# Polly Adams

Pauline "Polly" Adams (born 27 August 1939) is an English actress best known for her work on the stage both in England and in the United States, and for her portrayal of Mrs. Brown on the television series Just William.
She made her Broadway debut in a 1975 revival of London Assurance as Grace Harkaway. For her portrayal she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award. Her other Broadway credits include Bedroom Farce.

## Life and career

Adams was born in Chichester, Sussex. She trained at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and has appeared in several productions on the London Stage appearing at such theatres as the Old Vic, the Oxford Stage Company, the Hampstead Theatre, the Royal National Theatre, the Greenwich Theatre, the Haymarket Theatre, the Lyric Hammersmith, the Globe Theatre, the Queen's Theatre, the Piccadilly Theatre,the Savoy Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company among others.
Her theatre credits include Ida in The Chiltern Hundreds, Time and the Conways, A Month in the Country, Pygmalion, Tis Pity She’s a Whore, A Small Family Business, Tons of Money, Plunder, The Philanderer, Engaged, Troilus and Cressida and Don Juan Comes Back From The War, The Government Inspector, Benefactors, The Real Thing, Present Laughter, The Importance of Being Earnest, Hay Fever, The Merchant of Venice, Private Lives, The Complaisant Lover, and Relatively Speaking, among several others.
Adams worked on television in the United Kingdom, appearing in programmes including The Ruth Rendell Mysteries, Element of Doubt, Just William, A Dark-Adapted Eye, The Cinder Path, Blisters , Inspector Alleyn, Bonjour la Classe, The Camomile Lawn, Sob Sisters, Executive Stress, The Murder at the Vicarage, Faint-Hearted Feminist, Winter Sunshine, Goodbye Darling , Tribute to the Lady, Upstairs, Downstairs, The First Churchills, The Spoils of Poynton, Pride and Prejudice, and Compact and Sea Song. Her film credits include Clinic Exclusive (1971), Element of Doubt (1996) and Kisna: The Warrior Poet (2005).

## Personal life

Her daughters, Susannah, Nelly, and Caroline Harker are also actresses. Adams portrayed Jane Bennet in the 1967 television adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, while Susannah Harker played the same role in the 1995 TV series Pride and Prejudice.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1964 | Never Put It in Writing | Receptionist | |
| 1970 | A Cup of Kindness | Tilly Winn | TV film |
| 1970 | She Follows Me About | Benny | TV film |
| 1971 | Clinic Exclusive | Ann | |
| 1976 | Private Lives | Sibyl Chase | TV film |
| 1980 | Bedroom Farce | Jan | TV film |
| 1986 | The Murder at the Vicarage | Ann Protheroe | TV film |
| 1986 | L'étincelle | Kathryn | |
| 1996 | Element of Doubt | Ellen | TV film |
| 2002 | Falling Apart | Clare's Mum | TV film |
| 2005 | Kisna: The Warrior Poet | Lady Katherine | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1959 | Dixon of Dock Green | Sally Ford | Episode: "Duffy Calls the Tune" |
| 1959 | The Two Charleys | Jessie | Episode: "Canteen Capers" |
| 1960 | Theatre Night | Serena Tilney | Episode: "The Bride Comes Back" |
| 1961 | An Enemy of the People | Petra Stockmann | Miniseries |
| 1961 | ITV Play of the Week | Penny Gracey | Episode: "The Two on the Beach" |
| 1962 | BBC Sunday-Night Play | Clarissa Davenport | Episode: "Both Ends Meet" |
| 1962 | Suspense | Miss Eaton | Episode: "Killer in the Band" |
| 1962 | Somerset Maugham Hour | Sally | Episode: "Killer in the Band" |
| 1963 | ITV Play of the Week | Tessie Dunton | Episode: "For King and Country #2: The Barricade" |
| 1964 | Drama 61-67 | Jan | Episode: "Drama '64: The Brick Umbrella" |
| 1964-1965 | Compact | Julia Preston | Series regular |
| 1967 | Pride and Prejudice | Jane Bennet | Miniseries |
| 1968 | Sexton Blake | Barbara Mayne | 4 episodes |
| 1968 | ITV Playhouse | Caol | Episode: "Neutral Ground" |
| 1969 | Who-Dun-It | Delphine Minniver | Episode: "Crime at the Panto" |
| 1969 | The First Churchills | Henrietta Churchill | 5 episodes |
| 1970 | The Spoils of Poynton | Maggie | Miniseries |
| 1970 | From a Bird's Eye View | Betty | Episode: "Millie's Moveable Feast" |
| 1972 | Villains | Mother | Episode: "Sand Dancer" |
| 1974 | ITV Sunday Night Theatre | Jackie | Episode: "Only the Other Day" |
| 1974 | Armchair Cinema | Anna | Episode: "Sea Song" |
| 1975 | Three Comedies of Marriage | | Episode: "One of the Family" |
| 1975 | Upstairs, Downstairs | Mrs. Polly Merivale | Episode: "Such a Lovely Man" |
| 1976 | BBC Play of the Month | Margaret Orme | Episode: "Loyalties" |
| 1977 | Devenish | Prudence Devenish | Episode: "The Great American Job" |
| 1978 | The Sunday Drama | Eloise Gainsborough | Episode: "The Marrying Kind" |
| 1981 | Goodbye Darling | Phillippa | Episode: "Daisy" |
| 1984 | The Fainthearted Feminist | Irene | |
| 1984 | Winter Sunlight | Jane | Miniseries |
| 1986 | Executive Stress | Olive | 1 episode |
| 1989 | Sob Sisters | Dorothy | Series regular |
| 1991 | The Ruth Rendell Mysteries | Melanie Dearborn | Episode: "Murder Being Once Done" |
| 1992 | The Camomile Lawn | Sarah | Miniseries |
| 1993 | Bonjour la Classe | Jean Halifax | Series regular |
| 1993 | Alleyn Mysteries | Mildred Potter | Episode: "Death in a White Tie" |
| 1994 | A Dark-Adapted Eye | Helen | Miniseries |
| 1994 | The Cinder Path | Florence Chapman | Miniseries |
| 1994-1995 | Just William | Mrs. Brown | Series regular |
| 2009 | Kingdom | Amelia | 1 episode |

