| Birth Date: | 5 June 1943 |
| Birth Place: | Wigan, Lancashire, England |
| Occupation: | Actress |
| Years Active: | 1967–present |
Jane Lowe (born 5 June 1943) is an English actress. She is best known for portraying the roles of Aunt Blodwen in Lizzie Dripping (1973–1975), Mam in the BBC children's programme Jonny Briggs (1985–1987) and Monica Lindsey in the ITV drama Bad Girls (1999–2001). Throughout her career on stage and screen that has spanned over five decades, she has appeared in Coronation Street, The Bill and Doctors on numerous occasions as various characters and co-starred in the horror film The Creeping (2022).
Lowe was born on 5 June 1943 in Wigan, Lancashire.[1] [2] She began her acting career in 1967, appearing in six episodes of the ITV soap opera Crossroads as Mrs. Coburn, before making her stage debut the same year appearing in productions of The Heir and Bread and Butter at the Castle Theatre in Farnham.[3] Over the next five years, she had minor roles in drama series such as Mr. Rose, Crime Buster, Fraud Squad and Who-Dun-It. She also appeared in episodes of ITV Playhouse and ITV Sunday Night Theatre, as well as an episode of Coronation Street.[4] In 1972, Lowe portrayed Aunt Blodwen in an episode of Jackanory Playhouse which spawned into a spin-off series Lizzie Dripping the following year, and became Lowe's first regular acting job, portraying the character between 1973 and 1975.[4]
Lowe maintained her acting career throughout the next decade, portraying various guest roles in several television shows before appearing in as Mrs Cunliffe in 1982, and subsequently joining the cast of the 1984 BBC comedy drama Cockles as Mabel Gutteridge.[5] In 1985, Lowe began portraying Mam in the BBC children's television series Jonny Briggs, starring in both series before the show's cancellation in 1987.[6] [7] In 1990, Lowe appeared in Perfect Scoundrels as Mrs. Frobisher and portrayed Toni Spuhler in an episode of the BBC2 anthology series Performance in 1992.[8] In 1993, she made guest appearance in series' such as Gallowglass, May to December and Lovejoy.[9] She also appeared in Cracker (1995) and Hetty Wainthropp Investigates (1996).[4] Lowe also appeared in various stage productions including Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1992), The Card (1994) and My Mother Said I Never Should (1997).[10] [11]
In 1999, Lowe joined the cast of the ITV drama Bad Girls as Monica Lindsey, a middle-aged, middle-class woman who had been sentenced to five years imprisonment for handling stolen money.[12] [13] The character was released on appeal in the final episode of the first series, however Lowe briefly returned as Monica during the third series, in which she is seen having opened a halfway house for other prisoners.[14]
Lowe has since made regular appearances in television soap operas. She has appeared in the BBC medical soap opera Doctors on seven occasions in various roles, as well as appearing in The Bill five times and Coronation Street four times.[15] [16] She also appeared in an episode of the BBC sitcom Not Going Out in 2013.[17] In 2022, Lowe co-starred in the horror film The Creeping.[18] For her portrayal of Lucy Blakeley, she won the award for Best Supporting Actress at the Houston Horror Film Festival.[19] [20]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | Crossroads | Mrs. Coburn | 6 episodes | |
| 1968 | Mr. Rose | First woman | Episode: "The Unlucky Dip" | |
| 1968 | Crime Buster | Episode: "Howzat" | ||
| 1969 | Fraud Squad | Rose | Episode: "Anybody Here Seen Kelly?" | |
| 1969 | Who-Dun-It | Phillipa Best | Episode: "Crime at the Panto" | |
| 1969 | ITV Playhouse | Bucky Branch | Episode: "Ancient and Modern" | |
| 1971 | Coronation Street | Barbara Bromley | 3 episodes | |
