Mary Millar
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Irene Mary Wetton (26 July 1936 – 10 November 1998), better known by her stage name Mary Millar, was an English actress and singer best remembered for her role as the second actress to play
Rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...
in the successful
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. ...
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sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...
''
Keeping Up Appearances ''Keeping Up Appearances'' is a British sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke. It originally aired on BBC1 from 1990 to 1995 with two specials airing in 1997 and 2008 on PBS. The central character is an eccentric and snobbish middle class s ...
'' between 1991 and 1995.


Early life

Irene Mary Wetton was born in
Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...
, England, on 26 July 1936 to Horace and Irene (née Mellor) Wetton, both music hall singers. She intended to become a stable hand, but later decided to pursue a stage career. She toured the country with her parents, who had an act called Sweethearts in Harmony.


Career

Millar made her first television appearance in 1953, aged 17, in ''Those Were the Days''. She also made appearances on ''
The Dick Emery Show ''The Dick Emery Show'' is a British sketch comedy show starring Dick Emery. It was broadcast on the BBC from 1963 to 1981. It was directed and produced by Harold Snoad. The show was broadcast over 19 series with 166 episodes. The show experienced ...
'' and ''The Stanley Baxter Show''. Millar gained acclaim for her part in ''
Keeping Up Appearances ''Keeping Up Appearances'' is a British sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke. It originally aired on BBC1 from 1990 to 1995 with two specials airing in 1997 and 2008 on PBS. The central character is an eccentric and snobbish middle class s ...
'' as Rose, replacing
Shirley Stelfox Shirley Rosemary Stelfox (11 April 1941 – 7 December 2015) was an English actress, known for her portrayal of the character Edna Birch, a moralising busybody in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'', and as Rose, the vampy sister of the snobby ...
for Series 2 in 1991 as Stelfox had prior commitments to ''
Making Out Making out is a term of American origin dating back to at least 1949, and is used to refer to kissing, including extended French kissing or heavy kissing of the neck (called ''necking''), or to acts of non-penetrative sex such as heavy pett ...
''. Millar remained with the programme through to its conclusion in 1995. In 1960, Millar travelled to New York to understudy Julie Andrews in ''
Camelot Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described as th ...
''. She began her West End career in 1962 as Cloris in '' Lock Up Your Daughters''. In 1969, she played the title role in the musical ''
Ann Veronica ''Ann Veronica'' is a novel by H. G. Wells published in 1909. It describes the rebellion of Ann Veronica Stanley, "a young lady of nearly two-and-twenty", against her middle-class father's stern patriarchal rule. The novel dramatizes the conte ...
'', based on
H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
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Madame Giry in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical ''
The Phantom of the Opera ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (french: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) is a novel by French author Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serial in from 23 September 1909 to 8 January 1910, and was released in volume form in late March 1910 by Pier ...
''. She played the role for four years and her voice appears on the original cast album. From 1997 to 1998, Millar played Mrs Potts in the London production of ''
Beauty and the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' (''The Young American and Marine ...
'', and appeared on the cast album composed by Alan Menken with lyrics by
Howard Ashman Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...
and Tim Rice. In February 1998, Millar left the show because of deteriorating health.


Personal life

Millar had one daughter, Lucy (born 1972), by her marriage to Rafael D. Frame, in 1962. She was a practising Christian.


Death

In January 1998, Millar was diagnosed with
ovarian cancer Ovarian cancer is a cancerous tumor of an ovary. It may originate from the ovary itself or more commonly from communicating nearby structures such as fallopian tubes or the inner lining of the abdomen. The ovary is made up of three different c ...
and underwent
chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs ( chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemothe ...
. She died on 10 November, at the age of 62, in
Brockley Brockley is a district and an electoral ward of south London, England, in the London Borough of Lewisham south-east of Charing Cross. History The name Brockley is derived from "Broca's woodland clearing", a wood where badgers are seen (' ...
, London, with her husband and daughter at her bedside. She was cremated at
Golders Green Crematorium Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £135,987 in 2021), ...
. Three weeks before her death, when asked what she would do when she arrived at heaven's door, Millar said, "Rehearse for a part in the Angelic choir, darling." An episode of ''Keeping Up Appearances'' was broadcast on
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
the following week and dedicated to her.


Works


Television


Theatre


References


External links


Overview of Mary Millar's career
*
Mary Millar
at the
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Millar, Mary 1936 births 1998 deaths 20th-century English actresses Actresses from Yorkshire Deaths from cancer in England Deaths from ovarian cancer English Christians English stage actresses English television actresses Actors from Doncaster