Brenda Bruce OBE (7 July 1919Some sources cite 17 July 1919. – 19 February 1996) was an English actress. She was focused on the theatre, radio, film and television.

Career

Bruce was born in

Prestwich Prestwich ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester, England, north of Manchester city centre, north of Salford and south of Bury. Historically part of Lancashire, Prestwich was the seat of the ancient pari ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

in 1919, and started her acting career as a teenager on stage as a chorus girl. She appeared with the

Birmingham Repertory Company Birmingham Repertory Theatre, commonly called Birmingham Rep or just The Rep, is a producing theatre based on Centenary Square in Birmingham, England. Founded by Barry Jackson, it is the longest-established of Britain's building-based theatre ...

(1936–39) and was a long-time actress with the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

(RSC). She was the RSC's resident Mistress Page in ''

The Merry Wives of Windsor ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' or ''Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare first published in 1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597. The Windsor of the play's title is a ref ...

'', playing the role in 1964, 1968, 1975 and 1995. She appeared as Irma in the RSC's production of

Jean Genet Jean Genet (; – ) was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. In his early life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but he later became a writer and playwright. His major works include the novels '' The Thief ...

's '' The Balcony'' in 1971. In the 1950s she appeared on television in many dramas, and in a chat show ''Rich and Rich'' with her husband. She starred as Winnie in the 1962 British premiere of

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and Tragicomedy, tr ...

's ''

Happy Days ''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marshall, it was one of the most su ...

'', and in 1977 as Lucilla Edith Cavell Teatime in ''Murder Most English''. Bruce played

Aunt Dahlia Dahlia Travers (née Wooster) is a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves stories of English comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being best known as Bertie Wooster's bonhomous, red-faced Aunt Dahlia. She is much beloved by her nephew, in contra ...

in the 1990s production of ''

Jeeves and Wooster ''Jeeves and Wooster'' is a British comedy-drama television series adapted by Clive Exton from P. G. Wodehouse's "Jeeves" stories. It aired on the ITV network from 22 April 1990 to 20 June 1993, with the last series nominated for a Britis ...

'' with

Stephen Fry Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...

and

Hugh Laurie James Hugh Calum Laurie (; born 11 June 1959) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and musician. He first gained recognition for his work as one half of the comedy double act Fry and Laurie with Stephen Fry. The two men acted together in ...

. Other roles include Tilda in the ''

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 ...

'' story "

Paradise Towers ''Paradise Towers'' is the second serial of the 24th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 5 to 26 October 1987. In the serial, Kroagnon, the incorporeal arc ...

", Bea in the rag trade drama '' Connie'' and Granny Grogan in '' The Riff Raff Element''. Among her film roles were ''

Peeping Tom Lady Godiva (; died between 1066 and 1086), in Old English , was a late Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who is relatively well documented as the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and a patron of various churches and monasteries. Today, she is mainly reme ...

'', where she played a prostitute murdered in the opening scene, and in 1964, she played Mary Lewis in ''

Nightmare A nightmare, also known as a bad dream, Retrieved 11 July 2016. is an unpleasant dream that can cause a strong emotional response from the mind, typically fear but also despair, anxiety or great sadness. The dream may contain situations of ...

''. In 1994, she starred in '' Honey for Tea'', a short-lived sitcom.

Personal life

She was married and widowed twice, first to television personality Roy Rich, with whom she had two daughters, and second to actor Clement McCallin, with whom she adopted a son. McCallin died in 1977.

Death

She died in London on 19 February 1996 from undisclosed causes, aged 76.

Awards

*In 1962 she was given the Society of Film and Television Arts Television Awards 1962. *She was named Best Actress in 1963 by BAFTA

British Academy Television Award for Best Actress This is a list of the British Academy Television Awards for Best Actress. The British Academy Television Awards began in 1955. The Best Actress award was initially given as an "individual honour", without credit to a particular performance, until ...

. *She was awarded an OBE in the 1985 New Year Honours.

Theatre

Radio

TV and filmography

References

External links

*
Performances in the Theatre Archive University of Bristol
timeout.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Bruce, Brenda 1919 births 1996 deaths 20th-century English actresses Actresses from Manchester Best Actress BAFTA Award (television) winners English film actresses English radio actresses English stage actresses English television actresses Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Prestwich Royal Shakespeare Company members 20th-century British businesspeople