Sheila Fearn:
A
little bit of glamour now, of the wholesome British sort. The lovely
Sheila Fearn, who managed to embody both confident sexiness and a
down-to-earth mix of good humour and common sense. This impression
probably stems largely from two of her best-known roles; as Terry
Collier's sister Audrey in 'The Likely Lads' and as the witty and
unaffected Anne Fourmile in 'George & Mildred'.
Other
golden-era TV appearances include 'The Avengers', 'Z-Cars', 'Adam
Adamant Lives', and even an episode of ' The Beverly Hilbillies' where
they come to live in an English castle (it's one of the colour series
from 1967, I don't know if it ever aired in the UK). She never seemed to
hit the big time on the cinema screen, but her few minor roles are in
some interesting films, such as 'Billy Liar' (1963), 'Catch Us If You
Can' (1965), and an unusually unsympathetic turn as Kevin's mother in
'Time Bandits' (1981) alongside stalwart David Daker. In later years she showed up as Timothy's would-be girlfriend in the depressing Ronnie Corbett TV comedy 'Sorry!' (see also Roy Holder), but faded from sight in the '80s.
At one point, her Wikipedia entry contained a suggestion that her career was brought to an abrupt halt by injury
in a serious accident, much as her 'George & Mildred' co-star Norman Eshley's was, although hers was described as a (rather unlikely-sounding) mountaineering fall. This may have been some sort of unedited wiki-mischief, as currently it just says that she retired from acting in 1988.
 |
| 'The Likely Lads' |
 |
| 'The Avengers' - Murdersville |
 |
| 'Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?' |
 |
| 'George and Mildred' |
Sheila Fearn - imdb
Remember her well, particularly as Mrs Fourmile. Forgot that she was the telephonist in Billy Liar.
ReplyDeleteShe'll always be Audrey to me. It never occurred to me that the show was apparently set in Newcastle, but no one had a local accent, James Bolam being a Mackem, Rodney Bewes from Yorkshire I think.
ReplyDeleteI remember her being a 60s Dolly Bird type, at a fairground in that Adam Adamant Lives episode. Maybe time to get the Dvds out again?
Keep up the stirling work...
Quando ero ragazzino e vedevo la mitica serie "George &Mildred,Sheila Fearn era la mia attrice preferita,ed ero perdutamente innamorato di lei...un saluto ed un grosso bacione da Palermo, Italia.
DeleteSapete qual è il sogno della mia vita? Incontrare Sheila Fearn!! É la donna ideale,la donna piú bella che abbia mai visto!! Sheila dove sei?
ReplyDeleteSapete qual è il sogno della mia vita? Incontrare Sheila Fearn!! É la donna ideale,la donna piú bella che abbia mai visto!! Sheila dove sei?
ReplyDeleteI'll need to dig the book out, but if I recall correctly Sheila was one of numerous cast members interviewed - excluding James Bolam of course but not his wife Susan Jameson - for Richard Webber's history of the Likely Lads. I think Sheila married a hotelier and at that point (1999) was thinking of moving to the States.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know if Sheila has a family, children? Always wondered that. Not very much online about her
DeleteSheila unfortunately couldn't have children, one of the papers did an interview with her in 1978 where she said she and her husband were considering adopting, I don't know if they ever did though. In the article she came across as a very nice person.
DeleteAs Mrs Fourmile: wow!
ReplyDeletewent to humberstone junior school with her. could'nt get married at 11yrs or I'd have asked her. I think she preferred brian hamblin to me. bob (robin) McMahahon.
ReplyDeletebriliant underated actress hood to re runs of george and mildred on itv 3 lunchtime had a big crush on her like many lads growing up in the 70s 80s .
ReplyDeleteI had a crush on her when I was a School Boy
ReplyDeleteLovely Sheila, gorgeous looks,and great actress.
ReplyDeleteLove Sheila so Sexy but kind of reserved.
ReplyDelete