Denise Bryer (5 January 1928 – 16 October 2021) was an English actress, known for her

voice The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production in ...

roles on television and radio.

Career

Best remembered in her UK homeland for her work on the

Gerry Anderson Gerald Alexander Anderson (; 14 April 1929 – 26 December 2012) was an English television and film producer, director, writer and occasional voice artist. He remains famous for his futuristic television programmes, especially his 1960s produ ...

series, ''

Terrahawks ''Gerry Anderson & Christopher Burr's Terrahawks'', usually referred to simply as ''Terrahawks'', is a 1980s British science fiction television series produced by Anderson Burr Pictures for London Weekend Television and created by the product ...

'', where she voiced both the main villain Zelda and the heroic Capt. Mary Falconer, Bryer became well known in the United States when she voiced

Billina Billina is a fictional character in the classic children's series of Oz books by American author L. Frank Baum. She is introduced in ''Ozma of Oz'' (1907). Jack Snow, ''Who's Who in Oz'', Chicago, Reilly & Lee, 1954; New York, Peter Bedrick Book ...

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

's 1985 film ''

Return to Oz ''Return to Oz'' is a 1985 dark fantasy film released by Walt Disney Pictures, co-written and directed by Walter Murch. It stars Nicol Williamson, Jean Marsh, Piper Laurie, and Fairuza Balk as Dorothy Gale in her first screen role. The film is an ...

'', as well as The Junk Lady in the 1986 movie ''Labyrinth'', and many other films. In addition to her work voice acting in film and television, she worked extensively on UK radio and children's recordings. Bryer first came to public attention when she voiced Twizzle in

's ''

The Adventures of Twizzle ''The Adventures of Twizzle'' is a television show produced by AP Films and Gerry Anderson. Conceived by author Roberta Leigh, later a co-producer, the children's show premiered in 1957. The show follows a young boy named Twizzle and his compa ...

'' and would go on to voice in Anderson's later series ''

Four Feather Falls ''Four Feather Falls'' is a British television programme, the third puppet TV show produced by Gerry Anderson for Granada Television (now ITV Granada). It was based on an idea by Barry Gray, who also wrote the show's music. The series was the ...

'' as Ma Jones and Little Jake. She also voiced Kiki The Frog in ''

Hector's House ''Hector's House'' (French ''La Maison de Toutou'') is a French children's television series using glove puppets. It was first broadcast in France on 1ère chaine on 27 October 1966 and ran over seven series and 78 episodes. It was re-voiced in ...

'' and Noddy on the eponymous television show between 1955 till 1969 alongside commercials for Kellogg's Ricicles and audio adaptations. She dubbed the voice of Commander Makara in the Japanese puppet series '' Star Fleet'' around the same time as ''Terrahawks''. In Big Finish's

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

audio dramas ''

The Reaping ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' and '' The Gathering'', she provided the voice of Dominique Van Gyseghem.

Radio

Bryer featured in ''

Eurydice Eurydice (; Ancient Greek: Εὐρυδίκη 'wide justice') was a character in Greek mythology and the Auloniad wife of Orpheus, who tried to bring her back from the dead with his enchanting music. Etymology Several meanings for the name ...

'', a 1951 BBC Radio adaptation of a play by

Jean Anouilh Jean Marie Lucien Pierre Anouilh (; 23 June 1910 – 3 October 1987) was a French dramatist whose career spanned five decades. Though his work ranged from high drama to absurdist farce, Anouilh is best known for his 1944 play ''Antigone'', an ad ...

. The cast included

Paul Scofield David Paul Scofield (21 January 1922 – 19 March 2008) was a British actor. During a six-decade career, Scofield achieved the US Triple Crown of Acting, winning an Academy Awards, Academy Award, Emmy Award, Emmy, and Tony Award, Tony for his ...

and Sebastian Cabot. In 1954, she appeared in ''

Zuleika Dobson ''Zuleika Dobson'', full title ''Zuleika Dobson, or, an Oxford love story'', is the only novel by English essayist Max Beerbohm, a satire of undergraduate life at Oxford published in 1911. It includes the famous line "Death cancels all engageme ...

'' by

Max Beerbohm Sir Henry Maximilian Beerbohm (24 August 1872 – 20 May 1956) was an English essayist, parodist and caricaturist under the signature Max. He first became known in the 1890s as a dandy and a humorist. He was the drama critic for the '' Saturday ...

, aired on the BBC Third Programme, with

Michael Hordern Sir Michael Murray Hordern CBE (3 October 19112 May 1995)Morley, Sheridan"Hordern, Michael Murray (1911–1995)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, online edition, May 2009, accessed 22 July 2015 was ...

Recordings

Bryer also starred in or narrated several of the stories in the ''

Tale Spinners for Children Tale Spinners for Children was a series of stories and novels adapted for young audiences on vinyl records in the early 1960s. They included a collection of old fairy tales, folklore, literary classics such as ''Don Quixote'' and ''Robinson Cruso ...

'' series of record albums released beginning in 1960. She also was a narrator of the Marshall Cavendish partwork Storyteller I and II as well as the little StoryTeller series.

Personal life

Bryer married actor/presenter

Nicholas Parsons Christopher Nicholas Parsons (10 October 1923 – 28 January 2020) was an English actor, straight man and radio and television presenter. He was the long-running presenter of the comedy radio show '' Just a Minute'' and hosted the game show '' ...

in 1954; together they had two children, interior designer son Justin and daughter Suzy. Bryer and Parsons divorced in 1989 after thirty five years of marriage but remained on friendly terms. Bryer died on 16 October 2021, at the age of 93.

Filmography

Film and television

*''

Junior Miss ''Junior Miss'' is a collection of semi-autobiographical stories by Sally Benson first published in ''The New Yorker''. Between 1929 and the end of 1941, the prolific Benson published 99 stories in ''The New Yorker'', some under her pseudonym of ...

'' (1946) - Lois Graves *'' Noddy'' (1955–1969) - Noddy (voice) *''Here Comes Kandy'' (1956) - Additional voices *''

'' (1957–1958) - Footso, Additional voices *''

'' (1960) - Martha Jones, Makooya the Little India Boy, Additional voices *''

Maigret Jules Maigret (), or simply Maigret, is a fictional French police detective, a '' commissaire'' ("commissioner") of the Paris ''Brigade Criminelle'' ('' Direction Régionale de la Police Judiciaire de Paris:36, Quai des Orfèvres''), created b ...

'' (1963) - Child's Voice *''

'' (1966) - Kiki the Frog, Mrs. Frog (voices) *''

Gulliver's Travels ''Gulliver's Travels'', or ''Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships'' is a 1726 prose satire by the Anglo-Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan ...

'' (1977) - Additional voices *'' Star Fleet'' (1980–1982) - Commander Makara (voice) *''

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

'' (1983) - Circe (voice; uncredited) *''

'' (1983–1986) - Mary Falconer, Zelda *''

'' (1985) - Billina (voice) *''

Labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (, ) was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the ...

'' (1986) - The Junk Lady (voice) *''G-Force Intergalactic'' (1993) - Dr. Julie Sigmund * ''Reflections in the Mirror'' (2018) - Billina (voice)

Radio

*''

'' (1951) *''

'' (1954) What Ho! Jeeves! Joy in the morning! Edwin the boy scout (1978)

Narrator

*''

'' series (1960s)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bryer, Denise 1928 births 2021 deaths 20th-century English actresses English radio actresses English voice actresses Actresses from London