# Mary Peach

Mary E. Peach (20 October 1934 – 26 January 2025) was a South African-born British film and television actress.

## Early life and career

Mary E. Peach was born in Durban on 20 October 1934, to Cyrial and May Peach. After being nominated for a BAFTA Award as most promising newcomer for the 1959 film Room at the Top, she went on to appear on many British films and television series over the next 25 years. She starred opposite Rock Hudson in the film A Gathering of Eagles and in 1970 she appeared in the film Scrooge, a musical version of Dickens' A Christmas Carol starring Albert Finney.
Peach appeared as a regular in the television series Couples, Inside Story, the 1966 BBC adaptation of The Three Musketeers, Fox and the Doctor Who serial The Enemy of the World. Amongst her other television appearances she played Colonel Tanya Smolenko, a Russian counter espionage agent in The Saint episode "The Gadget Lovers" (1967) and starred opposite Ian McShane in Disraeli (1978).
When Diana Rigg left The Avengers in 1968, she was one of the actresses considered for the role of Steed's new assistant.

## Personal life and death

Peach married film producer Thomas Clyde on 18 May 1961 at the Chelsea Register Office in London. They met on the set of the 1960 film Follow That Horse!, which Clyde produced. The couple separated in the 1980s and later divorced. She later married to the screenwriter and director Jimmy Sangster from 1995 until his death in 2011.
Peach died on 26 January 2025, at the age of 90.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role |
| 1959 | Room at the Top | June Samson |
| 1959 | The Lady Is a Square | Mrs. Freddy |
| 1960 | Follow That Horse! | Susan Turner |
| 1961 | No Love for Johnnie | Pauline West |
| 1962 | A Pair of Briefs | Frances Pilbright |
| 1963 | A Gathering of Eagles | Victoria Caldwell |
| 1965 | Ballad in Blue | Peggy Harrison |
| 1966 | The Projected Man | Dr. Patricia Hill |
| 1970 | Scrooge | Harry's wife |
| 1988 | Grandmother's House | Fay |
| 1992 | Mothers and Daughters | Fay |
| 1995 | Cutthroat Island | Lady |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1957 | Esmé Divided | Gladys Pilcher | TV film |
| 1957 | Armchair Theatre | Lady Jane Graham | "The Human Touch" |
| 1958 | Armchair Theatre | Hilda Wangel / Asta | "The Master Builder", "The Rat Wife" |
| 1960 | Inside Story | Kathy Webb | TV series |
| 1961 | Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond | Jill Barrington | "Nightmare" |
| 1963 | ITV Television Playhouse | Jean Fowler | "The Outcasts" |
| 1966–67 | The Three Musketeers | Milady de Winter | TV series |
| 1967 | The Saint | Smolenko | "The Gadget Lovers" |
| 1967 | ITV Play of the Week | Helene Bang | "One Fat Englishman" |
| 1967 | Theatre 625 | Jane Dee | "The Magicians: Dr. Dee, Kelly and the Spirits" |
| 1967–68 | Doctor Who | Astrid Ferrier | Serial: The Enemy of the World |
| 1969 | W. Somerset Maugham | Violet Saffary | "The Back of Beyond" |
| 1971 | Hadleigh | Mrs. Billingham | "Invasion" |
| 1971 | The Ten Commandments | Hilda | "Hilda" |
| 1971 | ITV Sunday Night Theatre | Pat | "The Birthday Run" |
| 1972 | ITV Sunday Night Theatre | Angie / Angela | "A Marriage", "When the Music Stops" |
| 1972 | Love Story | Hannah | "A Memory of Two Loves" |
| 1973 | Play for Today | Elizabeth | "Access to the Children" |
| 1973 | Menace | Diana | "Valentine" |
| 1973 | Fixation | Kay Hughes | TV film |
| 1974 | Dial M for Murder | Linda Grady | "Whatever's Peter Playing At?" |
| 1975 | Rooms | Alison Richards | "Alison: Parts 1 & 2" |
| 1976 | Couples | Tricia Roland | TV series |
| 1976 | Can You Keep a Secret | Janet Pierce | TV film |
| 1976 | Cat on a Hot Tin Roof | Mae | TV film |
| 1977 | ITV Playhouse | Helen Johnson | "Blind Love" |
| 1978 | Crown Court | Dr. Ruth Wilkins | "The Song Not the Singer: Part 1" |
| 1978 | Disraeli: Portrait of a Romantic | Mary Anne Lewis | "Dizzy", "Mary Anne", "The Great Game 1858-1872" |
| 1980 | Fox | Peg | Guest role |
| 1982 | The Gentle Touch | Paula Livesey | "Cause and Effect" |
| 1983 | The Aerodrome | Florence | TV film |
| 1984 | The Far Pavilions | Mrs. Harlowe | TV miniseries |
| 1985 | A.D. | Peasant | "Part 1" |