| 1972 | ITV Sunday Night Theatre | Mrs. Boyle | Episode: "Whose Life Is It Anyway?" | |
| 1972 | Jackanory Playhouse | Aunt Blodwen | Episode: "Lizzie Dripping and the Orphans" | |
| 1973–1975 | Lizzie Dripping | Aunt Blodwen | Main role | |
| 1975 | Play for Today | Norma | Episode: "Wednesday Love" | |
| 1975 | Daft as a Brush | Factory worker's wife | Television film | |
| 1975 | Angels | Beryl | Episode: "Off Duty" | |
| 1975 | The Nearly Man | Phyllis | Episode: "Casualties: August 1975" | |
| 1976 | Westway | Paula Harvey | Main role | |
| 1976 | Coronation Street | Doreen Thornley | 1 episode | |
| 1977 | Play for Today | Public relations girl | Episode: "Spend Spend Spend" | |
| 1977 | Jubilee | Hilde | Episode: "Wind of Change" | |
| 1977 | Rooms | Aunt Rose | Recurring role | |
| 1978 | Z-Cars | Mrs. Thomas | Episode: "Quilley on the Spot" | |
| 1978 | Disraeli | Charlotte de Rothschild | Episode: "The Great Game 1858–1872" | |
| 1979 | Telford's Change | Mary | Episode: "The Philistines Of Sussex/Situation Vacant" | |
| 1979 | Crown Court | Sarah Fine | 3 episodes | |
| 1979 | The Strange Affair of Adelaide Harris | Mrs. Harris | 5 episodes | |
| 1979 | Leave It to Charlie | Dora Rickenbacker | Episode: "Ole Brown Eyes" | |
| 1969 | ITV Playhouse | Joanna | Episode: "Casting the Runes" | |
| 1980 | Ladykillers | Edna Baker | Episode: "Lucky, Lucky Thirteen!" | |
| 1980 | ITV Playhouse | Janice | Episode: "Hands" | |
| 1980 | Life for Christine | Headmistress | Television film | |
| 1982 | Mrs. Cunliffe | Main role, 7 episodes | ||
| 1984 | Cockles | Mabel Gutteridge | Main role | |
| 1985 | One by One | Mrs. Younger | Episode: "Pride of Place" | |
| 1985 | I Woke Up One Morning | Maureen | 1 episode | |
| 1985 | Late Starter | Jean | 3 episodes | |
| 1985–1987 | Jonny Briggs | Mam | Main role | |
| 1986 | The Bill | Mrs. Simpson | Episode: "Ringer" | |
| 1986 | The Practice | Miriam Raintree | 2 episodes | |
| 1989 | The Bill | Debbie's mother | Episode: "Street Games and Board Games" | |
| 1989 | Boon | Amelia Woods | Episode: "All in a Day's Pork" | |
| 1990 | Perfect Scoundrels | Mrs. Frobisher | Episode: "The Day of Jubilo" | |
| 1992 | Performance | Toni Spuhler | Episode: "Tales from Hollywood" | |
| 1993 | Gallowglass | Iris | 1 episode | |
| 1993 | May to December | Snooty customer | Episode: "Baby Love" | |
| 1993 | Lovejoy | Camilla | Episode: "A Going Concern" | |
| 1995 | Casualty | Alice Munton | Episode: "When All Else Fails" | |
| 1995 | Cracker | Landlady | Episode: "True Romance: Part 1" | |
| 1996 | Hetty Wainthropp Investigates | Alice Baynes | Episode: "Safe as Houses" | |
| 1996 | The Bill | Jean Booth | Episode: "Minding" | |
| 1997 | Wokenwell | Alma Watling | 1 episode | |
| 1997 | EastEnders | Brenda | 1 episode | |
| 1998 | The Bill | Carol Houghton | Episode: "The Parent Trap" | |
| 1998 | Peak Practice | Jayne Swift | Episode: "Once in a Lifetime" | |
| 1999 | The Blonde Bombshell | Millicent Lake | 1 episode | |
| 1999 | Four Fathers | Mrs. Pagel | 1 episode | |
| 1999–2001 | Bad Girls | Monica Lindsey | Main role | |
| 2000 | Heartbeat | Mrs. Edna Bostwick | Episode: "Child's Play" | |
| 2001 | Lies... In Love | Nancy's mother | Film | |
| 2001 | Down to Earth | Lady Wharton | 3 episodes | |
| 2001 | Doctors | Maeve Ripley | Episode: "Sleeping Beauty" | |
| 2002 | Crime and Punishment | Landlady | Television film | |
| 2002 | Judge John Deed | Mary Hay | Episode: "Nobody's Fool" | |
| 2003 | Silent Witness | Enid Parkin | Episode: "Beyond Guilt: Part 1" | |
| 2004 | Doctors | Barbara Martin | Episode: "Cuckoo in the Nest" | |
| 2005 | Holby City | Joyce Harris | Episode: "Thinking Outside the Box" | |
| 2005–2007 | Cold Blood | Mary Osbourne | 2 episodes | |
