Actress Jean Marsh who co-created and starred in iconic Upstairs, Downstairs dies aged 90 after decades-long career
THE actress Jean Marsh, who co-created and starred in the iconic show Upstairs, Downstairs, has died aged 90.
The legend died at her London home on Sunday from complications with dementia.
The news was confirmed by her close friend, filmmaker Sir Michael Lindsay-Hogg – who said she “died peacefully in bed looked after by one of her very loving carers”.
Jean starred in the iconic show Upstairs, Downstairs between 1971 to 1975 in England and from 1974 to 1977 in the US – throwing her into the limelight both sides of the Atlantic.
She earned seven Emmy awards for her part in the show, including the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in 1975 – as well as a BAFTA and a Peabody award.
The series was set in Edwardian England and followed the lives of the wealthy Bellamy family and their servants.
Jean played the role of Rose Buck, the head parlour maid – a firm but loveable Cockney who soon became a fan favourite.
In a touching tribute, Sir Michael said: “You could say we were very close for 60 years.
“She was as wise and funny as anyone I ever met, as well as being very pretty and kind, and talented as both an actress and writer.
“An instinctively empathetic person who was loved by everyone who met her.
“We spoke on the phone almost every day for the past 40 years.”
Upstairs, Downstairs, which is widely hailed as a precursor to Downtown Abbey, had originally been written as a comedy – before finding success as a drama.
It was co-created by Jean and fellow actress Eileen Atkinds – both of whom had family members in the domestic service.
Jean reprised her role in a BBC revival of the show that ran between 2010 and 2012.
A minor stroke forced her to take a break in 2011, but she later returned to work.
Jean was also famous for co-creating The House of Elliott, a BBC drama that ran from 1991 to 1994 – and for her several roles in Doctor Who.
Most notably, she played Sara Kingdom, William Hartnell’s short-lived companion Sara Kingdom, in the 1965 episode The Daleks’ Master Plan – one of the first female characters in the show’s history.
She then reappeared as a villain opposite the Seventh Doctor.
Her links to the franchise extended to her personal life too – as she married Jon Pertwee, the Third Doctor, in 1955.
The pair split in 1960 but are believed to have remained friends.
Jean was born in Stoke Newington, north London, in 1934.
Her mum worked in a bar and as a theatre dresser, while her dad was a handyman and printer’s assistant.
She enrolled in acting, singing and ballet classes as a child, later telling The Guardian: “If you were very working class in those days, you weren’t going to think of a career in science.
“You either did a tap dance or you worked in Woolworth’s.”
She made her on-screen debut at 18 in The Infinite Shoeblack – and the following year appeared as the landlady’s daughter in the mystery thriller, The Limping Man.
In 1959, she travelled to the US to appear in John Gielgud’s Broadway production of the Shakespeare play Much Ado About Nothing – in which she played the virtuous young woman, Hero.
She further entrenched herself in the States with appearances in The Moon and Sixpence with Laurence Olivier – as well as an episode of The Twilight Zone.
Her other acting credits include Cleopatra in 1963, Frenzy in 1972, The Eagle Has Landed in 1976, The Changeling in 1980, Return to Oz in 1985, Willow in 1988, Fatherland in 1994, and Monarch in 2000.
In 2012, Jean was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for her services to drama.
Tributes have poured in from fans of the beloved actress on social media, with one writing: “I’m truly sad today to hear we’ve lost the wonderful Jean Marsh.
“She was a brilliant actress and a talented writer. I loved her so much as Rose Buck in Upstairs, Downstairs.”
Another wrote: “Absolutely gutted & devastated to hear Jean Marsh has passed away.
“While most Whovians remember her from Battlefield & Daleks’ Master Plan, I think of her more from Ghost Hunter.
“This was before I saw her in Dr Who. She sent chills down my spine in that. RIP legend.”