Anne Valery ( Firth) (24 February 1926 – 29 April 2013) was an English screenwriter, author and actress noted for co-writing episodes for the BAFTA-nominated drama ''Tenko'' in the early 1980s. The daughter of actress Doriel Paget, she joined the

Auxiliary Territorial Service The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS; often pronounced as an acronym) was the women's branch of the British Army during the Second World War. It was formed on 9 September 1938, initially as a women's voluntary service, and existed until 1 Februa ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and later became part of

Fitzrovia Fitzrovia () is a district of central London, England, near the West End. The eastern part of area is in the London Borough of Camden, and the western in the City of Westminster. It has its roots in the Manor of Tottenham Court, and was urban ...

's literary scene, establishing friendships with several writers. After modelling on the Paris and London catwalks and working as a producer's secretary, Valery began a career in acting in 1949 but was unable to establish a career in this field and turned to presenting on television for the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

and

Associated-Rediffusion Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion London, was the British ITV franchise holder for London and parts of the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 22 September 1955 and 29 July 1968. It was the first ITA franchisee to go on air, ...

. She operated a secondhand shop by the late 1960s and wrote two volumes of autobiography at the encouragement of her partner

Robin Jacques Robin Jacques (27 March 1920 – 18 March 1995) was a British illustrator whose work was published in more than 100 novels and children's books. He is notable for his long collaboration with Ruth Manning-Sanders, illustrating many of her coll ...

. Valery also wrote television scripts for soap operas and her career saw progression when the BBC asked her to write for the drama show ''Angels''. There she met fellow writer

Jill Hyem Jill Hyem (8 January 1937 – 5 June 2015) was a British actor, and radio and television writer. Early life and acting career Jill Hyem was born in 1937 in Putney, London, England, to Hilda (''née'' Gladwell) and Rex, a solicitor, and was raised ...

and the two were commissioned by the BBC to write episodes for ''Tenko''. Valery later wrote the 1986 drama series ''

Ladies in Charge ''Ladies in Charge'' is a British television series which originally aired on ITV in 1986.Maxford p.540 It followed on from a pilot episode that appeared on the ''Storyboard'' anthology series in 1985. Returning from the First World War where th ...

''. She was known as an ardent feminist and was an outspoken member of the

Writers' Guild of Great Britain The Writers' Guild of Great Britain (WGGB), established in 1959, is a trade union for professional writers. It is affiliated with both the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the International Affiliation of Writers Guilds (IAWG). History The un ...

Biography

Early life and education

She was born Anne Firth on 24 February 1926 in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

, London. She was the daughter of singer and actress Doriel Paget while her father Colin was not present in her life. Valery had a dislike of schools; she attended four of them with one being a

finishing school A finishing school focuses on teaching young women social graces and upper-class cultural rites as a preparation for entry into society. The name reflects that it follows on from ordinary school and is intended to complete the education, wit ...

and was incorrectly diagnosed as dyslexic. Just before she turned 18, she joined the

, and was taught commando tactics such as parachute jumping behind enemy lines and twisting a bayonet to cause the maximum amount of injury. Valery later became employed as a secretary for the United States Army before joining the intelligence unit of the British Army. She could not put the skills she learned into practice when she became aware of the

Surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ...

. After the war, Valery became part of the literary

scene and established friendships with several writers. She met the Greek poet

Nanos Valaoritis Ioannis (Nanos) Valaoritis ( el, Ιωάννης (Νάνος) Βαλαωρίτης; 5 July 1921 – 12 September 2019) was a Greek writer, widely published as a poet, novelist and playwright since 1939; his correspondence with George Seferis (''Al ...

and the two married soon after. Valery adopted a derivative version of his surname, and the two rented a flat in

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. She gave birth to a son who died at the age of five and the marriage was later dissolved.

Career

She modelled on the catwalks of Paris and London before finding work as a producer's secretary at the

. Valery's acting career began in 1949 by winning a role in the

Sid Field Sidney Arthur Field (1 April 1904 – 3 February 1950) was an English comedy entertainer who was popular in the 1940s. Early years Field was born in Ladywood, Birmingham, Warwickshire, the son of Albert (a candlemaker) and Bertha (a dressmak ...

comedy ''

Cardboard Cavalier ''Cardboard Cavalier'' is a 1948 British historical comedy film directed by Walter Forde and starring Sid Field, Margaret Lockwood and Jerry Desmonde. It was the last film for Forde and Field. Field died of a heart attack shortly after the film ...

