Rosemary Leach

Rosemary Anne Leach (18 December 1935 – 21 October 2017) was a British stage, television and film actress.[3] She won the 1982 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a New Play for 84, Charing Cross Road and was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her roles in the films That'll Be the Day (1973) and A Room with a View (1986).[4][5]

Rosemary Leach
Photo: Geoff Shields, 1981
Born	Rosemary Anne Leach[1] 18 December 1935 Much Wenlock, Shropshire, England
Died	21 October 2017 (aged 81)[2] London, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1960–2017
Spouse(s)	Colin Starkey ​ ​ (m. 1981)​

She appeared in several TV mini-series, including Germinal (1970), The Jewel in the Crown (1984), The Charmer (1987), The Buccaneers (1995) and Berkeley Square (1998), and had a recurring role on the sitcom My Family (2003–07).[6][7]

Early life

Leach was born at Much Wenlock, Shropshire.[3] Her parents were teachers, related to the social anthropologist Edmund Leach, she attended grammar school and RADA.[8] After appearing in repertory theatres and the Old Vic she became well known to UK TV viewers between 1965 and 1969 for playing Susan Wheldon, the mistress of building tycoon John Wilder (Patrick Wymark) in the TV boardroom drama The Power Game.[9]

Career

In 1971 she appeared as Laurie Lee's mother in a BBC adaptation of Cider with Rosie.

In 1973, she played Aldonza/Dulcinea in the BBC production of Don Quixote (retitled The Adventures of Don Quixote), starring Rex Harrison and Frank Finlay.[10] In 1978, she played Queen Victoria in the four-part TV edition of Disraeli. In 1981, she played Emilia opposite Bob Hoskins's Iago in the BBC Shakespeare production of Othello.[11]

In 1982, she played Aunt Fenny in The Jewel in the Crown and 1986 in a Jack Rosenthal British television Christmas play Day To Remember.[12][13] She played a leading role as smitten Joan Plumleigh-Bruce in the six-part ITV 1987 production of The Charmer which starred Nigel Havers.[14]

Her film roles included David Essex's mother in That'll Be the Day (1973), Ghost in the Noonday Sun (1973), the TV remake of Brief Encounter (1974), S.O.S. Titanic (1979), and a voice role in the animated film of The Plague Dogs (1982).[3]

In 1987, she was nominated for BAFTA's Best Supporting Actress for A Room with a View (1985).[6] In 1992, Leach starred in An Ungentlemanly Act, a BBC television film about the first days of the invasion of the Falkland Islands in 1982, portraying the real-life Lady Mavis Hunt, wife of the islands' then governor, Sir Rex Hunt.[15] In 1995, Leach participated in the popular BBC miniseries The Buccaneers a five-part television adaptation of Edith Wharton's unfinished novel. Leach appeared as Selina Marable, Marchioness of Brightlingsea.[16]

Leach played the part of Anna in BBC Radio 4's No Commitments, and Susan Harper's mother Grace in My Family.[17][18] She made a guest appearance as 'Bessie' on Waterloo Road (the TV series), in Series 3 Spring Term. Since 1994, she has made occasional appearances in The Archers as Ellen Rogers, the ex-pat aunt of Nigel Pargetter.[19] She portrayed Miss Twitterton in the Radio 4 adaptation of the Lord Peter Wimsey story Busman's Honeymoon, first broadcast in 1983.[20]

In 2001, she played a leading role in Destroying Angel, an episode of Midsomer Murders.[21] She played Queen Elizabeth II three times: in the 2002 television movie Prince William; in a 2006 updated edition of The Afternoon Play entitled Tea with Betty; and in 2009's Margaret.[9] She played "Miss Plum" in an episode of Heartbeat called "Strangers on a Train" in 2004.[22]

Death

Leach died in a London hospital, aged 81, in 2017 following a short but undisclosed illness.[2]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1973	That'll Be the Day	Mrs. MacLaine
1973	Ghost in the Noonday Sun	Kate
1979	A Question of Faith
1981	Turtle Diary	Mrs. Charlie Inchcliff
1982	The Plague Dogs	Vera	Voice
1985	A Room with a View	Mrs. Honeychurch
1985	Ha-Kala	Esther	Also known as The 17th Bride
1990	The Children	Miss Scope
1993	The Mystery of Edwin Drood	Mrs. Tope
1993	The Hawk	Mrs. Marsh
1998	Bloodlines: Legacy of a Lord	Lady Osborne
1999	Whatever Happened to Harold Smith?	Harold's Mother
2000	Breathtaking	Mrs. Henshaw
2002	The Baroness and the Pig	Margaret
2010	Mission London	Miss Cunningham
2011	The Great Ghost Rescue	The Queen
2012	May I Kill U?	Mags

