Jan Waters (born ) is an English actress of the theatre, television, and film. She was particularly active in the London theatre scene during the 1960s and 1970s, notably appearing in the original West End productions of Jule Styne's '' Do Re Mi'' and Noël Coward's '' High Spirits''. She also made a moderate number of appearances on British television and appeared in a small number of British films during this time. She was once married to actor

Peter Gilmore John Peter Gilmore (25 August 1931 – 3 February 2013), known as Peter Gilmore, was an English actor, known for his portrayal of Captain James Onedin in 91 episodes of the BBC television period drama '' The Onedin Line'' (1971–1980), c ...

Career

Waters was born in Bournemouth,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

to Albert Edward and Florence May Waters. She made her professional stage debut in 1960 in the title role of a

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

version of the classic story of

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

at the

Adelphi Theatre The Adelphi Theatre is a West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster, central London. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiv ...

. The following year she made her first film appearance as Jackie in

Lance Comfort Lance Comfort (11 August 1908 – 25 August 1966) was an English film director. In a career spanning over 25 years, he became one of the most prolific film directors in Britain, though he never gained critical attention and remained on the ...

's ''

Touch of Death The touch of death (or death-point striking) refers to any martial arts technique reputed to kill using seemingly less than lethal force targeted at specific areas of the body. The concept known as ''dim mak'' (), alternatively ' () traces its ...

'' and she portrayed the role of Tilda Mullen in the original West End production of Jule Styne's '' Do Re Mi'' at the

Prince of Wales Theatre The Prince of Wales Theatre is a West End theatre in Coventry Street, near Leicester Square in London. It was established in 1884 and rebuilt in 1937, and extensively refurbished in 2004 by Sir Cameron Mackintosh, its current owner. The theatre ...

. She remained highly active in London theatre throughout the 1960s in everything from musicals to classic plays to original stage works. Some of her more notable appearances during this time include Beatrice in

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

Much Ado about Nothing ''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. 1387 The play ...

'' (1962) at the

Old Vic Theatre The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, not-for-profit producing theatre in Waterloo, London, England. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Theatre. In 1871 it was rebuilt and reopened as the Royal ...

, Ruth Condomine in the original West End production of Noël Coward's '' High Spirits'' (1964) at the

Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy P ...

, Polly Peachum in John Gay's ''

The Beggar's Opera ''The Beggar's Opera'' is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of satiri ...

'' (1968) at the

Apollo Theatre The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, in central London.

, and Miss Ethel Monticue in Margaret MacKenzie's ''The Young Visitors'' (1968) at the

Piccadilly Theatre The Piccadilly Theatre is a West End theatre located at 16 Denman Street, behind Piccadilly Circus and adjacent to the Regent Palace Hotel, in the City of Westminster, London, England. Early years Built by Bertie Crewe and Edward A. Stone ...

. Waters also appeared in the 1968 horror film '' Corruption'' and made several television appearances as a guest artist, including work on '' Crane'' (1964), ''

The Rat Catchers ''The Rat Catchers'' is a 1960s British television drama series made by Rediffusion and broadcast on ITV. The series was not networked, playing on different days of the week in London from other regions. It is about a top secret British Intel ...

'' (1966), '' The Saint'' (1967), and ''Fraud Squad'' (1969) among others. She sang and acted in the BBC Radio Series Benny Hill Time in 1964. She was also a regular singer on the BBC radio series Beyond Our Ken in the very early 1960s. During the 1970s Waters continued to remain active on the stage and in television. In 1970 she toured the UK with the

Cambridge Theatre Company Cambridge Arts Theatre is a 666-seat theatre on Peas Hill and St Edward's Passage in central Cambridge, England. The theatre presents a varied mix of drama, dance, opera and pantomime. It attracts some of the highest-quality touring productions ...

in productions of

Ben Jonson Benjamin "Ben" Jonson (c. 11 June 1572 – c. 16 August 1637) was an English playwright and poet. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for t ...

's ''

The Alchemist An alchemist is a person who practices alchemy. Alchemist or Alchemyst may also refer to: Books and stories * ''The Alchemist'' (novel), the translated title of a 1988 allegorical novel by Paulo Coelho * ''The Alchemist'' (play), a play by Be ...

'' (portraying Dol Common) and David Turner's ''

Semi-Detached A semi-detached house (often abbreviated to semi) is a single family duplex dwelling house that shares one common wall with the next house. The name distinguishes this style of house from detached houses, with no shared walls, and terraced hou ...

