Rosemarie Dunham

Rosemarie Dunham

† Dec 13 1924 – Dec 5 2016*

Probably best known for her portrayal of Edna, the sensual, if slightly careworn, landlady in 'Get Carter' (1971), acclaimed stage actress Rosemarie Dunham had previously appeared in a smattering of TV dramas, such as 'The Avengers', 'Z-Cars', 'No Hiding Place' and 'Gideon's Way', as well as a less-expected 'Benny Hill Show'. Born Rosemarie Tomlinson, daughter of a squadron leader stationed on the RAF base at Leuchars in Fife, she later took as her stage name the middle name of her first husband, noted television presenter and documentarist Michael Ingrams.           

Rosemarie Dunham (left) with Mary Kenton in a 1964
episode of the Victorian detective series 'Sergeant Cork'    

Vamping it up with Benny Hill in 1965

As a no-nonsense waitress in the first episode of  'Budgie'

After 'Get Carter' there were a few more feature films, such as 'The Divine Sarah' (1976) and 'Croupier' (1999), but more often straight-to-video stuff like 'Tai-Pan' (1986) and 'Lady Oscar' (1979).

Getting a little frisky with Jack Regan (John Thaw), deep
undercover as a hard-of-hearing shop assistant, in 'The Sweeney'

In an episode of the Kenneth More TV series of 'Father Brown'

Her later TV roles were a mixed bag too. From 'The Sweeney', 'The Return Of The Saint', 'Father Brown', 'Shoestring' and 'Bergerac', to soaps and daytime serials like 'Coronation Street', 'Crown Court', and 'The Cedar Tree'. Mostly she seems to have played tough, confident types, but in an impressive sweep from dowds to duchesses, including an impressively realist 'Play For Today' performance in 1973's 'Kisses At Fifty' with Bill Maynard.    

As boutique owner Sylvia in 'Coronation Street', dealing with
nightmare customer Hilda Ogden (Jean Alexander) in 1976

*Edit: Having heard of Rosemarie Dunham's death from her son, I've adjusted her dates to match the information he provided, including date of birth which must have been earlier than usually quoted.    

Rosemarie Dunham - imdb

Patricia Brake

Patricia Brake:

† Jun 25 1942 – May 28 2022

A British perennial with that winning mix of dolly-bird prettiness and an ear for comic dialogue, Patricia Brake might be familiar from the sitcom classic 'Porridge' as Fletcher's daughter Ingrid. She made an impression in one episode for her bra-less visit to Slade Prison, and later when she proves that she is wearing a bra by lifting her top up. She also appeared in the spin-off series 'Going Straight', but despite Barker and Beckinsale's best efforts the magic was noticeably absent.

 

In the forgotten US TV comedy 'The Ugliest Girl in Town'

As a sweet young British actress, she had been cast in the strange 1968 ABC sitcom, 'The Ugliest Girl in Town', the American network's attempt to tap into the swinging London phenomenon with Peter Kastner in drag following a London model over the pond. I don't think it was ever shown in the UK and it has come high in some 'worst TV shows of all time' lists, none of which is the fault of Patricia Brake who is glamorous and fun in it.

 

 

As Ingrid in 'Going Straight' with Ronnie Barker

 Very busy throughout the '60s and '70s, she appeared in dramas ranging from 'Lorna Doone' and 'Nicholas Nickleby' to the now lost David Hemmings serial 'Home Tonight' and 'No Hiding Place'. On the comedy front, she's in some you don't hear much about these days like 'Second Time Around' and 'Forget Me Not', as well as the more memorable; 'A Sharp Intake of Breath', 'Life Begins at Forty', the 1979 reboot of 'The Glums' and the aforementioned 'Porridge' and 'Going Straight'. I'm also intrigued by the sound of 'Mann's Best Friends' from 1985, with an impressive cast that features Fulton McKay, Bernard Bresslaw and Liz Smith, but I can't find anything much out about it.      



As Eth in the 1979 TV revival of the '50s favourite 'The Glums'.

Ian Lavender plays her ever-gormless beloved, Ron 

As the '80s progressed, she moved toward soap opera and potboiler dramas with roles in 'Emmerdale', 'EastEnders' and 'Coronation Street' (as Mike Baldwin's old flame/sister-in-law), also getting one of the main parts in the BBC's shortlived 'Eldorado'. After that, there's the predictable round of 'Midsomer Murders', 'Casualty', 'Holby City', 'Doctors' and 'The Bill', but also 'The Bounder'.