| 2005 | Spooks | Fiona's mother | Episode: "The Russian" | |
| 2006 | Housewife, 49 | Mrs Higham | Television film | |
| 2007 | Doctors | Cecily Langer | Episode: "Up, Up and Away" | |
| 2008 | Holby City | Kate Pervis | 2 episodes | |
| 2008 | The Royal | Mrs. Smythe | Episode: "Against All Odds" | |
| 2009 | Hustle | Miriam | Episode: "Politics" | |
| 2009 | Doctors | Elsa Scott | 3 episodes | |
| 2010 | The Bill | Margaret Cooper | Episode: "Time Bomb" | |
| 2010 | Moving On | Maureen | Episode: "Losing My Religion" | |
| 2011 | 7 Lives | Mary's mum | Film | |
| 2011 | Doctors | Mrs. Zelda Smith | Episode: "Night Thoughts" | |
| 2013 | Doctors | Evelyn Bowe | Episode: "Sweet Sixteen" | |
| 2013 | Casualty | Georgina Melbury | Episode: "What You Believe" | |
| 2013 | Not Going Out | Carol | Episode: "The House" | |
| 2015 | Emmerdale | Mrs. Biggs | 1 episode | |
| 2015 | Doctors | Eileen Grant | Episode: "Injecting a Little Spice" | |
| 2017 | Doctors | Alice Lawson | Episode: "Magpie" | |
| 2017 | Loose Ends | Biddy | Short film | |
| 2018 | Casualty | Valerie Clerk | Episode: "Rage in Resus" | |
| 2018 | Coronation Street | Bertha Plumtree | 1 episode | |
| 2020 | Coronation Street | Margaret Newsome | 3 episodes | |
| 2022 | The Creeping | Lucy Blakeley | Film | |
| Sources: | ||||
| Year | Title | Role | Venue | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | The Heir | Margherita | Castle Theatre, Farnham | |
| 1967 | Bread and Butter | Miriam (butter) | Castle Theatre, Farnham | |
| 1970 | What the Butler Saw | Mrs Prentice | Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch | |
| 1970 | Dead Silence | Mrs Masters | Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch | |
| 1970 | Someone Waiting | Vera Nedlow | Hippodrome, London | |
| Palace Theatre, Manchester | ||||
| 1971 | Barefoot in the Park | Mrs Banks | Liverpool Playhouse | |
| 1971 | The Woman in White | Marian Halcombe | Castle Theatre, Farnham | |
| 1974 | Candida | Candida Morell | Watford Palace Theatre | |
| 1979 | Saturday Sunday Monday | Royal Lyceum Theatre | ||
| 1984 | Mandragola | Sostrata | Royal National Theatre | |
| 1985 | A Man for All Seasons | Lady Alice More | Nottingham Playhouse | |
| 1985 | Me Mam Sez | Mam | Nottingham Playhouse | |
| 1987 | A Cuckoo in the Nest | Mrs Spoker | Redgrave Theatre, Farnham | |
| 1988–1989 | The Beaux' Stratagem | Lady Bountiful | ||
| 1989 | Death of a Salesman | Mrs Spoker | Redgrave Theatre, Farnham | |
| 1990 | Rebecca | Churchill Theatre | ||
| 1990 | The Entertainer | Phoebe Rice | Redgrave Theatre, Farnham | |
| 1991 | Steel Magnolias | M'Lynn | New Wolsey Theatre | |
| 1991 | Hay Fever | Judith Bliss | New Wolsey Theatre | |
| 1992 | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | Martha | New Wolsey Theatre | |
| 1992 | Medea | Woman of Corinth | Almeida Theatre | |
| 1993 | The Belle of Belfast City | Vi | Orange Tree Theatre | |
| 1994 | The Card | Mrs Machin | Regent's Park Open Air Theatre | |
| 1993–1994 | Medea | Woman of Corinth | Liverpool Playhouse | |
| Wyndham's Theatre | ||||
| 1996 | Romeo and Juliet | New End Theatre | ||
| 1996 | The Verge | Adelaide | Orange Tree Theatre | |
| 1997 | My Mother Said I Never Should | Margaret | The Young Vic Theatre | |
| 2000 | Venecia | Rita | Gate Theatre | |
| 2002 | Long Time No See | Freda | Stratford Circus | |
| 2003 | True West | Mom | Bristol Old Vic | |
| 2006 | Hedda Gabler | Aunt Juli | West Yorkshire Playhouse | |
| Liverpool Playhouse | ||||
| 2011 | Notes to Future Self | Daphne | Birmingham Repertory Theatre | |
| 2011 | Buried Child | Halie | Curve Theatre | |
| 2012 | Calcutta Kosher | Mozelle | Arcola Theatre | |
| 2013 | The Summer House | Tatiana | Soho Theatre | |
| 2013 | As Is | Hospice worker | Trafalgar Studios | |
| Sources: | ||||