Prunella Jane Ransome (18 January 1943 – 4 March 2002) was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
actress, primarily active on television and films.
Early life
Ransome was born in
Croydon
Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...
,
Surrey. She later lived in
Fareham, England where her father, Jimmy Ransome, was headmaster of
West Hill Park School
West Hill Park School is an independent, coeducational, day and boarding school for boys and girls aged 3 years to 13 years. It is situated in Fareham, England close to the Hampshire coast, between Southampton and Portsmouth.
History
West Hill ...
from 1952 to 1958.
[''Gryphon'' (magazine of West Park School), Autumn 2002] Ransome studied at
Elmhurst School for Dance
Elmhurst Ballet School is an independent school for professional classical ballet in the United Kingdom. It takes students aged 11–19 years who intend to pursue a career in professional classical ballet. Elmhurst provides a full academic day in ...
and began her performing career as a teenager.
Career
Ransome made her
West End debut in a 1959 musical production of ''
Jane Eyre
''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The first ...
'' with further West End appearances in ''
Do Re Mi'' and ''
Oliver!''. She later spent five months singing at a cabaret in
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
and upon returning to the UK worked delivering cars for a London automobile dealership prior to being cast in 1965 in the musical stage play ''The Match Girls''. Following that play's 1966 West End transfer, Ransome's performance drew the attention of a producer of the 1967 film ''
Far from the Madding Crowd'', with a screen test leading to her playing that film's second female lead and her performance earning her a
Golden Globe Award nomination.
Ransome progressed in her film career playing the female lead in the 1969 film ''
Alfred the Great''. Her subsequent screen career, however, was focused almost exclusively on television, Ransome having debuted in that medium in the 1967 serialisation of ''
Kenilworth
Kenilworth ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Warwick District in Warwickshire, England, south-west of Coventry, north of Warwick and north-west of London. It lies on Finham Brook, a tributary of the River Sowe, which joins the ...
''. In the 1970s she had major multi-episode roles in three well-regarded TV drama series: ''
Warship
A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster ...
'' and ''
A Horseman Riding By
''A Horseman Riding By'' is a sequence of 3 novels by R. F. Delderfield written between 1966 and 1968. It starts in 1902 at the tail end of the Boer War and is continued in the sequels to end in 1965. The first book is set in Devon in the early ...
'' for the
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 exam. ...
...
. She also appeared in other TV series of the period, such as ''
'', episode "I’ll Do the Dirty Work", in 1970. Also in 1970 she appeared in Granada TV series "A Family at War" - playing Dominique Brahaut the Girlfriend of Philip Ashton during his posting to the Channel Islands.
Ransome's rare film roles included the female leads in the western ''
'', a 1976 horror film which has become a cult favourite. She also played the female lead in the 1980 TV mini-series ''Seagull Island'' which was re-edited into the film ''The Secret of Seagull Island'' (1981). Ransome retired as a career actress following her participation in the 1984 television series ''
She had two daughters, Charlotte (born 1973) and Victoria (born 1975) and was aunt to Thomas Ransome. In 1980 Ransome relocated from London to
. She died of natural causes in