Susan Penhaligon

Susan Penhaligon (born 3 July 1949) is a British actress and writer.

Susan Penhaligon
Born	3 July 1949 Manila, Philippines
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1977–present
Spouse(s)	Nicholas Loukes ​ ​ (m. 1971; div. 1972)​ David Munro ​ ​ (m. 1974; div. 1981)​ Duncan Preston ​ ​ (m. 1986; div. 1992)​
Partner(s)	Duncan Preston (since 1997)
Children	1

She is known for her role in the drama series Bouquet of Barbed Wire (1976), and for playing Helen Barker in the sitcom A Fine Romance (1981–1984). She also appeared in the soap opera Emmerdale (2006). Her film appearances include No Sex Please, We're British (1973) and Paul Verhoeven's Soldier of Orange (1977).

Early life and education

Penhaligon was born in Manila but returned with her family to Cornwall, aged 6. She spent her formative years living in St Ives and Falmouth. Aged 11 she was sent to boarding school in Bristol where her acting ambitions were encouraged. She has two brothers and a sister in the USA. After her parents divorced, her father went to live in San Francisco. She is a cousin of the late David Penhaligon, a former Liberal member of parliament in Cornwall.[1]

While training at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art,[2] Penhaligon shared a flat with Peter Hammill; she is mentioned in the lyrics of the Van der Graaf Generator song "Refugees" and the Peter Hammill song "Easy to Slip Away".[3] Tagged the 'British Bardot' in the 1970s, she was described by Clive Aslet in the Daily Telegraph as "the face of the decade".[4]

Acting career

Theatre roles

Penhaligon's first appearance in the theatre was playing Juliet in Romeo and Juliet at the Connaught Theatre Worthing in a two weekly repertory company.[5]

In the West End she appeared in a 1987 production of Three Sisters at the Albery Theatre.[6] In 1982, she played a leading part in The Real Thing at the Strand Theatre, Aldwich (now called the Novello). She appeared in The Maintenance Man at the Comedy Theatre in 1987, and played "Curley’s Wife" in a 1984 production of Of Mice and Men at the now defunct Mermaid Theatre.[7] She has toured the UK extensively, appearing in productions of The Constant Wife (Richmond Theatre, 2004),[8] Mrs. Warren's Profession (Richmond Theatre, 2009),[9] Death Trap (Theatre Royal, Norwich, 2002),[10] Agatha Christie's Verdict (Floral Pavilion Theatre, 2011),[5] Dangerous Obsession with Simon Ward (Theatre Royal, Bath, 1989),[11] and Lord Arthur Saville's Crime by Oscar Wilde (Richmond Theatre, 2005).[12]

She was in Time and the Conways, Lower Depths and The Cherry Orchard, and played a leading part in Arthur Miller's Broken Glass at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds.

In the Edinburgh Festival Fringe she appeared in the premiere of Dario Fo's Abduction Diana and she appeared in a critically acclaimed production of Misery at the King's Head Theatre.

Television roles

Her television credits include Public Eye (1975, as Tuesday Simpson, a lesbian, would-be seductress of Julian Bradley, played by Ronald Lewis), Count Dracula (1977) with Louis Jourdan, Upstairs Downstairs, Tales of the Unexpected, Bergerac, Remington Steele, Wycliffe, Doctor Who, The Taming of the Shrew by the BBC Shakespeare series, Heart of the Country and A Kind of Loving. In A Fine Romance, she played Helen Barker. She has been in three episodes of Doctors and three episodes of Casualty. She also played Jean Hope in UK soap Emmerdale, for a year.[13]

Film roles

Penhaligon had roles in films such as Say Hello to Yesterday (1970), Private Road (1971), Under Milk Wood (1972) as Mae Rose Cottage, No Sex Please, We're British (1973), The Land That Time Forgot (1975), House of Mortal Sin (1976), Nasty Habits (1977), Paul Verhoeven's Soldier of Orange (1977) as a British military officer, The Uncanny (1977), Leopard in the Snow (1978), Patrick (1978), The Masks of Death (1984) and Top Dog (2014). She also played the role of the sole survivor of LANSA Flight 508, Juliane Koepcke in the film Miracles Still Happen (1974), directed by Giuseppe Maria Scotese.

Writing career

Her novel For the Love of Angel, published in 2008 by Truran Books, is set in Cornwall in the 1880s.[14]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1971	Say Hello to Yesterday	Girl on train
1971	Under Milk Wood	Mae Rose Cottage
1971	Private Road	Ann Halpern
1973	No Sex Please, We're British	Penny Hunter
1974	Miracles Still Happen	Juliane Koepcke
1974	The Land That Time Forgot	Lisa Clayton
1976	House of Mortal Sin	Jenny Welch
1977	Nasty Habits	Felicity
1977	The Uncanny	Janet
1977	Soldier of Orange	Susan
1978	Leopard in the Snow	Helen James
1978	Patrick	Kathy Jacquard
1987	People Are the Same the Universe Over	Mother
2008	Say That You Love Me	Laura
2009	Citizen versus Kane	Susan Adamson
2014	Top Dog	Sal
2017	An Unkind Word	Caroline
2021	Long Way Back	Angie