In a 2005 episode of 'Coronation Street' with Johnny Briggs

Movie roles include the oddball Peter Sellers piece 'The Optimists of Nine Elms' (1973) and the wrinkly romance 'Love/Loss' (2010). In  'My Lover My Son' (1970), she played the girlfriend of an unusually timid Dennis Waterman (she seems more comfortable with her fully nude scenes than Dennis does in his y-fronts), who is trying to escape the cloying influence of his mother, played by Romy Schneider. 

 

    

Dennis Waterman needs a bit of encouragement

for a change in 'My Lover My Son' (1970)

Patricia Brake-imdb

Zienia Merton

Zienia Merton:

† Dec 11 1945 – Sep 14 2018

With her elegant gamine good looks and sophisticated demeanour, Anglo/French/Burmese actress Zienia Merton was cast in a number of 'vaguely exotic' roles in her early days, including the 'Marco Polo' story strand from the William Hartnell-era Doctor Who (now sadly wiped), a Kashmiri girl in 'Tales from Rudyard Kipling', and as the middle-eastern Zeba Hameed in an episode of the 'Strange Report'. On the big screen, she turns up as an Indian priestess in 'Help!' (1965 ), and as Maoist Mata Hari, Ting Ling, in the Gregory Peck spy romp, 'The Most Dangerous Man in the World', aka 'The Chairman' (1969).

    

In 'The Most Dangerous Man in the World' (1969) 

Dennis Potter's (very racy for the time) 'Casanova' in 1971 saw her playing Cristina to a world-weary Frank Finlay's eponymous libertine. Although the screenplay was intended to highlight the sadness, religious guilt and regrets behind his great romantic reputation (it is Dennis Potter, after all), most people, Mary Whitehouse included, tended to remark on the indulgent use of nudity (did I mention Dennis Potter?).      

In 'Casanova', the BBC's most talked-about drama of 1971

However, it was the Gerry Anderson sci-fi drama 'Space: 1999' which ran for two seasons of 48 episodes and gave her international exposure. Playing sensitive officer Sandra Benes, she featured in most of the show's heavy-handed plots, as the Andersons attempted to prove that it wasn't a children's show. Personal melodramas and cod-mystic astro-psychedelia vied for prominence, as the kids waited patiently for some explosions and spaceships. 

Since her Moonbase days, she has been in an interesting mix of mundane and fantasy fare, from 'EastEnders', 'Coronation Street', 'Casualty' and 'The Bill', to 'Hammer House of Mystery & Suspense', 'Dinotopia', 'Wizards vs Aliens' and 'The Sarah Jane Mysteries', which ties in nicely with her early adventures in 'Doctor Who'.       

Zienia Merton officiating at the wedding of Sarah Jane Smith (the late Elizabeth Sladen),
until the Doctor (in this case Tennant) arrives to stop her marrying Nigel Havers      

Zienia Merton-imdb

Margaret Nolan

Margaret Nolan:

† Oct 29 1943 - Oct 5 2020 


Prodigiously busty blonde actress and glamour model who features prominently in some classic and not-so-classic British cinema of the '60s and '70s. The iconic opening titles of 'Goldfinger' (1964) feature scenes from the film projected on to her gold-painted body and lamé bikini, and she appears early in the film as Bond's Miami masseuse, and at the other end of the spectrum she is imprinted on the collective psyche as Dawn Brakes in 'Carry On Girls' (1973), wrestling with Miss Fircombe beauty contest rival Barbara Windsor, but wearing a silver bikini this time.        

 'Carry On Girls' (1973)

With Wilfrid Brambell in 'A Hard Day's Night' (1963)

Despite all the cheesecake and Carry Ons, she definitely proved comfortable with speaking roles and gave creditable performances in more serious TV favourites like the tough gangster serial 'Fox' and things like 'The Sweeney', 'The Persuaders' and 'Budgie'. More often than not, though, it was cheeky dollybird roles that beckoned, such as 'Q9', 'Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads', 'Steptoe & Son' and even the third-ever episode of 'Last of the Summer Wine' from 1973.     

As old flame Jackie in 'Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads'

With Valerie Leon in 'No Sex Please, We're British' (1975)

In recent years, she has taken up photo-montage, mainly working with glamour images of herself, which is an intriguingly empowering twist on a career defined by the male gaze. 

 

'Yeah Yeah Yeah (On White)'.
Photo-montage by Margaret Nolan, 2013

  


Margaret Nolan-imdb