Gwen Taylor

Gwen Taylor
Gwen Taylor
Born	19 February 1939; Derby, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1972–present
Spouse(s)	Graham Reid (m. after 1996)

Gwen Taylor (born 19 February 1939)[1] is an English actress who has appeared in many British television programmes. She is known for her roles as Amy Pearce in the sitcom Duty Free (1984–86); Barbara Liversidge in the sitcom Barbara (1999–2003); Peggy Armstrong in the drama series Heartbeat (2005–09), and Anne Foster in the soap opera Coronation Street (2011–12). She was nominated for the 1990 BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for her role as Rita Simcock in the comedy series A Bit of a Do (1989). Her film appearances include Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) and The Lady in the Van (2015).

Biography

Taylor was born in Crich, Derbyshire. Her initial career was in banking, but when she was an assistant area manager for the National Provincial Bank in Derby she became increasingly interested in amateur dramatics. Her first professional acting role was as a Green Bean in 'Jack and the Beanstalk' at the Derby Playhouse.

Gwen Taylor trained at East 15 Acting School, London. She played Pamela Dean, the sister of the murder victim Victor Dean, in Murder Must Advertise (1973). In 1975 she played the role of Jack Regan’s girlfriend, a probation officer named Anne Knightley in fourth episode of the second series of the British police drama, The Sweeney: episode Big Brother.

Later in the 1970s, she was one of the regulars on Eric Idle's Rutland Weekend Television. She also appeared in other Monty Python spin-offs such as The Life of Brian and Ripping Yarns, and as Chastity and Mrs. Mountbatten in the Beatles parody All You Need Is Cash. On the film's DVD commentary Eric Idle described her as 'the best comedy actress I ever worked with. She could do anything'. However, she turned down a role in The Meaning of Life as she thought that being covered in intestines as a man exploded in a restaurant would be "tasteless".

In 1990 she was nominated for a BAFTA as Best Actress for her role in A Bit of a Do opposite Sir David Jason. Between 2005 and 2009 she played the role of Peggy Armstrong in the drama Heartbeat. In July 2011 it was announced that Gwen Taylor would be joining the cast of Coronation Street, playing Anne, the mother of Frank Foster.[1] She departed the series after her character was revealed as the killer of her rapist son on 19 March 2012. In November 2012 she appeared with Don Warrington in the stage version of Driving Miss Daisy on a UK-wide tour.

Taylor played various roles in Tracey Ullman's Show on the BBC in 2016 and 2017, and played Lillian in an episode of the Sky 1 sitcom Trollied in 2018.

Personal life

Taylor is married to the playwright Graham Reid, married in 1996. They live in London.[2] She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014 but has since recovered.[3]

Selected filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
Film
1979	Monty Python's Life of Brian	Mrs. Big Nose/Woman with sick donkey/Young Girl
1980	Richard's Things	Margaret
2015	The Lady in the Van	Mam
2017	Small Town Killers	Miss Nippleworthy	Original Denmark title: Dræberne fra Nibe
2017	Another Mother's Son	Lily Vibert
Television
1973	Play for Today: Land of Green Ginger	Sally Brown
1973	Murder Must Advertise	Pamela Dean	Miniseries (2 episodes)
1974	John Halifax, Gentleman	Ursula March	Miniseries (5 episodes)
1975	The Nearly Man	Dorothy Hibbert
1976	Within These Walls	Miss White
1977	Middleman	Fay
1979	Ripping Yarns	Eileen Ottershaw	BBC sitcom (1 episode)
1980	Sounding Brass	Cynthia Wildgoose
1981	Only When I Laugh	Victoria Plumtree	ITV sitcom (1 episode)
1984	Play for Today: A Coming to Terms for Billy	Mavis Martin
1984–86	Duty Free	Amy Pearce	ITV sitcom (22 episodes)
1988	Yes, Prime Minister	Agnes Moorhouse	BBC sitcom (1 episode)
1989	A Bit of a Do	Rita Simcock	BAFTA TV Award nomination (13 episodes)
1989	Sob Sisters	Liz
1991	The Sharp End	Celia Forrest
1992	Screaming	Annie
1993	Conjugal Rites	Gen Masefield	ITV sitcom (13 episodes)
1997	A Perfect State	Laura Fitzgerald
1997	Pilgrim's Rest	Tilly
1995, 1999–2003	Barbara	Barbara Liversidge	ITV sitcom (29 episodes)
2002	Midsomer Murders	Frances LeBon	Episode "Ring Out Your Dead"
2003	Born and Bred	Dora Brisley	British comedy drama (2 episodes)
2009	Doc Martin	Mrs Selkirk	Episode "The Departed"
2005–10	Heartbeat	Peggy Armstrong	ITV drama (98 episodes)
2011–12	Coronation Street	Anne Foster	ITV soap opera (47 episodes)
2016–17	Tracey Ullman's Show	Various	BBC Comedy sketch show (6 episodes)
2018	Trollied	Lillian	Sky 1 sitcom (1 episode)

References

"Actress Gwen shows naked ambition at 72 as she lands a role in Corrie". Derby Telegraph. 21 July 2011. Archived from the original on 1 October 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
"Gwen Taylor: Me & my money". This is Money. 24 January 2007. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
Fieldhouse, Christine (12 May 2015). "Gwen Taylor reveals she was lucky to have her early cancer diagnosis | Life & Style". Daily Express. Retrieved 26 February 2018.

External links

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[TID-1] "Actress Gwen shows naked ambition at 72 as she lands a role in Corrie". Derby Telegraph. 21 July 2011. Archived from the original on 1 October 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2011.

[2] "Gwen Taylor: Me & my money". This is Money. 24 January 2007. Retrieved 26 February 2018.

[3] Fieldhouse, Christine (12 May 2015). "Gwen Taylor reveals she was lucky to have her early cancer diagnosis | Life & Style". Daily Express. Retrieved 26 February 2018.