| Birth Name: | Jeannette Dorothea Louise Clark |
| Birth Date: | 15 October 1927 |
| Birth Place: | London, England |
| Death Place: | Great Baddow, Essex, England |
| Occupation: | Actress |
| Years Active: | 1972–2014 |
| Known For: | Resemblance to Queen Elizabeth II |
| Children: | 3 |
Jeannette Dorothea Louise Charles (née Clark; 15 October 1927 – 2 June 2024) was a British actress noted for her portrayals of Queen Elizabeth II, with The Guardian branding her "the Queen's most famous lookalike".[1] [2]
Jeannette Clark was born in Marylebone, London, in 1927.[2] [3] Her father, Alfred, was a restaurateur, and her mother, who was born Yetta Wonsoff, was a Dutch immigrant originally from Poland.[2] Clark was noted for her resemblance to then-Princess Elizabeth as early as age eleven.[2]
She had always aspired to an acting career, but could not afford the cost of attending RADA, and had trouble getting audiences to overlook her resemblance.[4] She instead became an au pair, living in Midland, Texas, US, in the early 1950s.[2] [5] While there, she met Ken Charles, a fellow British expat who was working as an oil engineer; they married in 1957 and lived across North America, South America, and Africa as part of his job, before returning to the United Kingdom from Libya in 1969.[2]
Charles and her family settled in Essex.[2] In 1972, a painting she commissioned of herself in her forties (as a present for her husband) was displayed by the artist at the Royal Academy in London, where it was taken to be a portrait of the Queen. On the assumption the painting was of the Queen, it was disqualified as portraits had to be painted from life. When it was revealed that it was not the Queen, Charles (as the actual subject of the painting) received a great deal of press attention, and started receiving offers to portray the Queen in print advertisements.[4]
After studying the Queen's voice, as well as her appearance, Charles began making in-character personal appearances at trade shows and corporate events, and soon broadened into film. Charles played the role of Queen Elizabeth II in many films including Secrets of a Superstud (1976), Queen Kong (1976), The Rutles' movie All You Need Is Cash (1978), National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985), (1988) and Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002). Foreign governments hired her to stand in for the Queen during preparations for state visits, to allow officials to rehearse protocol.
Charles was a monarchist and refused offers she felt would be disreputable to the Queen as well as herself, such as declining to pose for a Playboy centrefold.[4] [6] Once, when invited to an event in which Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother would also be present, she did not agree to appear until she received confirmation from Clarence House that the Queen Mother would not be offended.[6]
Charles also appeared as a semi-regular in Spike Milligan's Q series on BBC Television[6] and appeared on Channel 4's Big Brother 10 to surprise the Brazilian contestant Rodrigo Lopes (who thought he was meeting the real Queen Elizabeth II for a task).
Charles also appeared in Saturday Night Live episode Season 2, Episode 20 in 1977[7] and Mind Your Language episode Season 2, Episode 2, "Queen for a Day", in 1978. She published a memoir in 1986.[6]
Charles retired in 2014,[4] and lived in Danbury, Essex.[8] She died in a care home Great Baddow on 2 June 2024, at the age of 96.[9] Her husband Ken, with whom she had three children, had died in 1997.[2] [10]