Mary Miller
Publicity Photo of Mary Miller
Born	Mary Elizabeth Spinks (1929-12-27)27 December 1929 Gorleston-on-Sea,Norfolk, England
Died	11 July 2020(2020-07-11) (aged 90) Northwood, London, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1959–2005
Spouse	Bill Simpson ​ ​ (m. 1965; div. 1969)​

Mary Elizabeth Miller (néeSpinks; 27 December 1929 – 11 July 2020) was an English television and stage actress, who was a founding member of theNational Theatre Company in 1963.

Mary Miller first appeared on television in 1959 as Alice Chandler in episode one of the 6-part seriesThe Golden Spur, withRonald Fraser andOliver Reed.^[1] In the same year, she took the role of Ann Elsden in "The Talking Doll", the first instalment of the UK TVpolice drama,No Hiding Place.^[2]

In 1961, the playwright and novelistPeter Wildeblood was commissioned byGranada Television to produce an 11-part series featuring "up-and-coming acting talent, in plays by young authors, each actor or actress taking the lead role in turn". It was calledThe Younger Generation, and Miller appeared in eight of the plays. In 1963, Miller became one of the 77 performers to be founding members^[3] of theNational Theatre Company in its inaugural season under artistic director SirLaurence Olivier.^[4]

The Protectors was a British television series, made byABC (and not to be confused with thelater British series from the 1970s, which began a run of 14 episodes in March 1964. It starredAndrew Faulds and Michael Atkinson as an ex-insurance investigator and ex-policeman who start up their own security firm to tackle crime.^{[citation needed]} Miller appeared in May during the eighth instalment called "Freedom!", as Tamara.

When theBBC made a series,The Indian Tales ofRudyard Kipling, set in the days of theBritish Raj and based partly on his book which had originally been "[a] set of Indian tales that first appeared inMacmillan's Magazine",^[5] Miller portrayed Mrs. Denville in episode 23, "A Second-Rate Woman", in 1964. She then played a comedy role in the BBC'sThe Dick Emery Show on 4 December 1964.^[6]

In 1965, she played Diana Gibbs in "Other People's Lives", an instalment of the popularBBC Television police dramaDixon of Dock Green, which starredJack Warner as Sergeant George Dixon. Later that year, she appeared in the BBC serial drama calledMogul (subsequently renamedThe Troubleshooters), set in theoil industry.^[7] She played Lizzie, in a storyline called "Tosh and Nora".

That same year, 1965, she made her first appearance with Casey Hodgkiss, her best friend, and they starred together in the performance ofThe Night Thoreau Spent in Jail. Also in 1965, she appeared inDr. Finlay's Casebook, alongside her soon-to-be husbandBill Simpson. She played Molly Spalding in "Beware of the Dog", episode 20 in season 3 of the BBC series about a doctors' surgery in Scotland.

After four appearances in 1966 (in theanthology-style programmesMystery and Imagination^[8] andThe Wednesday Play,^[9] inThirteen Against Fate, and for a second time inNo Hiding Place.^[10] she was given the role of Maggie Hobson in a 3 part BBC production ofHobson's Choice, the play byHarold Brighouse set inSalford in the late 19th century".^[11]

Turning her hand once more to comedy, she appeared withMarty Feldman in his madcap seriesMarty (1968–69). She also made appearances in "The Photographer", part of Kenneth Jupp'sChelsea Trilogy;^[12]The Mock Doctor, aRediffusion production based on a comedy byMolière;^[13] and anotherWednesday Play, called "Mrs. Lawrence Will Look After It", as Freda Wills. 1968 also saw her second appearance inDr. Finlay's Casebook, this time playing Sister Brown in the episode "A Moral Problem".

In 1969, she played Anna inBarrister at Law, alegal drama play from the BBC. She would make two more series with Feldman –Marty Amok in 1970,^[14] andMarty Abroad in 1971.^[15]

In 1969 she co-starred with Patrick Macnee in the William Douglas-Home comedy, The Secretary Bird, at the Palace Theatre, Castlereagh Street, Sydney. It was presented by Harry M Miller Attractions. Other cast members were Jan Kingsbury, Fredric Abbott, and Betty Dyson. It was directed by Philip Dudley.

