Anne Stallybrass(1938-2021)

Anne Stallybrass was born and raised in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex. She wanted to be an actress from a very young age and was encouraged in her ambition at the convent school she attended. After three years training at the Royal Academy of Music, where she won the Drama Gold Medal, Anne began her professional acting career by spending several years in repertory, gaining experience in Folkstone, Kent, before moving to Nottingham and then Sheffield. Her first appearance on television was in Emergency-Ward 10 (1957) in September 1964, which was followed in 1965 by two productions for the BBC's Theatre 625 (1964), The World of George Orwell: Keep the Aspidistra Flying (1965) and Portraits from the North: Bruno (1965); and "Love on the Dole for Granada" in January 1967. However, it was her role as "Jane Seymour" in The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970) in January 1970 that really brought Anne to prominence, followed eighteen months later by The Onedin Line (1971) which made household names of both her and her co-star, Peter Gilmore. Indeed, while the second series of The Onedin Line (1971) was broadcast on BBC1, Anne could be seen simultaneously in another major drama - playing "Anna Strauss" in ATV's The Strauss Family (1972). To the regret of her many fans, after two years playing the much loved wife of "James Onedin", the actress decided to leave the series, partly to pursue other roles but also due to fears of becoming typecast. Indeed, through her roles as "Jane Seymour", "Anne Onedin", "Anna Strauss" and later "Susan Henchard", Anne gained a reputation for playing long-suffering wives.

During the late 1970s and 1980s, Anne appeared frequently on British television. Of particular note, were Granada's thirteen-part This Year Next Year (1977), the BBC children's series The Peppermint Pig (1977) (both 1977), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1978), "Dark Secret" for LWT's Sunday Night Thriller (1981), two series of Flying Lady (1987) for Yorkshire TV (1987 and 1989), and the sci-fi series Knights of God (1987). More recently, Anne's TV appearances have been mainly guest and one-off roles such as Queen Elizabeth II in Diana: Her True Story (1993), as well, of course, as playing "Eileen Reynolds" in Heartbeat (1992) for 2½ years.

In addition to her many television roles, Anne has made numerous theatre appearances, notably in the 1973 premiere of Glasstown, the "My Fat Friend" tour in 1976 with John Inman, "Bodies" (1978), and "Time and Time Again" (1983). She has also been in a few films though none have been lead roles, and recorded many radio plays for the BBC. Anne won the 1972 TV Times Best Actress on TV award for her role as "Anna Strauss". She was also nominated for Best Actress by the Society of Film & Television Arts (now the BAFTAs) for The Onedin Line (1971).

On a personal note, Anne has been married twice and has no children. She met her first husband, Roger Rowland, whilst working in Nottingham and married him in 1963. The couple separated after nine years of marriage and later divorced. Peter Gilmore's second marriage broke up not long after and the friendship between the two The Onedin Line (1971) stars gradually developed, they fell in love and moved in together. In 1987, after ten years together, Anne and Peter married. They lived in Barnes, west London and had a small cottage, which they called Onedin House, in Dartmouth, Devon, which was used as a filming location for The Onedin Line (1971).