'' (portraying Eileen Midway). That same year she appeared on the television series ''The Mating Machine'' and ''Menace''. In 1971 she appeared at the

Garrick Theatre The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, named after the stage actor David Garrick. It opened in 1889 with ''The Profligate'', a play by Arthur Wing Pinero, and another Pinero play, ' ...

as Vivien in ''Don't Start Without Me'' and guest starred on the show '' Jason King'' for one episode. The following year she appeared as Julie in ''

Show Boat ''Show Boat'' is a musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the performers, stagehands and dock worke ...

'' at the Adelphi Theatre. In 1973 she portrayed Eleanor in ''Only a Game'' at the Shaw Theatre and toured the UK with the

Prospect Theatre Company The Prospect Theatre Company was an English company founded, as Prospect Productions, in 1961. Based at the Arts Theatre, Cambridge from 1964 until 1969, the company, with Toby Robertson as artistic director and Richard Cottrell as associate dire ...

, performing the roles of Oello in ''

The Royal Hunt of the Sun ''The Royal Hunt of the Sun'' is a 1964 play by Peter Shaffer that dramatizes the relation of two worlds entering in a conflict by portraying two characters: Atahuallpa Inca and Francisco Pizarro. Performance history Premiere ''The Royal Hunt ...

'', Maria in ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vi ...

'', and both Boult and Dionyza in ''

Pericles, Prince of Tyre ''Pericles, Prince of Tyre'' is a Jacobean play written at least in part by William Shakespeare and included in modern editions of his collected works despite questions over its authorship, as it was not included in the First Folio. It was p ...

''. In 1974 she repeated the role of Dionyza at

Her Majesty's Theatre Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established t ...

and portrayed the role of Carla in ''Kennedy's Children'' at the

King's Head Theatre The King's Head Theatre, founded in 1970 by Dan Crawford, is an off-West End venue in London. It is the second oldest operating pub theatre in the UK. In 2021, Mark Ravenhill became Artistic Director and the theatre focusses on producing LGBTQ ...

. This was followed by a portrayal of the title role in ''Susanna Andler'' at the Haymarket Theatre and television appearances on '' Sutherland's Law'' and '' Softly Softly'' in 1975. Waters continued to make periodic stage and television appearance in the late 1970s, most notably portraying

Eliza Doolittle Eliza Doolittle is a fictional character and the protagonist in George Bernard Shaw's play '' Pygmalion'' (1913) and its 1956 musical adaptation, ''My Fair Lady''. Eliza (from Lisson Grove, London) is a Cockney flower woman, who comes to Prof ...

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

's '' Pygmalion'' and Portia in ''

'' in tours of the UK and the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

with the Palace Theatre Company,

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

, Hertfordshire. In 1980 she played Queenie in '' Born in the Gardens'' at the Globe Theatre, and later starred in the original production of ''

Noises Off ''Noises Off'' is a 1982 play by the English playwright Michael Frayn. Frayn conceived the idea in 1970 while watching from the wings a performance of '' The Two of Us'', a farce that he had written for Lynn Redgrave. He said, "It was funnier ...

'' at the Lyric, Hammersmith and Savoy theatres. Her latterday screen appearances include ''

Take the High Road ''Take the High Road'' (renamed ''High Road'' from 1994 to 2003) was a Scottish soap opera produced by Scottish Television, which started in February 1980 as an ITV network daytime programme, and was broadcast until 2003. It was set in the ficti ...

'', '' Sweet Sixteen'', ''

Dramarama Dramarama is an American, New Jersey–based alternative rock/power pop band, who later moved to Los Angeles. The band was formed in New Jersey in 1982 and disbanded in 1994. The band formally reunited in 2003 following an appearance on VH1's ...

'', ''

Paradise Postponed ''Paradise Postponed'' (1986) is a British 11-episode TV serial based on the 1985 novel by writer John Mortimer. The series covered a span of 30 years of postwar British history, set in a small village. Plot The series explores the mystery of ...

'', the 1987 film '' Lionheart'', ''September Song'' and '' Doctors''. In 2009 she appeared in the film '' Mr. Right''. She is currently playing Mrs Boyle in Agatha Christie's ''

The Mousetrap ''The Mousetrap'' is a murder mystery play by Agatha Christie. ''The Mousetrap'' opened in London's West End in 1952 and ran continuously until 16 March 2020, when the stage performances had to be temporarily discontinued during the COVID-1 ...

'' at St Martin's Theatre, London. She is soon to embark on the first ever UK tour of ''

'' playing Mrs Boyle for the first 10 weeks of the tour.

Sources

Biography of Jan Waters at filmreference.com

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Waters, Jan 1937 births English film actresses English stage actresses English television actresses Living people Actors from Bournemouth