Jane Asher | |
|---|---|
 Asher in 2008 | |
| Born | (1946-04-05)5 April 1946 (age 79) |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1952–present |
| Spouse | |
| Partner | Paul McCartney (1963–1968) |
| Children | 3 |
| Parents |
|
| Relatives | Peter Asher (brother) Victoria Asher (niece) |
Jane Asher (born 5 April 1946)[1] is an English actress and author. She achieved early fame as a child actress and through her association withPaul McCartney; she has worked extensively in film and TV throughout her career.
Asher has appeared in TV shows and films such asDeep End (1970),[2]The Masque of the Red Death (1964),Alfie (1966),The Mistress,Crossroads,Death at a Funeral (2007), andThe Old Guys. She also appeared in two episodes of the 1950s TV seriesThe Buccaneers alongsideRobert Shaw. She was famouslyPaul McCartney's girlfriend from 1963 to 1968.[3]
Asher has been nominated for theBAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for the filmDeep End and theBritish Academy Television Award for Best Actress for television performances inA Voyage Round My Father (1982) andLove Is Old, Love Is New (1982).[4][5]
Asher was born in London, the middle of three children born toRichard andMargaret Asher,née Eliot.[1] Her father was aconsultant in blood and mental diseases at theCentral Middlesex Hospital, as well as being a broadcaster and the author ofnotable medical articles. Her mother was a professor at theGuildhall School of Music and Drama. Asher was educated atNorth Bridge House School and Miss Lambert'sPNEU School for Girls atPaddington, then atQueen's College inHarley Street, London.[1][6] Asher's elder brother is record producer and managerPeter Asher,[7] who began his career as Peter ofPeter and Gordon.[8]
Asher was achild actress who appeared in the 1952 filmMandy and the 1955science fiction filmThe Quatermass Xperiment. She also played the title role in dramatised versions ofAlice in Wonderland andThrough the Looking-Glass in 1958 forArgo Records. In 1961 she co-starred inThe Greengage Summer, which was released in the United States asLoss of Innocence. She also appeared in the 1962 film and Disney TV programme,The Prince and the Pauper. Her British TV appearances included three episodes (1956–1958) of the ITV seriesThe Adventures of Robin Hood and as a panellist on theBBC'sJuke Box Jury.
Asher appeared inRoger Corman'sThe Masque of the Red Death (1964) withVincent Price, inAlfie oppositeMichael Caine in 1966, and inJerzy Skolimowski'sDeep End (1970) withJohn Moulder Brown.[citation needed]
Having played Alice herself as an 11-year-old child in the audio recordings ofAlice in Wonderland andThrough the Looking Glass in 1958, Asher played the real Alice's (Alice Liddell) mother, Lorina Liddell, in the 1985Dennis Potter filmDreamchild alongside Coral Browne (Alice Hargreaves),Ian Holm (Lewis Carroll/Charles Dodgson),Peter Gallagher, and Amelia Shankley (young Alice).[citation needed]
On television, she guest-starred in the playThe Stone Tape and in episodes ofWicked Women,Rumpole of the Bailey and the British television comedy seriesThe Goodies, as Celia Ryder in the 1981Granada Television adaptation ofBrideshead Revisited, and later inA Voyage Round My Father oppositeLaurence Olivier,The Mistress (1985–87), and as Faith Ashley inWish Me Luck (three seasons from 1987 to 1989).[citation needed]
In 1994, she portrayed theDoctor Who companionSusan Foreman in aBBC Radio 4 comedy dramaWhatever Happened to Susan Foreman? Another notable radio broadcast was inThe Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes in 2002, in the episode "The Peculiar Persecution of Mr John Vincent Harden".[citation needed]
In 2003, she appeared in the revived ITV soapCrossroads in which she played the hotel's owner Angel Sampson. After the soap was axed, Asher apologised toCrossroads fans for the way the 2003 series went.[9]
In 2004, she starred inFesten at theArts Theatre. In 2005, she starred inThe World's Biggest Diamond, byGregory Motton, at theRoyal Court Theatre. In 2006, Asher starred in the Richard Fell adaptation of the 1960s science fiction seriesA for Andromeda, which aired on the Britishdigital television stationBBC Four. In 2007, she portrayed the widow Sandra in theFrank Oz filmDeath at a Funeral. In the same year Asher appeared in the BBC medical dramaHolby City asLady Byrne. In October 2007, she played Andrea Yates inThe Sarah Jane Adventures, in the episode "Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?" Asher co-starred in the 2008ITV drama seriesThe Palace, filmed inLithuania; she played Queen Charlotte, mother of King Richard IV.