'', and portrayed the mistress of Ascoyne D'Ascoyne (

Alec Guinness Sir Alec Guinness (born Alec Guinness de Cuffe; 2 April 1914 – 5 August 2000) was an English actor. After an early career on the stage, Guinness was featured in several of the Ealing comedies, including ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (194 ...

) in ''

Kind Hearts and Coronets ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' is a 1949 British crime black comedy film. It features Dennis Price, Joan Greenwood, Valerie Hobson and Alec Guinness; Guinness plays nine characters. The plot is loosely based on the novel ''Israel Rank: The Autob ...

'' that same year. She then went to the Rank Charm School and took small roles in films such as ''What the Butler Saw'' and ''King of the Underworld'', ( billed as Anne Valerie), and ''

One Way Out (film) ''One Way Out'' is a 1955 British crime drama film directed by Francis Searle and starring Jill Adams, Eddie Byrne, Lyndon Brook, John Chandos and Arthur Lowe. The art direction was by William Kellner. This second feature was released in the U ...

'', between 1950 and 1955. However, Valery's career in acting was not established, so she gave her attention to presenting on television, working for the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

company

and on afternoon programmes for the BBC. She later worked as an assistant to the editor of ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

s home page and as a mechanic/deckhand on a charter boat operating in the Mediterranean. By the late 1960s, Valery operated a second-hand shop that sold clothes and bric-a-brac in West London's

Portobello Road Portobello Road is a street in the Notting Hill district of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in west London. It runs almost the length of Notting Hill from south to north, roughly parallel with Ladbroke Grove. On Saturdays it is ...

. Her partner

(the brother of the actress

Hattie Jacques Hattie Jacques (; born Josephine Edwina Jaques; 7 February 1922 – 6 October 1980) was an English comedy actress of stage, radio and screen. She is best known as a regular of the ''Carry On'' films, where she typically played strict, no-non ...

) encouraged her to write two volumes of autobiography: ''Baron Von Kodak, Shirley Temple and Me'' (1976) and ''The Edge of Smile'' (1977). Valery became settled as a full-time writer in the mid 1970s by not only writing her autobiography volumes but wrote scripts for the television soaps ''Crossroads'' and ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, '' ...

'' as well as '' The Passing Out Parade'' and '' Nanny Knows Best''. She contributed to the biography of her friend

Quentin Crisp Quentin Crisp (born Denis Charles Pratt; – ) was an English raconteur, whose work in the public eye included a memoir of his life and various media appearances. Before becoming well-known, he was an artist's model, hence the title of ...

, ''The Stately Homo.'' Valery's script for ''The Passing Out Parade'' created issues for the six male directors who told her that women did not speak in that manner and that the drama was considered "too difficult" for early 1970s television. Her career progressed when the BBC asked her to write for the drama show about student nurses ''Angels''. It was during the production of the show that Valery began a friendship with fellow writer

. Valery and Hyem were commissioned by the BBC to write episodes for the BAFTA-nominated drama ''Tenko'' (1981–1985) after the first two episodes had been written by a male. During the writing of ''Tenko'', Valery and Hyem faced opposition for their female points of view from men, including the producer

Ken Riddington Ken Riddington (8 May 1922 – 26 December 2014)Simon Farquha ''The Independent'', 12 March 2015. Some sources give his year of births as 1920. was an English television producer, who worked predominantly in BBC television drama from the 1970s onwa ...

. Riddington, "a wonderful man" according to Valery, had expected the story lines would receive a more "romantic treatment". The year after the final episode of ''Tenko'' was broadcast, she assisted Hyem in writing a feature-length episode, ''Tenko Reunion,'' for which Valery wrote the accompanying novel. Valery later wrote the 1986 drama series ''

'' which was about an employment agency established after World War I to aid women leaving the front lines with their independence.

Other activities and death

Valery was an ardent feminist; she was firm in her political beliefs and was involved in opposition to Greece's military junta. She was vehemently opposed to capital punishment which prompted her to once refuse to disembark from a cruise ship in Los Angeles to protest the local Californian laws. Valery had involvement with the

and served on its council, becoming one of its outspoken members over its traditional views and censorship. She died in London on 29 April 2013. The

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

holds a collection relating to Valery in the library's catalogue. They include her personal papers and photographs relating to her career.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Valery, Anne 1926 births 2013 deaths People from Hampstead 20th-century English actresses English television presenters English television writers English autobiographers English feminists British women television writers Women autobiographers