Ursula Jean McMinn (5 May 1906 – 21 April 1973), better known as Ursula Jeans, was an English film, stage, and television actress.

Biography

Jeans was born in Simla,

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, to English parents, and brought up and educated in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. She was the youngest of three siblings. Her brother Desmond Jeans was a boxer and actor, and her elder sister, Isabel Jeans, Isabel, was also an actress. In 1931 she appeared in Edward Knoblock's ''Grand Hotel (play), Grand Hotel'' at the Adelphi Theatre. Jeans made her stage debut in London in 1922, before joining the cast of the London production of ''The Play's the Thing (play), The Play's the Thing'', an adaptation of Ferenc Molnár's play, ''The Play at the Castle'' by P. G. Wodehouse. The cast included Gerald du Maurier, Ralph Nairn, Henry Daniell (before he went to Hollywood), and Henry Forbes-Robertson. She made her stage debut in New York City, New York in 1933. Her first marriage was to actor Robin Irvine (1931–1933, his death). Her second marriage was to actor Roger Livesey from 1937 until her death. (Livesey's sister Maggie was already married to Desmond Jeans.) She appeared in one film with Livesey, ''The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp'' (1943). She entertained troops with Entertainments National Service Association, ENSA during World War II, sometimes working with her husband. After the war, she continued acting, including starring as Mrs. Tarlton, in one of the eight episodes of the BBC's 'H M Tennant's Globe Theatre', in 1956; and, in a stage tour of Australia and New Zealand, between 1956–1958.

Last years and death

Jeans made one appearance each, in Dixon of Dock Green, in 1967, as Mrs. Regan; in Theatre 625, as Mother Denis, '68; and as Ursula Benton, in The Root of All Evil? (1968 TV series), also in '68. She continued to act into the 1970s and died of cancer in 1973, aged 66, some 18 months after her diagnosis. She shares a memorial plaque with her second husband, Roger Livesey, in the actors' church St Paul's, Covent Garden.

Partial filmography

* ''A Gipsy Cavalier'' (1922) - Minor Role (uncredited) * ''The Virgin Queen (1923 film), The Virgin Queen'' (1923) - Minor Role (uncredited) * ''The Fake (1927 film), The Fake'' (1927) - Maid * ''Quinneys (1927 film), Quinneys'' (1927) - Mabel Dredge * ''The Passing of Mr. Quin'' (1928) - Vera, the Maid * ''S.O.S. (1928 film), S.O.S.'' (1928) - Lady Weir * ''The Love Habit'' (1931) - Rose Pom Pom * ''The Flying Fool (1931 film), The Flying Fool'' (1931) - Morella Arlen * ''The Crooked Lady'' (1932) - Joan Collinson * ''Once Bitten (1932 film), Once Bitten'' (1932) - Clare * ''The Barton Mystery (1932 film), The Barton Mystery'' (1932) - Ethel Standish * ''Cavalcade (1933 film), Cavalcade'' (1933) - Fanny Bridges * ''On Thin Ice (1933 film), On Thin Ice'' (1933) - Lady Violet * ''I Lived with You'' (1933) - Gladys Wallis * ''Friday the Thirteenth (1933 film), Friday the Thirteenth'' (1933) - Eileen Jackson * ''The Man in the Mirror (1936 film), The Man in the Mirror'' (1936) - Veronica * ''Dark Journey (film), Dark Journey'' (1937) - Gertrude * ''Storm in a Teacup (film), Storm in a Teacup'' (1937) - Lisbet Skirving * ''Over the Moon (1939 film), Over the Moon'' (1939) - Millie * ''The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp'' (1943) - Frau von Kalteneck * ''Mr. Emmanuel'' (1944) - Frau Heinkes * ''Gaiety George'' (1946) - Isobel Forbes * ''The Woman in the Hall'' (1947) - Lorna Blake * ''The Weaker Sex'' (1948) - Martha Dacre * ''That Dangerous Age'' (1949) - Minor role * Seven Women (1953) - Leonora - (Short) * ''The Night My Number Came Up'' (1955) - Mrs. Robertson * ''The Dam Busters (film), The Dam Busters'' (1955) - Mrs. Wallis * ''North West Frontier (film), North West Frontier'' (1959) - Lady Windham * ''The Green Helmet'' (1961) - Mrs. Rafferty * ''The Queen's Guards'' (1961) - Mrs. Fellowes * ''A Question of Fact'' (1962) - Grace Smith * ''Boy with a Flute'' (1964, Short) * ''The Battle of the Villa Fiorita'' (1965) - Lady Anthea (final film role)

References

External links

* *
Performances listed on the Theatre Archive University of Bristol
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeans, Ursula 1906 births 1973 deaths English stage actresses English film actresses English silent film actresses Actresses from London Deaths from cancer in England 20th-century English actresses British people in colonial India