### Theatre

| Year | Title | Role | Venue | Notes |
| 1959 | The Complaisant Lover | Ann Howard | Globe Theatre, London | |
| 1962 | The Chances | Extra | Chichester Festival Theatre, Chichester | |
| 1962 | The Broken Heart | Christella | Chichester Festival Theatre, Chichester | |
| 1963 | Gentle Jack | Cynthia | Queens Theatre, London | |
| 1967 | Relatively Speaking | Virginia | Duke of York's Theatre, London | |
| 1971 | Dear Antoine | Anémone | Piccadilly Theatre, London | |
| 1973 | Private Lives | Sibyl Chase | Globe Theatre, London | |
| 1975 | Engaged | Belinda Treherne | The Old Vic, London | |
| 1976 | Troilus and Cressida | Helen | Royal National Theatre, London | |
| 1976 | Plunder | Joan Hewlett | Lyttelton Theatre, London | |
| 1977 | The Country Wife | Alithea | Olivier Theatre, London | |
| 1978 | The Philanderer | Grace Tranfield | Lyttelton Theatre, London | |
| 1978 | Don Juan Comes Back From The War | Ensemble | Cottesloe Theatre, London | |
| 1978 | Bedroom Farce | Jan | Prince of Wales Theatre, London | |
| 1979 | Hay Fever | Myra Arundel | Lyric Theatre, London | |
| 1980 | The Importance of Being Earnest | Gwendolen Fairfax | Haymarket Theatre, Leicester & The Old Vic, London | |
| 1981 | Present Laughter | Joanna | Greenwich Theatre, London & Vaudeville Theatre, London | |
| 1982 | The Real Thing | Charlotte | Strand Theatre, London | |
| 1985 | Benefactors | Jane | Vaudeville Theatre, London | |
| 1986 | Tons of Money | Louise Allington | Lyttelton Theatre, London | |
| 1987 | A Small Family Business | Poppy McCracken | Olivier Theatre, London | |
| 1988 | 'Tis Pity She's a Whore | Hippolita | Olivier Theatre, London | |
| 1990 | Rumors | Christine Bevans | Chichester Festival Theatre, Chichester | also, UK tour |
| 1991 | The Government Inspector | Anna | Greenwich Theatre, London | |
| 1992 | Pygmalion | Mrs Eynsford-Hill | Olivier Theatre, London | |
| 1994 | A Month in the Country | Lizaveta Bogdanovna | Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford & Albery Theatre, London | |
| 1997 | Time and the Conways | Mrs. Conway | Mercury Theatre, Colchester & Salisbury Playhouse, Salisbury | |
| 1999 | The Chiltern Hundreds | Lady Lister | Vaudeville Theatre, London | |
| 2000 | The Good Samaritan | Muriel | Hampstead Theatre, London | |
| 2001 | The Winslow Boy | Grace Winslow | Chichester Festival Theatre, Chichester | also, UK Tour |
| 2005 | Marrying the Mistress | Laura Stockdale | Jersey Opera House, Saint Helier | |
| 2006 | Entertaining Angels | Ruth | Chichester Festival Theatre, Chichester | |
| 2007 | For Services Rendered | Charlotte Ardsley | Watermill Theatre, Bagnor | |
| 2008 | Legal Fictions | | Savoy Theatre, London | |
| 2010 | A Voyage Round My Father | Mother | Salisbury Playhouse, Salisbury | |
| 2014 | Rapture, Blister, Burn | Alice | Hampstead Theatre, London | |
| 2016 | Home Chat | Mrs. Ebony | Finborough Theatre, London | |