Patricia Greene

Last updated

Patricia Greene
MBE
Born
Patricia Honor Greene

1931 (age 93–94)
Allenton, Derby, England
Education Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
OccupationActress
Years active1957–present
Spouses
​
(divorced)​
Cyril Austen Richardson
​
​
(m. 1972⁠–⁠1986)​
Children1

Patricia Honor Greene (born 1931) [1] [2] is an English actress who is known for voicing matriarch Jill Archer in the radio serial The Archers . She has played the role continuously since 1957, making her the world's longest serving actor in a soap opera in any medium (radio, television or internet). Greene also briefly acted in television and film.

Contents

Early Life

Greene was born in Allenton, Derby, England, in the first quarter of 1931, [1] the second daughter of Edward Greene, a piano salesman, and his wife Agnes Johnson, a housewife. [3] Her grandfather, Edward Fitzgerald Greene, who lived in Derby, was a butler. Greene has recalled experiences of her mother having an extramarital affair, in which her mother would bring the man home and order Greene to not tell her father. She remarked that it was not the best way to bring up a child. [3] Her family moved to Campion Street in the New Zealand part of the city, where she attended Ashgate Infants School on Ashbourne Road. Later she moved to Kirk Street, Chester Green, attending St Paul's Junior School and the Parkfields Cedars Grammar School. [4]

Greene began working as a ward orderly at the Derbyshire Children's Hospital and in the sheet metal factory of Hawk Industries, but noticed her father crying at a theatre performance. She credited that moment with her wanting to become an actress as she wanted to make people emote. [3] She then went to the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London in 1951. [5] During a microphone technique class, a teacher told her that she would never be on television due to sounding like a "fairy in hockey boots". [3]

Career

In 1957, she auditioned for the role of Jill Archer in the BBC Radio 4 soap The Archers . She was preceded by six experienced radio actresses in the audition process and felt that she would not get it. [3] However, she was cast in the role and has remained since. [6] She found the first six weeks of appearing on The Archers tough due to her inexperience. She recalled that on her second day, she took stage directions too far and threw a glass of water over Norman Painting, who portrayed Phil Archer, and nearly electrocuted him. This impressed series creator Godfrey Baseley and he kept her on the series. [3]

Also in 1957, she had a small role in the TV Movie A Man For All Seasons.

In 1961, she starred as Anne in the British film The Kitchen and in 1964 she played Mary in the TV series It's a Woman's World.

In what are considered Greene's most famous on screen roles, she played various characters in the British soap Crossroads between 1965 and 1969.

She voiced her character Jill Archer for an episode of One Foot in the Grave in 1990.

In March 2000, she appeared in the first episode of the BBC medical soap opera Doctors as Margaret Richmond. She reprised the role a month later, as well as appearing in an episode of the BBC medical drama Casualty later in 2000. [7]

Personal life

Greene married English actor George Selway in 1959. They later divorced and she married Cyril Austen Richardson in 1972, with whom she had a son, born in 1972. She was widowed in 1986. [8] Greene was tempted to leave The Archers when her son was a toddler but felt a loyalty to the programme and stayed. [3]

In 2025, at age 93, Greene moved to an assisted living facility, where she continues to record for The Archers. [9]

Honours

Greene was awarded the MBE in 1997 [10] and was conferred an honorary Master of Arts degree by the University of Derby in 2017. [11]

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1957–present The Archers Jill Archer (voice)Radio series; regular role
1957A Man for All SeasonsWomanTelevision film
1961 The Kitchen AnneFilm
1964It's a Woman's WorldMary1 episode
1965–1969 Crossroads Margaret Robson
Mrs. Lynch
Mrs. Grey		Various roles
1990 One Foot in the Grave Jill Archer (voice)1 episode
2000 Doctors Margaret Richmond 2 episodes
2000 Casualty Ivy Watson1 episode

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 "Greene Patricia H", Births March 1931, Derby vol. 7b, p. 92, freebmd.org, accessed 7 January 2025
  2. ↑ "Patricia Greene MBE". nationaltrust.org.uk. National Trust. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Archers star Patricia Greene: Tutor said I'd never be a broadcaster". Belfast Telegraph . 27 December 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  4. ↑ Ashworth, Pat (19 May 2011). "Derby Born star of The Archers Patricia Greene". Great British Life. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  5. ↑ Hawley, Zena (14 July 2017). "Longest serving soap actress Patricia Greene receives honorary degree from the University of Derby". Derbyshirelive. Local World. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  6. ↑ "The Archers' Patricia Greene celebrates 60 years of playing Jill Archer". irishnews.com. The Irish News. 25 July 2017. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  7. ↑ Hawley, Zena. "Longest serving soap actress Patricia Greene receives honorary degree from the University of Derby". Derby Telegraph . Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  8. ↑ Harvey, Chris (24 July 2017). "The Archers' Patricia Greene: 'I only get £16,000 a year - the BBC salary bill is obscene'". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  9. ↑ "Iconic Archers actress continuing work from Marlow care home". bucksfreepress.co.uk. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  10. ↑ "No. 54794". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 13 June 1997. p. 17.
  11. ↑ "Patricia Greene MBE". University of Derby. July 2017. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
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