# Ann Beach

Ann Beach (7 June 1938 – 9 March 2017) was a British actress. She is perhaps best remembered for her supporting role as Sonia Barrett, the quirky next-door neighbour on the comedy Fresh Fields, starring Julia McKenzie and Anton Rodgers.

## Career

Beach won a scholarship to RADA at the age of 16. After leaving, she toured with Frankie Howerd in Hotel Paradiso, and then came to London in the title role of Emlyn Williams's Beth. This was not a success, but she was soon busily engaged in television work, until she returned to the stage in the Theatre Workshop company at the Theatre Royal Stratford East. Among the parts she played there were Rosie in Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be (1960), and Miss Gilchrist in The Hostage. She then played Barbara in Billy Liar at the Cambridge Theatre in September 1960. She was also a member of the BBC's Radio Drama Company.

## Personal life

She was married to Francis Coleman. She was the mother of Charlotte Coleman and Lisa Coleman.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1960 | The City of the Dead | Lottie | |
| 1961 | On the Fiddle | Iris | |
| 1961 | Nothing Barred | Girlfriend Who Drops Through Open Manhole | Uncredited |
| 1962 | The Fast Lady | Miss Timpkins | |
| 1966 | Hotel Paradiso | Victoire | |
| 1968 | Sebastian | Pamela | |
| 1970 | The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer | Receptionist | |
| 1971 | Under Milk Wood | Polly Garter | |
| 1973 | Never Mind the Quality, Feel the Width | Bridie | |
| 1976 | Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd | Clara | TV film |
| 1976 | James and the Giant Peach | Aunt Sponge | TV film |
| 1976 | The Battle of Billy's Pond | Mrs. Bateson | |
| 1979 | Brecht and Co | Polly Peacham/Widow Begbick | TV film |
| 1982 | Oliver Twist | Mrs. Sowerberry | TV film |
| 1983 | Salad Days | Timothy's Mother | TV film |
| 1991 | King Ralph | Miranda's Mother | |
| 1999 | Notting Hill | William's Mother | |
| 2002 | Double Act | Gran | TV film |
| 2007 | The History of Mr Polly | Mrs. Rumbold | TV film |
| 2011 | Fast Freddie, The Widow and Me | Freddie's Grandma | TV film |
| 2013 | One Chance | Elderly Woman | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1957 | ITV Play of the Week | Maude Riordan | Episode: "The Grass Harp" |
| 1960 | Theatre Night | Barbara | Episode: "Billy Liar" |
| 1960 | Armchair Theatre | Elaine Morris | Episode: "Night Panic" |
| 1961 | The Rag Trade | Brenda | Recurring role |
| 1961 | BBC Sunday-Night Play | Miss Chatham | Episode: "Brian Rix Presents #14: Flat Spin" |
| 1962 | BBC Sunday-Night Play | Thelma | Episode: "Worm's Eye View" |
| 1963 | Festival | Saunders | Episode: "Fallen Angels" |
| 1964 | Festival | Maria | Episode: "A Florentine Tragedy" |
| 1965 | Off Beat... | | Mini-series |
| 1966 | The World of Wooster | Parlourmaid | Episode: "Jeeves and the Clustering Round Young Bingo" |
| 1966 | BBC Play of the Month | Gwen | Episode: "Make Me an Offer" |
| 1967 | Half Hour Story | Jennifer | Episode: "The 45th Unmarried Mother" |
| 1969 | Jackanory | Storyteller | Recurring role |
| 1969 | The Wednesday Play | Blodwen Wilderness | Episode: "Blodwen, Home from Rachel's Marriage" |
| 1970 | The Wednesday Play | Music Hall Artist | Episode: "Mad Jack" |
| 1970 | Steptoe and Son | Daphne | Episode: "Steptoe and Son - and Son!" |
| 1971 | BBC Play of the Month | Anna Vyroubova | Episode: "Rasputin" |
| 1971 | For the Love of Ada | Alice Bingley | Episode: "The Journey" |
