# Brenda Bruce

Brenda Bruce OBE (7 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, Lancashire, in 1919, and started her acting career as a teenager on stage as a chorus girl. She appeared with the Birmingham Repertory Company (1936–39) and was a long-time actress with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). She was the RSC's resident Mistress Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor, playing the role in 1964, 1968, 1975 and 1995. She appeared as Irma in the RSC's production of Jean Genet'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's Happy Days, and in 1977 as Lucilla Edith Cavell Teatime in Murder Most English.
Bruce played Aunt Dahlia in the 1990s production of Jeeves and Wooster with Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie. Other roles include Tilda in the Doctor Who story "Paradise Towers", Bea in the rag trade drama Connie and Granny Grogan in The Riff Raff Element. Among her film roles were Peeping Tom, where she played a prostitute murdered in the opening scene, and in 1964, she played Mary Lewis in Nightmare. 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.
* She was awarded an OBE in the 1985 New Year Honours.

## Theatre

Stage :
| Year | Play | Role | Notes |
| 1949 | Love in Albania | Susan Lawn | St James's Theatre |
| 1962 | Happy Days | Winnie | Royal Court Theatre |
| | Woman in a Dressing Gown | | The Vaudeville Theatre |
| 1967 | Little Murders | | Aldwych Theatre |
| 1970 | The Balcony | Irma | Aldwych Theatre |
| 1980 | Romeo and Juliet | Nurse | Royal Shakespeare Theatre |

## Radio

Radio :
| Year | Play | Role | Notes |
| 1965 | Host Planet Earth | Clare Stewart | BBC Light Programme |
| 1977 | Cry God for Harry! | Doll Tearsheet | BBC Radio 4 |
| 1983 | When the Wind Blows | Hilda | BBC Radio 4 |
| 1983 | A Mad World, My Masters | Courtesan's Mother | BBC Radio 3 |
| 1986 | Too Long an Autumn | Maisie May | BBC Radio 4 |
| 1987 | Kiss of Life | Dot | BBC Radio 4 |
| 1992 | The Boy with the Cart | Mother | BBC Radio 4 |
| 1993 | A Perfect Spy | Miss Dubber | BBC Radio 4 |

