
13. Perry, Christopher (2015). The British Television Pilot Episodes Research Guide 1936–2015. Lulu. p. 230.
14. "Three Lost Loves, Series 2, Sensitive Skin – BBC Two". BBC. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
15. "Nan's Christmas Carol, The Catherine Tate Show – BBC Two". BBC. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
16. "BBC – BBC Comedy presents four comedy pilots at Salford Sitcom Showcase – Media Centre". BBC. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
17. Levinson, Barry; Jeffries, Lionel; Shingleton, Wilfrid; Darvas, Teddy; Fisher, Gerry; Bernstein, Elmer; Smith, Roy; Graves, Bryan; Moore, Pat (1 January 1972), The amazing Mr. Blunden, Hemdale Group, OCLC 422869247
18. Sherman, Fraser (2000). Cyborgs, Santa Claus and Satan: Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films Made for Television. North Carolina, U.S.: MacFarland. p. 31.

External links

• Deddie Davies at IMDb