| 1971 | Elephant's Eggs in a Rhubarb Tree | Various roles | Series regular |
| 1971 | The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes | Mary Grandard | Episode: "The Woman in the Big Hat" |
| 1971 | Shirley's World | | Episode: "The Rally" |
| 1971 | Armchair Theatre | Mrs. Drayton | Episode: "The Bargain Hunters" |
| 1972 | The Man Outside | Maudlin | Episode: "A Persistent Coffin" |
| 1972 | Play for Today | Valerie | Episode: "The Villa Maroc" |
| 1973 | Play for Today | Shirley Ritchie | Episode: "Song at Twilight" |
| 1973 | Seven of One | Doris | Episode: "My Old Man" |
| 1973 | Armchair Theatre | Penelope | Episode: "A Bit of a Lift" |
| 1974 | Perils of Pendragon | Maudlin | 2 episodes |
| 1974 | Omnibus | Queen Victoria | Episode: "Crystal Palace - The Great Glass Hive" |
| 1974 | Masquerade | Freda | Episode: "Service Not Included" |
| 1974 | Late Night Drama | Diane | Episode: "You Don't Remember" |
| 1975 | Ten from the Twenties | Jehane | Episode: "The Orsini Emeralds" |
| 1975 | Dawson's Weekly | Mrs. Ffoulkes | Episode: "The Clerical Error" |
| 1975 | Shades of Greene | Miss Sanderson | Episode: "Special Duties" |
| 1976 | Bouquet of Barbed Wire | Monica | Miniseries |
| 1976 | The Government Inspector | Mayor's Wife | Episode: "Bribery and Corruption" |
| 1976 | Fred Basset | | Voice role |
| 1977 | BBC Play of the Month | Violet | Episode: "The Winslow Boy" |
| 1977 | BBC Play of the Month | Mrs. Dainty Fidget | Episode: "The Country Wife" |
| 1977 | Rising Damp | Mrs. Brent | Episode: "That's My Boy" |
| 1978 | The Upchat Connection | Una | Episode: "Spring in Park Lane" |
| 1978 | BBC2 Play of the Week | Morag | Episode: "The Vanishing Army" |
| 1979 | Diary of a Nobody | Sarah | Series regular |
| 1980 | The History of Mr Polly | Mrs. Johnson | Miniseries |
| 1980 | Play for Today | Morag | Episode: "The Vanishing Army" |
| 1980 | Tales of the Unexpected | Miss Unwin | Episode: "Georgy Porgy" |
| 1981 | Holding the Fort | Muriel | Episode: "Famous First Words" |
| 1981 | Only When I Laugh | Helen Roper-Jones | Episode: "Postman's Knock" |
| 1983 | Nanny | Miss Alice Casson | Episode: "The Prodigy" |
| 1984-1986 | Fresh Fields | Sonia Barrett | Series regular |
| 1985 | Tandoori Nights | Nurse Peters | Episode: "Far from the Ganges" |
| 1986 | That Uncertain Feeling | Mrs. Davies | Miniseries |
| 1987 | The Sooty Show | Detective Sergeant Sarah Snoop | Episode: "White Lies" |
| 1989 | Brookside | Jane Harper |
| 1990 | Home to Roost | Rita Higgs | Episode: "Return to Clagthorpe" |
| 1991 | Screen One | Mrs. Chubb | Episode: "A Question of Attribution" |
| 1991 | French Fields | Sonia | Episode: "Hail and Farewell" |
| 1992 | Land of Hope and Gloria | Freda | Episode: "Running Before Walking" |
| 1994 | The Lifeboat | Phyllis Shore | 4 episodes |
| 1994 | Screen One | Mrs. Leveller | Episode: "Two Golden Balls" |
| 1995 | The Bill | Mrs. Parker | Episode: "All in the Game" |
| 1998 | Wycliffe | Mrs. Wimble | Episode: "Land's End" |
| 1999 | People Like Us | | Episode: "The Photographer" |
| 2000 | Home Farm Twins | Dotty Miller | Episode: "Sam and AJ Save the Day" |
| 2001 | Peak Practice | Eunice Gould | Episode: "Flesh and Blood" |
| 2005 | Midsomer Murders | Sonia Hardwick | Episode: "Sauce for the Goose" |
| 2005 | Cold Blood | Lynn | Episode: "Cold Blood" |
| 2007 | Foyle's War | Hilda Greenwood | Episode: "Bleak Midwinter" |
| 2008 | HolbyBlue | Annie | 1 episode |
| 2012 | Monroe | June Duggart | 1 episode |