Dilys Rhys Watling ('' née'' Jones, 5 May 1942 – 10 August 2021) was an English actress, best known for appearing on British television ('' Coronation Street'', ''

The Benny Hill Show ''The Benny Hill Show'' is a British comedy television show starring Benny Hill that aired on the BBC and ITV (from 1969) between 15 January 1955 and 1 May 1989. The show consisted mainly of sketches that were full of slapstick, mime, parody ...

'' and ''

The Two Ronnies ''The Two Ronnies'' is a British television comedy sketch show starring Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. It was created by Bill Cotton and aired on BBC1 from April 1971 to December 1987. The usual format included sketches, solo sections, seria ...

'').

Early life and education

Watling was born Dilys Rhys Jones, the daughter of actor Ion Rhys Jones and Patricia Hicks. Ion Rhys Jones was killed in action in World War II, and her mother later married actor

Jack Watling Jack Stanley Watling (13 January 1923 – 22 May 2001) was an English actor. Life and career The son of a travelling scrap metal dealer, Watling trained at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts as a child; and made his stage debut in ''Where ...

. She attended St Mary's Convent School,

Woodford Woodford may refer to: Places Australia *Woodford, New South Wales *Woodford, Queensland, a town in the Moreton Bay Region *Woodford, Victoria Canada * Woodford, Ontario England *Woodford, Cornwall * Woodford, Gloucestershire *Woodford, Greate ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

, followed by acting school.

Career

She acted in repertory theatre and at the

Bristol Old Vic Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a f ...

. Watling was nominated for the

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her Broadway debut in the short-lived '' Georgy'' in 1970. It proved to be her sole Broadway credit. Other stage credits include the musical '' Pickwick'' (1964), an adaptation of

Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

's ''

The Pickwick Papers ''The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club'' (also known as ''The Pickwick Papers'') was Charles Dickens's first novel. Because of his success with '' Sketches by Boz'' published in 1836, Dickens was asked by the publisher Chapman & Hall to ...

''; the role of the Beggar Woman in the 1980 London cast of ''

Sweeney Todd Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who first appeared as the villain of the penny dreadful serial '' The String of Pearls'' (1846–47). The original tale became a feature of 19th-century melodrama and London legend. A barber from Fleet Stre ...

'' in the West End; and the West End

multi-media Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to traditio ...

Dave Clark rock musical ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' (1986). She also made occasional film appearances, including rôles in the comedy '' Two Left Feet'' (1963); crime film, ''

Calculated Risk Calculated Risk may refer to: * Calculated Risk (blog), a finance and economics blog * ''Calculated Risk'' (film), a 1963 British crime thriller film * ''Calculated Risk'' (novel), a 1960 science fiction novel by Charles Eric Maine * '' A Calcul ...

'', (also 1963); and the horror film, ''

Theatre of Death ''Theatre of Death'' (also known as ''Blood Fiend'') is a 1967 British horror movie directed by Samuel Gallu and starring Christopher Lee as a theatre director whose Grand Guignol theatre is thought to be linked to a series of murders.John Hamilto ...

'', (1967).

Personal life

Watling had four half-siblings through her mother's marriage to actor

. These include actor

Deborah According to the Book of Judges, Deborah ( he, דְּבוֹרָה, ''Dəḇōrā'', "bee") was a prophetess of the God of the Israelites, the fourth Judge of pre-monarchic Israel and the only female judge mentioned in the Bible. Many scholars ...

and politician/actor

Giles Watling Giles Francis Watling (born 18 February 1953) is a British Conservative Party politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Clacton since 2017. Prior to entering politics, he was an actor. Early life and education Born in Chingford to ac ...

. Watling was married twice: her first marriage was to Australian Bruce Anderson in 1966; they later divorced. After a relationship with actor Christopher Matthews, in 1986 she married actor

Owen Teale Owen Teale (born 20 May 1961) is a Welsh character actor known for his role as Ser Alliser Thorne in the HBO fantasy TV series ''Game of Thrones''. Early life Owen Teale was born on 20 May 1961, in North Cornelly, south Wales, son of Roy and ...

, with whom she had a son, Ion, before divorcing in the mid-1990s. On 10 August 2021, she died aged 79 after a long illness.Dilys Watling death: Coronation Street and The Two Ronnies star dies aged 78
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', 16 August 2021. Retrieved 16 August 2021.

TV credits

Filmography

References

External links

* 1942 births 2021 deaths English musical theatre actresses English television actresses People from Gerrards Cross Actresses from Buckinghamshire 20th-century English actresses English people of Welsh descent English film actresses Alumni of Bristol Old Vic Theatre School {{UK-tv-actor-1940s-stub