In August 2008, Asher appeared with other showbusiness personalities in thereality TVtalent show-themed television seriesMaestro, broadcast onBBC Two.[10][11] From 2009 to 2010, she played Sally in the BBC One comedy seriesThe Old Guys. In 2011, she played Margaret Harker inWaterloo Road.
In October 2009, she appeared as Delia inPeter Hall's revival ofAlan Ayckbourn'sBedroom Farce at theRose Theatre, Kingston, and in her firstpantomime,Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs atRichmond Theatre in December 2009, receiving enthusiastic reviews for both.[12][13] In 2011, she returned to the Rose, Kingston as Lady Bracknell inThe Importance of Being Earnest.
In 2012, she appeared inCharley's Aunt at theMenier Chocolate Factory. In the summer of 2013, she played Lady Catherine de Bourgh inPride and Prejudice at theOpen Air Theatre, Regent's Park. In 2014, she starred in the stage adaptation ofPenelope Lively'sMoon Tiger at theTheatre Royal Bath and on tour. In 2016, Asher took on the role of Miss Havisham inMichael Eaton's adaptation ofGreat Expectations. She took on the role of Madame Baurel in the 2017 London stage production ofAn American in Paris. In 2019 she toured inNoël Coward'sA Song at Twilight. In 2024 she toured inSomerset Maugham'sThe Circle.
Asher has written three novels:The Longing, The Question, andLosing It, and published more than a dozen lifestyle, costuming, andcake decorating books. Asher owns a company that makes party cakes and sugar crafts for special occasions.[14]
She is a shareholder inPrivate Eye,[15] president ofArthritis Care,[16] and a patron of Scoliosis Association (UK).[17]
She is also president of theNational Autistic Society.[18] She was a speaker at the 2006 launch of the National Autistic Society's "Make School Make Sense" campaign and is president ofParkinson's UK.[19] In March 2010, Asher became vice president toAutistica, a UK charity raising funds for autism research.[20] Asher is also a patron of TRACKS Autism, an early years nursery setting for children on the autistic spectrum[21] and The Daisy Garland,[22] a national registered charity supporting children with drug resistant epilepsy.
Asher metPaul McCartney on 18 April 1963[23] atRoyal Albert Hall in London, and began a five-year relationship with him. In December 1963, McCartney took up residence at Asher's familyWimpole Street townhouse and stayed there until the couple moved into McCartney's own home inSt John's Wood in 1966. McCartney wrote several Beatles songs inspired by Asher, including "And I Love Her", "We Can Work It Out", "You Won't See Me", "I'm Looking Through You", "What You're Doing", "Things We Said Today" and "For No One". The couple announced on Christmas Day 1967 that they were engaged to be married, and Asher accompanied the Beatles and their partners toRishikesh in early 1968 to attend an advancedtranscendental meditation training session with theMaharishi Mahesh Yogi. In mid-1968, she returned to London from an acting assignment inBristol earlier than expected and allegedly discovered McCartney in bed with Francie Schwartz. Shortly afterwards, Margaret Asher drove to Cavendish Avenue to collect her daughter's things.[24]