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1962–63	Z-Cars	Mrs Outram/Ann Brown	2 episodes
1964	Edgar Wallace Mysteries	Mary Bell	"Episode: Face of a Stranger"
1964	Gideon's Way	Marion Grove	"Episode: The Lady-Killer"
1967–70	No – That's Me Over Here!	Rosemary	25 episodes
1970	The Roads to Freedom	Marcelle	8 episodes
1972	Cider with Rosie	Mother	TV film
1973	BBC Play of the Month		Episode: The Adventures of Don Quixote
1974	The Prince of Denmark	Laura	6 episodes
1974	Brief Encounter	Mrs Gaines	TV film
1975	Sadie its cold outside (tv series)	Sadie	6 episodes
1978–80	Life Begins at Forty (1978 TV series)	Katy Bunting	ITV sitcom, 2 series 14 episodes
1984	The Jewel in the Crown	Aunt Fenny	TV mini-series, 7 episodes
1987	The Charmer	Joan Plumleigh-Bruce	TV mini-series, 6 episodes
1989	Summer's Lease	Nancy Leadbetter	4 episodes
1995	The Buccaneers	Lady Brightlingsea	5 episodes
	The Tomorrow People	Gladys Toms	5 episodes
1989	The Winslow Boy	Violet	BBC Playhouse
1998	Berkeley Square	Nanny Collins	10 episodes
2000–05	Doctors	Josephine Barker/Meg Carpenter	2 episodes
2001	Midsomer Murders	Evelyn Pope	Episode: Destroying Angel
2003–07	My Family	Grace	6 episodes
2004	Holby City	Barbara Rush	Episode: One More Chance
2004–05	Heartbeat	Dorothy Plum	2 episodes
2006	The Afternoon Play	HM the Queen	Episode: Tea with Betty
2007	Casualty	Miranda Watts	Episode: Strangers When We Meet
2009	Margaret	Queen Elizabeth II	TV film

Radio plays

• Shirley Gee: Moonshine (1977)

PENNY in "Love's Executioner" in the series TRUE ENCOUNTERS with Henry Goodman and Ben Daniels directed by John Taylor, a Fiction Factory production for BBC Radio 4. (1996)

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref
1971	BAFTA TV Award	Best Actress	Germinal / The Roads to Freedom	Nominated	[23]
1972	BAFTA TV Award	Best Actress	ITV Playhouse / Cider with Rosie	Nominated
1974	BAFTA TV Award	Best Actress	The Adventures of Don Quixote	Nominated
1974	BAFTA Film Award	Best Supporting Actress	That'll Be the Day	Nominated	[5]
1977	Olivier Award	Best Actress in a New Play	Just Between Ourselves	Nominated
1982	Olivier Award	Best Actress in a New Play	84 Charing Cross Road	Won
1987	BAFTA Film Award	Best Supporting Actress	A Room with a View	Nominated

References

1. "Index entry". FreeBMD. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
2. "Rosemary Leach, the Room With a View star, dies aged 81". The Daily Telegraph. 22 October 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
3. "Rosemary Leach". British Film Institute. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
4. "Olivier Winners 1982". Society of London Theatre. 1982. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
5. "Rosemary Leach". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. 23 October 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
6. "Rosemary Leach". AllMovie. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
7. Quinn, Michael (1 November 2017). "Obituary: Rosemary Leach". The Stage. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
8. Hayward, Anthony (27 October 2017). "Rosemary Leach: 'A Room With A View' actor whose roles spanned ages, genres and social divides". The Independent. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
9. Coveney, Michael (22 October 2017). "Rosemary Leach obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
10. "The Adventures of Don Quixote (1973)". British Film Institute.
11. "Othello (1981)". British Film Institute.
12. "BFI Screenonline: Jewel in the Crown, The (1984) Credits". screenonline.org.uk.
13. "Day to Remember (1986)". British Film Institute.
14. "..: The Charmer :." britishdrama.org.uk.
15. "An Ungentlemanly Act (1992) – - Cast and Crew". AllMovie.
16. "The Buccaneers Part Five Plunder (1995)". British Film Institute.
17. "BBC Radio 4 Extra – No Commitments, Series 13, Blue Rabbits". BBC Radio 4.
18. "Actress Leach dies after 'short illness'". BBC News. 22 October 2017.
19. "BBC Radio 4 – The Archers – Ellen Rogers". BBC Radio 4.
20. "BBC Radio 4 Extra – Wimsey, Busman's Honeymoon, The Mysteries of Married Life". BBC Radio 4.
21. "Midsomer Murders (a guide)". Epguides.com. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
22. "Strangers on a Train (2004)". British Film Institute.
23. "BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org.

External links

• Rosemary Leach at IMDb
• Rosemary Leach profile, Aveleyman.com