Lesley Saweard

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Lesley Saweard
Born (1934-08-13) 13 August 1934 (age 90)
OccupationActress
Years active1953–2019
Known for The Archers (1953–2019)
Spouse
Geoffrey Lewis
(m. 1956;died 1997)
[1]

Lesley J. Saweard (born 13 August 1934 [2] ) [3] is a British retired actress. She played Christine Barford in the long-running radio soap opera, The Archers , from 1953 until 2019. [4]

Contents

Early life

Saweard was born in Grimsby, Lincolnshire to parents William and Hilda (née Kiddle). [5]

Career

Saweard began her career as a teacher, and also appeared in the local amateur dramatic society ‘Playgoers’. In 1953, she began playing the role of Christine Barford (the sister of established character Phil Archer) in BBC Radio 4 soap opera The Archers; she remained on the program until 2019, apart from a break during the 1960s, between 1962 and returning in 1968.

As of 2024, she was a volunteer for the Lincoln and Lindsey Blind Society, which produces an audio version of the newspapers in and around Louth. [6]

Personal life

Saweard lives in Louth. In 1956, she married Geoffrey Lewis, who she met on The Archers two years before. They had two children before his death in 1997. [4]

References

  1. "Lesley Saweard marriage record". FindMyPast . Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  2. Bird, Kenneth. "Meet the Archers" (PDF). luff.org.uk. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  3. "Lesley Saweard 'talking newspaper' volunteer aged 90". Lincolnshire News. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  4. 1 2 "Christine Barford". bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  5. "Parents marriage record". Find My Past . Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  6. Silverwood, Richard. "Star of 'The Archers' soap is now a talking newspaper volunteer in Louth - at age of 90". lincolnshireworld.com. Retrieved 11 July 2025.