Sheila Fearn | |
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Born | Leicester, England | 3 October 1940
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1957–1988 |
Sheila Fearn (born 3 October 1940 in Leicester) is an English retired actress best known for playing Audrey, the sister of Terry Collier in BBC situation comedies The Likely Lads and Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? , and also as Ann Fourmile, the next door neighbour in the Thames Television sitcom George and Mildred .
Fearn attended Gateway Girls Grammar School on Elbow Lane in Leicester, which closed in 1960.
On film, Fearn appeared in Billy Liar (1963), Catch Us If You Can (1965) and Time Bandits (1981), as well as the film versions of both The Likely Lads (1976) and George and Mildred (1980). Fearn's other television credits include Adam Adamant Lives! , Paul Temple , Crown Court , East of Ipswich by Michael Palin, Emergency Ward 10 , Thriller (1 episode, 1974), Walter , Z-Cars and The Avengers . She also played Freddie, a girlfriend of Ronnie Corbett's character Timothy, in Sorry! She also appeared many times with The Scaffold.
Likely Lads writer Ian La Frenais said of her "she was sexy and funny and she knew John Lennon. Sheila always found time for everyone, and I now think of her and Audrey with great affection". [1]
Fearn retired from acting in 1988 aged 48 after breaking a leg during a fall from a mountain, leaving her with a pronounced limp, which made her believe casting directors would no longer be inclined to employ her.
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1963 | Coronation Street | Gloria Dee | 2 episodes |
1963 | Billy Liar | Telephonist | Uncredited |
1963–64 | Emergency Ward 10 | Nurse Elizabeth Benskin | 7 episodes |
1964 | A Hard Day's Night | Makeup-lady | Uncredited |
1964–66 | The Likely Lads | Audrey Collier | 9 episodes |
1965–76 | Z-Cars | Greer Hatton / Gwen Newcombe / Josie Benson / Lucy Morrison | 5 episodes |
1965 | The Wednesday Play | Ann Johnson | Episode: "Wear a Very Big Hat" |
1965 | Catch Us If You Can | Shirley | Uncredited |
1965 | Dixon of Dock Green | Pat Rogers | Episode: "The Intruders" |
1965–66 | The Big Spender | Polly | 6 episodes |
1966 | Weavers Green | Sue Patterson | 3 episodes |
1966 | Adam Adamant Lives! | Susie | Episode: "Death Has a Thousand Faces" |
1966 | Drama 61-67 | Loretta Mays | Episode: "Drama '66: A Hero of Modern Industry" |
1967 | Armchair Theatre | Roma | Episode: "A World of Time" |
1967 | No Hiding Place | Jennifer Hemlyn | Episode: "A Murder Is a Murder" |
1967 | The Beverly Hillbillies | Young lady | Episode: "Clampett Castle" |
1967 | The Avengers | Jenny | Episode: "Murdersville" |
1968 | Public Eye | Valerie Kitson | Episode: "If This Is Lucky, I'd Rather Be Jonah" |
1968 | The Expert | Jean Chambers | Episode: "Nice Day" |
1969 | Barrister at Law | Catherine Brent | TV movie |
1969 | Special Branch | Det. Sgt. Sarah Gifford | Episode: "The Children of Delight" |
1969 | Hadleigh | Shirley Spence | Episode: "For Those in Peril" |
1970 | Paul Temple | Leda Bailey | Episode: "The Man from the Sea" |
1971 | Trial | Gwen Chappell | Episode: "Good People" |
1972 | Thirty-Minute Theatre | Audrey | Episode: "An Arrow for Little Audrey" |
1972 | New Scotland Yard | Joan Prentice | Episode: "And When You're Wrong" |
1972–74 | Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? | Audrey Collier | 11 episodes |
1973 | ITV Sunday Night Theatre | Barbara | 11 episodes |
1973 | Love Story | Sally | Episode: "Walter" |
1974 | Thriller | Prudence Claire | Episode: "Sign It Death" |
1975 | Spy Trap | Mrs. Church | Episode: "A Nice Place to Live" |
1975 | Crown Court | Mrs. Deborah Todd | Episode: "A Nice Place to Live" |
1976 | The Likely Lads | Audrey Collier | |
1976–80 | George and Mildred | Ann Fourmile | 38 episodes |
1977–78 | The Flockton Flyer | Kathy Carter | 6 episodes |
1978 | Parables | Carol Wibberley | Episode: "Neighbours" |
1980 | George and Mildred | Ann Fourmile | |
1981 | Time Bandits | Kevin's mother | |
1982 | Sorry! | Freddie | 3 episodes |
1987 | Screen Two | Mrs Hargreaves | Episode: "East of Ipswich" |
1988 | News at Twelve | Iris Swindley | 6 episodes, (final appearance) |
The Likely Lads is a British sitcom created and written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais and produced by Dick Clement. Twenty episodes were broadcast by the BBC, in three series, between 16 December 1964 and 23 July 1966. However, only ten of these episodes have survived.
Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? is a British sitcom which was broadcast on BBC1 between 9 January 1973 and 9 April 1974. It was the colour sequel to the mid-1960s hit The Likely Lads. It was created and written, as was its predecessor, by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. There were 26 television episodes over two series, and a subsequent 45-minute Christmas special was aired on 24 December 1974. The show won the BAFTA Television Award for Best Situation Comedy in 1974.
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet is a British comedy-drama television programme about seven British construction workers who leave the United Kingdom to search for employment overseas. In the first series, the men live and work on a building site in Düsseldorf. The series was created by Franc Roddam after an idea from Mick Connell, a bricklayer from Stockton-on-Tees, and mostly written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, who also wrote The Likely Lads, Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? and Porridge. It starred Tim Healy, Kevin Whately, Jimmy Nail, Timothy Spall, Christopher Fairbank, Pat Roach and Gary Holton, with Noel Clarke replacing Holton for series three and four and the two-part finale. The series were broadcast on ITV in 1983–1984 and 1986. After a sixteen-year gap, two series and a Christmas special were shown on BBC One in 2002 and 2004.
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Dick Clement is an English writer, director and producer. He became known for his writing partnership with Ian La Frenais for television series including The Likely Lads, Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?, Porridge, Lovejoy and Auf Wiedersehen, Pet.
Ian La Frenais is an English writer best known for his creative partnership with Dick Clement. They are most famous for television series including The Likely Lads, Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?, Porridge and its sequel Going Straight, Lovejoy and Auf Wiedersehen, Pet.
James Christopher Bolam is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Terry Collier in The Likely Lads and its sequel Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?, Jack Ford in When the Boat Comes In, Roy Figgis in Only When I Laugh, Trevor Chaplin in The Beiderbecke Trilogy, Arthur Gilder in Born and Bred, Jack Halford in New Tricks and the title character of Grandpa in the CBeebies programme Grandpa in My Pocket.
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Rodney Bewes was an English television actor and writer who portrayed Bob Ferris in the BBC television sitcom The Likely Lads (1964–66) and its colour sequel Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (1973–74). Bewes' later career was of a much lower profile, but he continued to work as a stage actor.
Brigit Dorothea Mills, better known by her stage name Brigit Forsyth, was an English-born Scottish actress, best known for her roles as Thelma Ferris in the BBC comedy Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? and Helen Yeldham in the ITV drama Boon. From 2013 to 2019, Forsyth appeared in the BBC comedy Still Open All Hours.
Stephanie Turner is an English actress. She is best known for the lead role of Inspector Jean Darblay in the first three series of the 1980s television BBC police drama Juliet Bravo (1980–82).
Paul Angelis was an English actor and writer, best known for his role as PC Bruce Bannerman in the BBC police series Z-Cars and as Navy Rum in Porridge as well as doing many voices in the film Yellow Submarine.
The Likely Lads is a 1976 British comedy film directed by Michael Tuchner, starring James Bolam and Rodney Bewes. It is a spin-off from Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?, although it shares its title with the earlier 1960s British television series The Likely Lads, of which Whatever was the sequel.
Terence Daniel Collier is a character in British sitcoms The Likely Lads, Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?, and The Likely Lads film. He is played by Sunderland-born actor James Bolam.
George and Mildred is a 1980 British comedy film directed by Peter Frazer Jones. It was an adaptation of the television series George and Mildred, with Yootha Joyce and Brian Murphy reprising their roles as the two title characters. It was written by Dick Sharples.
Audrey Hepburn (1929–1993) was a British actress who had an extensive career in film, television, and on the stage. Considered by some to be one of the most beautiful women of all time, she was ranked as the third greatest screen legend in American cinema by the American Film Institute. Hepburn is also remembered as both a film and style icon. Her debut was as a flight stewardess in the 1948 Dutch film Dutch in Seven Lessons. Hepburn then performed on the British stage as a chorus girl in the musicals High Button Shoes (1948), and Sauce Tartare (1949). Two years later, she made her Broadway debut as the title character in the play Gigi. Hepburn's Hollywood debut as a runaway princess in William Wyler's Roman Holiday (1953), opposite Gregory Peck, made her a star. For her performance, she received the Academy Award for Best Actress, the BAFTA Award for Best British Actress, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama. In 1954, she played a chauffeur's daughter caught in a love triangle in Billy Wilder's romantic comedy Sabrina, opposite Humphrey Bogart and William Holden. In the same year, Hepburn garnered the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for portraying the titular water nymph in the play Ondine.
Audrey Collier is a character in the television series The Likely Lads, Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads and the film adaptation of The Likely Lads. She is portrayed by Sheila Fearn throughout the series.
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