## TV and filmography

Film & Television :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1938 | Laugh with Me | Rose Dinwiddy | TV movie |
| 1938 | The Wooing of Anne Hathaway | Katharine Hathaway | TV movie |
| 1943 | Millions Like Us | Brenda | Uncredited |
| 1944 | They Came to a City | WAAF Officer | Uncredited |
| 1945 | I Live in Grosvenor Square | 1st Girl in Guard's Van | |
| 1946 | Night Boat to Dublin | Lily Leggett | |
| 1946 | I See a Dark Stranger | American Waitress | Uncredited |
| 1946 | Piccadilly Incident | Sally Benton | |
| 1946 | Carnival | Maudie Chapman | |
| 1947 | While the Sun Shines | Mabel Crum | |
| 1947 | When the Bough Breaks | Ruby Chapman | |
| 1948 | My Brother's Keeper | Winnie Foreman | |
| 1949 | Marry Me! | Brenda Delamere | |
| 1949 | Don't Ever Leave Me | Miss Smith | |
| 1951 | Two on the Tiles | Janet Lawson | |
| 1953 | The Final Test | Cora | |
| 1953 | The Motorola Television Hour | | "Westward the Sun" |
| 1954 | Douglas Fairbanks Presents | Emily | "Man Who Heard Everything" |
| 1958 | Law and Disorder | Mary Cooper | |
| 1958 | Behind the Mask | Elizabeth Fallon | |
| 1958 | Mary Britten, M.D. | Mary Britten | 13 episodes |
| 1960 | Peeping Tom | Dora | |
| 1961 | Sunday Night Theatre | May Sommers | "Nearer to Heaven" |
| 1961 | Sunday Night Theatre | Elaine | "The Wrong Side of the Park" |
| 1962 | Armchair Theatre | | "Girl in a Bird Cage" |
| 1962 | ITV Play of the Week | Millie Crocker Harris | "A Lily in Little India" |
| 1962 | Zero One | Sarah Elkinson | "Stoneface" |
| 1962 | The Winter's Tale | Paulina | TV movie |
| 1962 | Sunday Night Theatre | Ethel Gibbons | "This Happy Breed" |
| 1963 | Armchair Theatre | | "The Monkey and the Mohawk" |
| 1963 | Dr. Finlay's Casebook | Bridie Bell | "The Face Saver" |
| 1964 | Nightmare | Mary Lewis | |
| 1965 | The Uncle | Addie Morton | |
| 1965 | Armchair Theatre | Ellen | "The Lodger" |
| 1965 | Thirty-Minute Theatre | Pat Pendleton | "Give the Clown His Supper" |
| 1966 | The Wednesday Play | Betty Bradshaw | "Way Off Beat" |
| 1966 | ITV Play of the Week | Millie Crocker Harris | "The Browning Version" |
| 1966 | Knock on Any Door | | "The First Day of Spring" |
| 1966 | Knock on Any Door | | "The Dear Ones" |
| 1967 | The Girl | Miss Cashcart | |
| 1967 | The Wednesday Play | Mollie | "Death of a Teddy Bear" |
| 1967 | Softly, Softly | Hilda Berry | "An Eye for an Eye" |
| 1968 | Sherlock Holmes | Saunders | "The Dancing Men" |
| 1968 | Late Night Horror | Mary Pearl | "William and Mary" |
| 1968 | The First Lady | Mary Tunnicliffe | "Mrs. Whatever" |
| 1968 | The Gamblers | Gertie | "Give and Take" |
| 1969 | The Virgin Soldiers | Nursing Sister | Uncredited |
| 1969 | The Wednesday Play | Ma | "Happy" |
| 1971 | A Family at War | Mrs Thomas | "Happy Returns" |
| 1971 | Budgie | Janey Baib | "Sunset Mansions or Whatever Happened to Janey Baib?" |
| 1972 | Country Matters | Mrs Holland | "The Mill" |
| 1972 | Thirty-Minute Theatre | The Wife | "Not Counting the Savages" |
| 1972 | The Man from Haven | Mary Balfour | |
| 1973 | Cheri | Charlotte | 5 episodes |
| 1973 | That'll Be the Day | Doreen | |
| 1973 | Play for Today | Madge | "Jingle Bells" |
| 1974 | Bedtime Stories | Gertie | "Hansel and Gretel" |
| 1974 | Dial M for Murder | Kath | "Recording Angel" |
| 1974 | Alice Through the Looking Glass | The White Queen | TV movie |
| 1974 | Swallows and Amazons | Mrs Dixon | |
| 1975 | All Creatures Great and Small | Miss Harbottle | TV movie |
| 1976 | Ubu roi | Ma Ubu | TV movie |
| 1976 | Crown Court | Angela Stacey | "A Matter of Honour" |
| 1977 | The Man in the Iron Mask | Queen Anne of Austria | TV movie |
| 1977 | Murder Most English | Lucy Teatime | 4 episodes |
| 1977 | Centre Play | Auntie Kathleen | "Auntie Kathleen's Old Clothes" |
| 1978 | Armchair Thriller | Sister Elizabeth | "Quiet as a Nun" |
| 1978 | The Devil's Crown | Matilda | 2 episodes |
| 1978 | Play for Today | Mrs Hackett | "A Touch of the Tiny Hacketts" |
| 1978 | Play of the Month | Lady Bountiful | "The Beaux' Stratagem" |
| 1978 | Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm | Aunt Miranda | |
| 1979 | BBC Television Shakespeare | Mistress Quickly | "The First Part of King Henry the Fourth, with the life and death of Henry surnamed Hotspur" |
| 1979 | BBC Television Shakespeare | Mistress Quickly | "The Second Part of King Henry the Fourth, including his death and the coronation of King Henry the Fifth" |
| 1983 | The Mad Death | Miss Stonecroft | three-part BBC television serial |
| 1983 | The Home Front | Mrs Place | 6 episodes |
| 1983 | BBC Television Shakespeare | First Witch | "Macbeth" |
| 1983 | Farmers Arms | Mrs Casson | TV movie |
| 1984 | Weekend Playhouse | Margaret | "Winter Break" |
| 1984 | Crown Court | Angela Stacey | "Oddball" |
| 1985 | Connie | Bea | 10 episodes |
| 1985 | Steaming | Mrs Meadows | |
| 1986 | Screen Two | June Swift | "Time After Time" |
| 1986 | David Copperfield | Betsey Trotwood | 7 episodes |
| 1987 | Doctor Who | Tilda | "Paradise Towers" |
| 1987 | The Secret World of Polly Flint | Granny Porter | 3 episodes |
| 1987 | London Embassy | Madge Cowrie | "Tomb with a View" |
| 1988 | The Tenth Man | Madame Mangeot | |
| 1988 | Little Dorrit | Duchess | |
| 1988 | Worlds Beyond | | "Home" |
| 1988 | Menace Unseen | Norma Trisk | 3 episodes |
| 1988 | The Return of the Antelope | Mrs Henshaw | "Travelling Companions" |
| 1990 | Jeeves and Wooster | Aunt Dahlia Travers | "The Hunger Strike", "Brinkley Manor" |
| 1990 | Bergerac | Karen Markham | "In Love and War" |
| 1990 | Back Home | Lady Beatrice Langley | |
| 1990 | Theatre Night | Old Woman | "Bingo: Scenes of Money and Death" |
| 1990 | Screen Two | June Swift | "Circles of Deceit" |
| 1990 | The Fool | | |
| 1990 | Antonia and Jane | Therapist | |
| 1991 | December Bride | Martha Gilmartin | |
| 1991 | Lovejoy | Mrs Jaglom | "Bin Diving" |
| 1991 | The New Statesman | Beryl | "Keeping Mum" |
| 1991 | 4 Play | Sarah | "Finding Sarah" |
| 1992 | Goodbye Cruel World | Marjory | 3 episode |
| 1992 | Growing Rich | Mrs Baker | 2 episode |
| 1993 | The Riff Raff Element | Granny Grogan | TV movie |
| 1993 | Splitting Heirs | Mrs Bullock | |
| 1993 | Riders | Granny Maxwell | TV movie |
| 1993 | CASUAL$^+$Y | Carrie Springett | "The Final Word" |
| 1993 | Harnessing Peacocks | Amy Tremayne | TV movie |
| 1994 | Men of the World | Mrs Daff | 3 episode |
| 1994 | Honey for Tea | Mary Harris | 2 episodes |
| 1995 | Performance | Grandmother | "The Widowing of Mrs Holroyd" |
| 1996 | The Vet | Kath Paley | "Stormy Weather" (final appearance) |