In the next few years she appeared in such productions asTales of Piccadilly,ITV Playhouse,Sykes,Space: 1999, andOld Times, theHarold Pinter play.^[16]

She was chosen to portray the strong female personality that was Angela Dunwoody QC, inCrown Court, thecourtroom drama series made by variousITV network television companies between 1972 and 1984. Miller took up the role in 1976, and played thebarrister until 1977, in four storylines over ten episodes beginning with "Accepted Standards" in 1976, which featured a cast includingBen Kingsley,Patricia Routledge andLiz Smith, and involved aGP who is accused of libel against aPVC factory over their claims regarding safe practice.^[17] In "Those in Peril", atrawler boatcaptain is accused ofnegligence when adeckhand is swept overboard and killed.^[18] Two men are charged with conspiring to smugglearms toLebanon in "Death for Sale", the last of her 1976Crown Court appearances.^[19] Her final appearance in the series, called "A Matter of Faith" and broadcast in February 1977, told the story of a man, charged with libel against aspiritual healer, whose wife had committed suicide after a session with the healer failed to cure her paralysis.^[20]

Miller did not restrict herself to just the medium of television. She continued to perform in the theatre, appearing as Beth (withAlan Bates andNigel Hawthorne) inSimon Gray'sOtherwise Engaged at theQueen's Theatre in London on 30 July 1975 under the direction of Harold Pinter, and repeated this performance in New York City in 1977.^[21]

Also in 1977, Miller appeared as Denise Collins in the BBC televisionmini-series,Fathers and Families,^[22] and then played Fay Passmore in eleven instalments of theThames Television productionRooms, a long-running series charting the lives of tenants in a block ofbed-sits.^[23] And in 1978, appearing in an episode ofScottish Television'sThe Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (the title role being played byGeraldine McEwan), she took the part of Irene Cibelli.^[24]

All Quiet on the Western Front (1979) is a TV film about theFirst World War from the perspective of the German troops.^[25] Filmed inCzechoslovakia, it starredRichard Thomas andErnest Borgnine, and was adapted from the novelIm Westen nichts Neues byErich Maria Remarque. Miller played Frau Kemmerich.

According toJacqueline Pearce, the actress who playedServalan in the BBCsci-fi TV seriesBlake's 7 (1978–81), Miller turned down the role when offered it, and Pearce was cast.^[26]

Miller returned to London'sCovent Garden in April 1981 to fulfil one half of aRoyal Ballet production portraying the legendary artistic dancerIsadora Duncan inKenneth MacMillan's balletIsadora. She provided the voice of the subject, reading from Duncan's memoirs,^[27] along withMerle Park who danced the moves.^[28] She transferred to the United States with the production in July of that year, whenSandra Conley shared the dance interpretation with Park.^[29]

Miller continued with her stage career, appearing in such productions as the 1983 run of the playPack of Lies at theLyric Theatre in London in October 1983, alongsideFrank Windsor.^[30]

She was part of a strong cast list assembled byAnglia Television in 1985 for the making of thefantasypuppet/live action featureAlice in Wonderland, based on the famous novel byLewis Carroll. She provided the voices for the Mouse,Duck, Parrot,Longbeaked Bird,Pigeon,Cook andBaby.

In the 1987Screen Two production "After Pilkington", thePrix Italia winner written by Simon Gray and starringMiranda Richardson, Miller played Deirdre Pilkington, the wife of a missingarchaeologist.^[31] After appearing in two episodes ofFay Weldon'sThe Heart of the Country forBBC Pebble Mill in the same year,^[32] she became a regular member of the cast of the Anglia Television fantasyrole-playing game format calledKnightmare, usually playing the parts of Lilith or Mildread, in a total of 27 shows and finishing in 1988 (although the programme itself continued until 1994).

In 1990, Miller appeared for two episodes in the popular BBC soap operaEastEnders, asFrank Butcher's older sister,Joan Garwood, who turns up inWalford at Frank's request when their motherMo developsAlzheimer's disease, and it is then decided that Mo should go and live with Joan and her husband inColchester, Essex. The character would re-appear in the programme for one more episode in 1995, still being played by Miller.

Before that return, she went on to take parts inThe Inspector Alleyn Mysteries (1993),^[33]Casualty (1993),^[34] andCadfael (1995).^[35] Then, in 1997, she appeared in two instalments of theYorkshire Television drama seriesTrial & Retribution, playing Mrs. Gillingham.^[36]

Her last recorded work was in the 2005 "updating" ofTrial & Retribution byLynda La Plante, in which Miller played a different character, Felicity Harper, in added on episodes.

Miller married the Scottish actorBill Simpson (Dr. Finlay's Casebook) on 24 July 1965 atCallander nearMenteith, Scotland. The couple had no children, and divorced in March 1969.^[3] Miller spent the last eleven years of her life as a resident ofDenville Hall, the actors’ retirement and nursing home in Northwood, Hillingdon, where she died on 11 July 2020, at the age of 90.^[37]

• Mary Miller atIMDb

• Actresses from Norfolk
• English film actresses
• English television actresses
• 1929 births
• 2020 deaths
• People from Gorleston-on-Sea
• Actors from the Borough of Great Yarmouth

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