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1970	BBC Play of the Month	Maid	Episode: "The Rivals"
1971	ITV Sunday Night Theatre	Judy	Episode: "Pandora"
1971	Play for Today	Barbara	Episode: "O Fat White Woman"
1971	Upstairs, Downstairs	Mary Stokes	Episode: "A Cry for Help"
1971	Thirty-Minute Theatre	Marjory	Episode: "Jenkins"
1972	Pardon My Genie	Joyce	Episode: "If Opportunity Knocks: I'm Out"
1972	Doctor Who	Lakis	2 episodes
1972	The Visitors	Gisela	All 5 episodes
1972	Country Matters	Ianthe Forrest	Episode: "Craven Arms"
1973	The Regiment	Annie Hassock	Episode: "Troopship"
1973	Late Night Theatre	Barbara	Episode: "Barbara's Wedding"
1973	Once Upon a Time		Episode: "Ishmael"
1973	Love Story	Carol	Episode: "My Brother Peter"
1974	BBC Play of the Month	Isabella	Episode: "The Changeling"
1974	Seven Faces of Woman	Christine	Episode: "Polly Put the Kettle On"
1975	Public Eye	Tuesday Simpson	Episode: "Tuesday Simpson"
1975	Play for Today	Lucy Bagley	Episode: "Brassneck"
1976	Shades of Greene	Julia	Episode: "Mortmain"
1976	Bouquet of Barbed Wire	Prue Sorenson	All 7 episodes
1977	Count Dracula	Lucy Westenra
1978	BBC2 Play of the Week	Secretary	Episode: "Fearless Frank"
1978	Return of the Saint	Emma Bartlett	Episode: "The Imprudent Professor"
1979	The Dick Francis Thriller	Carol Tomes	Episode: "Horsenap"
1980	The Taming of the Shrew	Bianca
1980	Ramp Ahead	Suzy Wilkins
1981-1984	A Fine Romance	Helen	23 episodes
1982	A Kind of Loving	Donna Pennyman	4 episodes
1982	Tales of the Unexpected	W.P.C. Mary Bryan	Episode: "Decoy"
1983		Mary Ashburn	Episode: "Hit and Run"
1983	Heather Ann	Heather Ann Lewis
1984	Remington Steele	Margaret Cable	Episode: "Maltese Steele"
1984	The Masks of Death	Miss Derwent
1987	Heart of the Country	Natalie Harris	All 4 episodes
1989	Bergerac	Ruth Gardiner	Episode: "Natural Enemies"
1991	Trouble in Mind	Julia Charlesworth	All 9 episodes
1992	Casualty	Hattie Kent	Episode: "Act of Faith"
1993	Teenage Health Freak	Jane	Episode: "#2.4"
1994	Wycliffe	Mariah Penrose	Episode: "The Scapegoat"
1997	The Ruth Rendell Mysteries	Beth Fyfield	Episode: "Thornapple"
1999	Junk	Mrs Brogan
2001	Doctors	Carla Halliday	Episode: "Kissing Babies"
2002	A Touch of Frost	Pam Hartley	2 episodes
2003	Casualty	Leila Morrison	Episode: "Getting Through"
2006	Emmerdale	Jean Hope	13 episodes
2010	Doctors	Angela Linkson	Episode: "Double Bogey"
2012	Doctors	Daphne Morris	Episode: "Out Damned Spot"
2013	Casualty	Anne Pitney	Episode: "Rock and a Hard Place"
2016	Doctors	June Collerton	Episode: "Clues to My Heart"
2018	The Dead Room	Joan

References

1. "Cornish actress Susan Penhaligon quits Lib Dems over reforms". Western Morning News. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
2. Catherine Jones (6 May 2011). "Actress Susan Penhaligon on her role in Agatha Christie's Verdict". liverpoolecho. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
3. "Susan Penhaligon". The Argus. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
4. Clive Aslet (29 December 2009). "Susan Penhaligon take note: vanity is worse than a few wrinkles". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
5. Jones, Catherine (6 May 2011). "Actress Susan Penhaligon on her role in Agatha Christie's Verdict". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
6. "Theatre collections: record view". University of Kent. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
7. "Production of Of Mice and Men". Theatricalia. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
8. Munro, David (2004). "Enjoyable, but not the play that Maugham intended". Retrieved 3 October 2014.
9. "Mrs Warren's Profession". 2009. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
10. "Soul & Penhaligon Take Levin's Deathtrap on Tour". 2 January 2002. Archived from the original on 20 October 2014. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
11. "Production of Dangerous Obsession". Retrieved 3 October 2014.
12. Munro, David (2005). "Lord Saville's Crime is to have siphoned Wildw's wit and sparkle". Retrieved 3 October 2014.
13. gethampshire Administrator (1 August 2007). "Charming cast for Camberley panto". gethampshire. Archived from the original on 14 May 2016. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
14. "Truran – The Cornish Publisher". Retrieved 19 September 2014. ISBN 1850222223

External links

• Susan Penhaligon at IMDb
• Aveleyman: Susan Penhaligon