On 20 July 1968, Asher announced to theBBC that her engagement had been called off. McCartney soon after started datingLinda Eastman, whom he married in 1969. A problem in the relationship had been McCartney's drug use and close relationship withJohn Lennon. Asher confided to Beatles' biographerHunter Davies that McCartney had "changed so much. He was on LSD, which I hadn't shared. I was jealous of all the spiritual experiences he'd had with John. There were fifteen people dropping in all day long. The house had changed and was full of stuff I didn't know about."[25]
Asher attended the 1970 London premiere of the Beatles' movieLet It Be, along with Lennon's ex-wifeCynthia.[26]
In 1971, Asher met illustratorGerald Scarfe.[27] They married in 1981 and have three children.[28] Asher dislikes discussing her relationship with McCartney; she said in 2004: "I've been happily married for 30-something years. It's insulting."[29]
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| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | The Adventures of Robin Hood | Alice | Episode 28: "The Children of Greenwood" | |
| 1961 | Home Tonight | Kathy | 5 episodes | |
| 1962 | The Prince and the Pauper | Lady Jane Grey | 3 episodes | [citation needed] |
| 1964 | The Saint | Rose Yearley | Episode: "The Noble Sportsman" | |
| 1964 | The Saint | Ellen Chase | Episode: "The Invisible Millionaire" | |
| 1968 | Journey to the Unknown | Marielle | Episode: "Somewhere in the Crowd" | |
| 1972 | The Stone Tape | Jill Greely | TV movie | |
| Hedda Gabler | Thea Elvsted | TV movie | ||
| 1970 | Wicked Women | Anne-Maria Moody | Episode: "Anne-Maria Moody" | [citation needed] |
| 1973 | Wessex Tales | Lucy Saville | Episode: "Fellow Townsmen" | |
| 1977 | The Goodies | Caroline Kook | Episode: "Punky Business" | |
| 1978 | Hawkmoor | Lady Johane Williams | 5 episodes | |
| Hazell | Georgina Gunning | Episode: "Hazell Plays Solomon" | ||
| Rumpole of the Bailey | Kathy Trelawny | Episode: "Rumpole and the Alternative Society" | ||
| 1981 | Brideshead Revisited | Celia Ryder | 2 episodes | |
| 1982 | East Lynne | Emma Vane | TV movie | |
| 1984 | A Voyage Round My Father | Elizabeth | TV movie | |
| Tales of the Unexpected | Jane Oats | Episode: "The Last of the Midnight Gardeners" | ||
| 1985 | The Mistress | Helen Carpenter | 6 episodes | |
| 1988 | Wish Me Luck | Faith Ashley | 22 episodes | |
| 1990 | French and Saunders | Herself | Episode: “Episode 7” | |
| 1991 | Murder Most Horrid | Lydia Howling | Episode : "The Girl from Ipanema" | |
| 1993 | French and Saunders | Herself | Episode: “In Bed with French and Saunders” | |
| 2003 | Crossroads | Angel Sampson | 18 episodes | |
| 2004 | Agatha Christie's Marple | Mrs. Sylvia Lester | Episode: "Murder at the Vicarage" | |
| 2005 | New Tricks | Lady Deeley | Episode: "17 Years of Nothing" | |
| 2006 | A for Andromeda | Professor Madeleine Dawnay | TV movie | |
| 2007 | The Sarah Jane Adventures | Andrea Yates | 2 episodes;Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane? | |
| 2007–2010 | Holby City | Lady Byrne | 23 episodes | |
| 2008 | The Palace | Queen Charlotte | 8 episodes | |
| 2009–2010 | The Old Guys | Sally | 12 episodes | |
| 2010 | Agatha Christie's Poirot | Lady Mary | Episode: "Three Act Tragedy" | |
| 2011 | Waterloo Road | Margaret Harker | 1 episode | |
| 2013 | Dancing on the Edge | Mrs. Luscombe | 3 episodes | |
| 2015 | Stella | Hazel | 3 episodes | |
| 2015 | Crossing Lines | Jane Clerkenwell | 2 episodes | |
| 2015–2016 | Eve | Mary Douglas | 13 episodes | |
| 2015–2016 | Best Bakes Ever | Herself | Presenter: 24 episodes | |
| 2023 | The Wedding Veil Journey | Lady Dalton | TV movie |
Other sources
