| Jennifer Hilary | |
| Birth Name: | Jennifer Mary Hilary |
| Birth Date: | 1942 12, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Frimley, England |
| Death Place: | London, England |
| Alma Mater: | RADA |
| Occupation: | Actress |
| Yearsactive: | 1961–2007 |
Jennifer Mary Hilary (14 December 1942 – 6 August 2008)[1] was a British actress of stage, film and television. Her first acclaimed stage performance was as "Milly" in Henry James' The Wings of the Dove, which marked her debut in the West End.
Born at Frimley, Surrey, she trained at RADA, and began her acting career with the Liverpool Playhouse in April 1961, aged 18. Her first role was as Nina in The Seagull. She would go on to play such characters as Lady Teazle (The School for Scandal), Isabel (The Enchanted), Cilla Curtis (Amateur Means Lover) and Cecily Cardew (The Importance of Being Earnest). She went on to act with the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.[2]
She debuted across the pond in 1963, performing in Jean Anouilh's The Rehearsal.[3] In 1964, she played "Zoe" in the West End production of James Saunders' A Scent of Flowers. Sir Michael Redgrave included her in the cast of Turgenev's A Month in the Country in 1965.[4] She returned to New York to play the doomed "Sasha" in Chekhov's Ivanov at the Shubert Theatre in 1966.[5] Back in London, she played "Ginny" in the hit 1967 production of Alan Ayckbourn's Relatively Speaking.
Later in life she founded a flower-arranging business. In 2001, she provided the floral arrangements for actor Michael Williams's memorial service at Covent Garden.[6]
Hilary died from cancer in London on 6 August 2008, at the age of 65.[6] [7]
In 1961 she was awarded the Bancroft Gold Medal.[2]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | Becket | Peasant's Daughter | ||
| 1965 | Sigrid | |||
| 1966 | Sarah | |||
| 1971 | One Brief Summer | Jennifer | ||
| 1980 | North Sea Hijack | Sarah | ||
| 1982 | Five Days One Summer | Sarah Meredith | ||
| 1989 | Slipstream | Girl's Mother |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Deadline Midnight | Girl | 1 episode | |
| 1966 | Laura Fairlie / Anne Catherick | Main role | ||
| 1967 | ITV Play of the Week | Jacqueline | "A Roof Over Our Mouths" | |
| 1968 | Journey to the Unknown | Anne Prentiss | "The New People" | |
| 1969 | Gilly Atkinson | "Dr. Atkinson's Daughter" | ||
| 1969 | Stephanie Conroy | "Rough Trade" | ||
| 1969 | Department S | Comtesse de Noverre | "Death on Reflection" | |
| 1969 | Happy Ever After | "The Woman at the Door" | ||
| 1969 | ITV Sunday Night Theatre | Wendy / Sandra | "Pig in a Poke", "Two Feet Off the Ground" | |
| 1970 | ITV Sunday Night Theatre | Zo | "Jennie", "Emma", "Zo" | |
| 1971 | Out of the Unknown | Penny Bowers | "Welcome Home" | |
| 1971 | Jill Robbins | "Breaking Point", "The Lost Ones" | ||
| 1972 | Jason King | Myra Borgen | "If it's Got to Go – It's Got to Go" | |
| 1973 | Betty Hardy | TV film | ||
| 1974 | Late Night Drama | "Better at Murder" | ||
| 1974–75 | Sam | Sarah Wilson | Main role | |
| 1977 | Z-Cars | Val Murray | "Guilt" | |
| 1977 | Play for Today | Davina | "Charades" | |
| 1978 | Crown Court | Lynne Hanson | "In the Heat of the Moment: Part 1" | |
| 1978 | Lucy | "Alphabetical Order" | ||
| 1980 | Tales of the Unexpected | Wendy | "The Umbrella Man" | |
| 1980 | Elaine Lawson | "Maggie's Luck" | ||
| 1980 | Play for Today | Mrs. Champing | "The Adventures of Frank: Parts 1 & 2" | |
| 1981 | Jackanory | Blanche | "Alice Through The..." | |
| 1981 | Goonie | "In High Places" | ||
| 1982 | BBC2 Playhouse | Geraldine | "Lunch" | |
| 1983 | All for Love | Miss Martin | "Miss A and Miss M" | |
| 1984 | Dr. Sally Newbolt | "1.5" | ||
| 1984 | Frances Clyne | TV miniseries | ||
| 1985 | Me and My Girl | Laura Tindle | "Picture of Harmony" | |
| 1988 | Double First | Louise Hobson | TV series | |
| 1991 | Stay Lucky | Police Inspector | "Shingle Beach" | |
| 1994 | Pie in the Sky | Anne Hopkinson | "Undesirable Elements" | |
| 1995 | Zoya | Tsarina | TV film | |
| 1995 | Bliss | Tamara Bancroft | TV film | |
| 1999 | Midsomer Murders | Sarah Fitzroy | "Death of a Stranger" | |
| 2007 | Doctors | Clare Harris | "Once Bitten", (final television appearance) |