Diane Keen
Diane Keen (born 29 July 1946) is an English actress, known for her portrayal of Fliss Hawthorne in the Granada sitcom "The Cuckoo Waltz" and Julia Parsons on the BBC soap opera "Doctors". She also appeared in Nescafé advertisements from 1980 to 1989. Early life and education. Born in London, Keen grew up in East Africa, principally Tanganyika and later Kenya, where her father was a civil engineer. She attended boarding school and returned to Britain at the age of 19, where she became a secretary for The Ivy League's fan club; this led to her releasing  a 45 r.p.m. single of "Sally Go 'Round the Roses" (credited as Dee King) on the Piccadilly label in 1966. Career. Keen was a regular on television during the 1970s and early 1980s, starring in long-running sitcoms such as "The Cuckoo Waltz", "Rings on Their Fingers", "Shillingbury Tales" and "You Must Be the Husband", and in two runs of the Thames Television children's historical costume drama "The Feathered Serpent". She also guest-starred in many shows, including "The Morecambe and Wise Show", and featured as Laura Dickens in the spy drama "The Sandbaggers". Keen had a part in  the film "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush" (1968) as Claire, Judy Geeson's university student friend, and appeared in an episode of "Budgie" as Barbara, a friend of Budgies girlfriend. She appeared in the 1977 spin-off film of 1970s TV detective series "The Sweeney". Keen starred as Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary ("Sissi") in episode one of the 13-part series "Fall of Eagles" (1974), and played Hilda in "The Professionals" series 1 episode "Killer With a Long Arm" in 1978. In 1980, she appeared as widowed restaurant owner Christina in Series 1 episode "The Dessert Song" of  Minder. She went on to star with David Jason in "A Touch of Frost". Keen starred for ten years in a series of advertisements for Nescafé coffee and made an appearance in an episode of "Taggart". In the next decade, she became a regular in the "Inspector Wexford" series, playing the wife of Wexford's D.I. Roles in "Brookside" and several other TV shows followed, including "New Tricks". Keen has appeared onstage, including in the Alan Ayckbourn play "Absent Friends" at the Bristol Old Vic, and in two acclaimed tours of "Same Time, Next Year". In 2013, she co-starred  in a British tour of "The Vagina Monologues". Soap opera roles. Keen was a series regular in the BBC soap opera "Doctors", playing practice manager Julia Parsons from 2003 to 2012. She reprised this role as Julia in March 2020 for a short stint. She also played Sandra Gould in "Crossroads" from 1968 to 1971, and the receptionist at the Feathers Hotel, Connelton in "Emmerdale" in 1972. Personal life. She has one daughter, Melissa, by her marriage to Paul Greenwood, which ended in divorce in 1979. Her granddaughter, Siena Pugsley, played the role of her on-screen granddaughter in "Doctors