# Janet Henfrey

Janet Ethne Anne Henfrey (born 16 August 1935) is a British stage and television actress whose career has spanned over 50 years. A familiar face on stage and screen since the 1960s starring in a variety of British Television favourites. She is perhaps best known for playing Mrs. Bale on As Time Goes By, and for her role as the schoolteacher in the Dennis Potter television play Stand Up, Nigel Barton (1965) and Potter's serial The Singing Detective (1986), also as a schoolteacher.

## Early life

Before training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art she read English at St Anne's College, Oxford, and spent a graduate year at Smith College reading History.

## Credits

Other TV credits include: Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV (1985); As Time Goes By, The Jewel in the Crown; Reilly, Ace of Spies; Doctor Who (in the serial The Curse of Fenric and the episode "Mummy on the Orient Express"); Jeeves and Wooster; Casualty; Lovejoy; One Foot in the Grave; My Uncle Silas and Simon and the Witch. Henfrey also played a minor character in an episode of the 1996 series of The Famous Five, "Five Get into Trouble" and Mistress Hecate Broomhead in two episodes of The Worst Witch ("The Inspector Calls" and "Just Like Clockwork"). She appeared in the 2002 adaptation of the British miniseries Tipping The Velvet playing the character Mrs Jex, based on the novel by Sarah Waters. She also appeared in the 2015 British miniseries adaptation of Wolf Hall.

## Personal life

Henfrey lives in Islington, north London. She is a member of the Labour Party and a trustee of the International Performers Aid Trust.

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1963 | It's All Happening | April | |
| 1974 | The Tamarind Seed | Embassy Section Head | |
| 1981 | Reds | Emma Goldman's Jail Guard | Uncredited |
| 1983 | Fanny Hill | Lady in Intelligence Office | Uncredited |
| 1985 | She'll Be Wearing Pink Pyjamas | Lucy | |
| 1986 | Lady Jane | Housekeeper | |
| 1986 | Foreign Body | Landlady | |
| 1989 | The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover | Alice | |
| 1990 | The Fool | Unknown | |
| 1994 | Dragonworld | Miss Twittingham | |
| 1994 | A Pin for the Butterfly | Mrs. Veverka | |
| 1997 | Mrs Dalloway | Miss Pym | |
| 1997 | Amy Foster | Mrs. Rigby | |
| 1997 | The Man Who Knew Too Little | Ms. Goldstein | |
| 1998 | Les Misérables | Mme. Gilot | |
| 1998 | Ever After | Celeste | |
| 1998 | Jilting Joe | Miss Doughty | |
| 1999 | An Ideal Husband | Miss Prism | |
| 2000 | The Nine Lives of Tomas Katz | Janice Waily | |
| 2001 | Blow Dry | Aerobics Teacher | |
| 2006 | The Omen | Mrs. Horton | |
| 2009 | Season of Mists | Mary | |
| 2009 | National Theatre Live: All's Well That Ends Well | The Widow | |
| 2012 | Metamorphosis | The Cleaner | |
| 2014 | Mr. Turner | Janet | Uncredited |
| 2015 | London Road | Ivy | |
| 2016 | Pride and Prejudice and Zombies | Dowager | |
| 2016 | Bridget Jones's Baby | Mavis Enderbury | |
| 2021 | Cruella | Society Maven | |
| 2022 | Persuasion | Viscountess Lady Dalrymple | |

## Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1961 | Comedy Matinee | Unknown | Episode: "Thark" |
| 1964 | Martin Chuzzlewit | Bridesmaid/Second Daughter | 2 episodes |
| 1964 | Silas Marner | Miss Gunn | 2 episodes |
| 1965 | A Tale of Two Cities | Mrs. Cruncher | 2 episodes |
| 1965 | The Wednesday Play | Miss Tillings | Episode: "Stand Up, Nigel Barton" |
| 1968 | The Jazz Age | Frau Tonn | Episode: "Black Exchange" |
| 1973 | Wessex Tales | Mary | Episode: "Barbara of the House of Grebe" |
| 1975 | Churchill's People | Charlotte | Episode: "Silver Giant, Wooden Dwarf" |
| 1981 | Great Expectations | Camilla | Episode: "Episode Two: Part 1" |
| 1981 | Mark Gertler: An Autobiography | Lady Ottoline Morrell | Television film |
| 1983 | Jury | Miss Wood | Episode: "Julian" |
| 1983 | Reilly: Ace of Spies | Receptionist | Episode: "Shutdown" |
| 1983 | The Weather in the Streets | Lady Blanche | Television film |
| 1984 | The Jewel in the Crown | Edwina Crane | Episode: "Crossing the River" |
| 1984 | Chocky | Cranky Woman | Episode: "Episode #1.5" |
| 1984-1992 | Screen Two | Mlle. Debierre/Teacher | 2 episodes |
| 1985 | Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV | Mrs Hennigan | Episode: "Episode #1.2" |
| 1985 | Honour, Profit & Pleasure | Hop-Pole | Television film |
| 1985 | Oliver Twist | Martha | 3 episodes |
| 1986 | Alice in Wonderland | Queen of Hearts | 2 episodes |
| 1986 | Henry's Leg | Mrs. Snell | Episode: "Episode #1.1" |
| 1986 | The Singing Detective | Schoolteacher | 5 episodes |
| 1987 | Boon | University Registrar | Episode: "A Fistful of Pesetas" |
| 1987-1988 | Simon and the Witch | Tombola | 6 episodes |
| 1988 | Mr. Majeika | Dilys Sherwood Greene | Episode: "He Came From Walpurgis" (uncredited) |
| 1988 | Wild Things | Sophie Buchanan | Television film |
| 1989 | Ticket to Ride | Olga | Episode: "A Horse is a Horse, Of Course, Of Course" |
| 1989 | Young Charlie Chaplin | Sister Mills | Episode: "Episode #1.6" |
| 1989 | Capstick's Law | Miss Price | Episode: "Episode #1.5" |
| 1989 | Doctor Who | Miss Hardaker | Serial: "The Curse of Fenric" |
| 1990 | The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries | Mrs. Hipkins | Episode: "Artists in Crime" |
| 1991 | The Upper Hand | Dorothy Cooper | Episode: "Common Entrance" |
| 1991 | Jeeves and Wooster | Miss Mapleton | Episode: "Wooster with a Wife (or, Jeeves the Matchmaker)" |
| 1991 | Casualty | Sister Joan | Episode: "Making the Break" |
| 1991 | Bernard and the Genie | Miss Purse | Television film |
| 1992 | Moon and Son | Madame Lefebre | Episode: "The Horns of Capricorn" |
| 1992 | Inmates | Unknown | Television film |
| 1992 | Crime Story | Kay Calhaem | Episode: "Deadly Obsession" |
| 1993 | One Foot in the Grave | Miss Lander | Episode: "Hearts of Darkness" |
| 1993 | Just a Gigolo | Cynthia | Episode: "Episode #1.6" |
| 1993 | Lovejoy | Miss Frobisher | Episode: "The Price of Fish" |
| 1993-2005 | As Time Goes By | Mrs. Bale | 16 episodes |
| 1994 | Downwardly Mobile | Anna | Episode: "Grapefruit and Roses" |
| 1995 | Mike & Angelo | Mrs. Hardacre | Episode: "Mrs Shoutfire" |
| 1995 | The Famous Five | Aggie | Episode: "Five Get Into Trouble" |
| 1996 | Delta Wave | Receptionist | Episode: "The Light Fantastic: Part 2" |
| 1996 | No Bananas | Miss Cardew | 6 episodes |
| 1996 | The Prince and the Pauper | Goody Watson | 3 episodes |
| 1996 | The Moonstone | Mrs. Yolland | Television film |
| 1996 | The Treasure Seekers | Governess | Television film |
| 1997 | Cone Zone | Twigg | Episode: "High Flyer" |
| 1997 | Scene | Danusha | Episode: "Skinny Marink" |
| 1997 | Dual Balls | Unknown | Short film |
| 1999 | Doomwatch: Winter Angel | Julie | Television film |
| 1999-2000 | The Worst Witch | Miss Hecate Broomhead | 2 episodes |
| 2001 | Attila the Hun | Palcharia | 2 episodes |
| 2001 | Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) | Hettie Craven | Episode: "Whatever Possessed You?" |
| 2001 | I Was a Rat | Mrs. Cribbins | 3 episodes |
| 2001 | Mr. Thompson's Carnation | Miss Simmons | Short film |
| 2001-2003 | Uncle Silas | Aunt Tibby | 2 episodes |
| 2002 | Tipping the Velvet | Mrs. Jex | 2 episodes |
| 2003 | Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde | Mrs. Robey | Television film |
| 2004 | The Basil Brush Show | Aunt Quartermass | Episode: "Basil's Christmas Turkey" |
| 2009 | Scouting for Rudeboys | Scout Leader | Short film |
| 2010 | Fairytale of London Town | Elsie Grindell | Television film |
| 2010-2014 | Doctors | Martha Bidwell/Poppy Heppel | 2 episodes |
| 2012 | Our Life Together | Alice | Short film |
| 2013 | Quick Cuts | Customer | Episode: "Episode #1.3" |
| 2013 | Marple | Mrs. Lee | Episode: "Endless Night" |
| 2014 | Father Brown | Vera Thimble | Episode: "The Daughters of Jerusalem" |
| 2014 | Doctor Who | Mrs. Pitt | Episode: "Mummy on the Orient Express" |
| 2014 | Toast of London | Penny Traitor | Episode: "The Moose Trap" |
| 2015 | Wolf Hall | Lady Margaret Pole | 2 episodes |
| 2017 | The Crown | Vita Sackville-West | Episode: "Vergangheit" |
| 2018 | Nutritiously Nicola | Therapist | 2 episodes |
| 2018 | Dirty Little Rascals | Nan | Short film |
| 2019 | Sil and the Devil Seeds of Arodor | The Adjudicator | Television film |
| 2019-2020 | The New Pope | Lady Brannox | 2 episodes |