Phyllis Logan (born 11 January 1956) is a Scottish actress, known for playing Lady Jane Felsham in '' Lovejoy'' (1986–1993) and Mrs Hughes (later Carson) in ''

Downton Abbey ''Downton Abbey'' is a British historical drama television series set in the early 20th century, created and co-written by Julian Fellowes. The series first aired in the United Kingdom on ITV on 26 September 2010 and in the United States on ...

'' (2010–2015). She won the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer for the 1983 film '' Another Time, Another Place''. Her other film appearances include '' Secrets & Lies'' (1996), '' Shooting Fish'' (1997), ''

'' (2019) and '' Misbehaviour'' (2020).

Early life

Logan’s father, David, was a

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated ...

engineer and a trade-union leader and became the secretary of his local branch of the AUEW ( Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers). Phyllis is the youngest in her family and has a brother and a sister. Her father died at the age of 59 while she was at drama school.

Education

Logan was born in Paisley,

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Re ...

, and grew up in nearby

Johnstone Johnstone ( sco, Johnstoun,
gd, Baile Iain) is a town ...

, where she was educated at Johnstone High School. She studied at the

Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland ( gd, Conservatoire Rìoghail na h-Alba), formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama ( gd, Acadamaidh Rìoghail Ciùil is Dràma na h-Alba) is a conservatoire of dance, drama, music, production, and ...

in Glasgow and graduated with the James Bridie gold medal in 1977.

Career

After graduation Logan joined the Dundee Repertory Theatre. She left in 1979 to work on stage in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. She also worked regularly on Scottish television. On the BBC Scotland production, ''The White Bird Passes'', she first met writer-director

Michael Radford Michael James Radford (born 24 February 1946) is an English film director and screenwriter. He began his career as a documentary director and television comedy writer before transitioning into features in the early 1980s. His best-known credits ...

. For his first feature film, '' Another Time, Another Place'' (1983), he cast Logan in the leading role of Janie, for which she won a Gold Award for Best Actress at the Taormina Film Festival and the Evening Standard Award for Best Actress in 1983 and the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles in 1984. She was also nominated for the

BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role Best Actress in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film Award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film. * From 1952 t ...

. Before her success in ''

'', where she played the housekeeper Mrs Hughes, Logan was most identified with the role of

Lady Jane Felsham ''Lovejoy'' is a British television comedy-drama mystery series, based on the novels by John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six series, was originally broadcast on BBC1 between 10 January 1986 ...

, co-starring with

Ian McShane Ian David McShane (born 29 September 1942) is an English actor, producer and director. He is known for his television performances, particularly as the title role in the BBC series '' Lovejoy'' (1986–1994), Al Swearengen in ''Deadwood'' (20 ...

for eight years in nearly 50 episodes of '' Lovejoy'', a comedy-drama for television. Her character in

, Mrs Hughes, was voted the best Downton Abbey character of all times in a poll conducted by RadioTimes.com (the official website of

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

). She also starred in the 1996

Mike Leigh Mike Leigh (born 20 February 1943) is an English film and theatre director, screenwriter and playwright. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and further at the Camberwell School of Art, the Central School of Art and Design ...

film '' Secrets & Lies'' alongside

Timothy Spall Timothy Leonard Spall (born 27 February 1957) is an English actor and presenter. He became a household name in the UK after appearing as Barry Spencer Taylor in the 1983 ITV comedy-drama series ''Auf Wiedersehen, Pet''. Spall performed in '' ...

and Brenda Blethyn. Logan provided the broadcast voice of Ingsoc in a film version of ''

Nineteen Eighty-Four ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (also stylised as ''1984'') is a dystopian social science fiction novel and cautionary tale written by the English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final ...

'' (1984) and the

Loch Ness Monster The Loch Ness Monster ( gd, Uilebheist Loch Nis), affectionately known as Nessie, is a creature in Scottish folklore that is said to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. It is often described as large, long-necked, and with one or m ...

(Nessie) in the animated film ''

Freddie as F.R.O.7 ''Freddie as F.R.O.7'' (also known as ''Freddie the Frog'') is a 1992 British animated musical action fantasy comedy film written and directed by Jon Acevski and starring the voice of Ben Kingsley. Inspired by bedtime stories Acevski told to his s ...

'' (1992). She was in the radio series ''Coming Alive'' and ''

Baggage Baggage or luggage consists of bags, cases, and containers which hold a traveler's personal articles while the traveler is in transit. A modern traveler can be expected to have packages containing clothing, toiletries, small possessions, trip ...

''. She played Inspector Frost's love interest and eventual wife in ''If Dogs Run Free'', the last story in the ''

A Touch of Frost A, or a, is the first Letter (alphabet), letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name ...

'' series. She played Maggie Smart in '' The Good Karma Hospital'' (7 episodes, 2017–2018) on the ITV drama series which was later made available on

Acorn TV The acorn, or oaknut, is the nut of the oaks and their close relatives (genera ''Quercus'' and '' Lithocarpus'', in the family Fagaceae). It usually contains one seed (occasionally two seeds), enclosed in a tough, leathery shell, and bor ...

. She also starred in a main role as Linda Hutchinson in the ITV drama series '' Girlfriends'' which was created and directed by

Kay Mellor The name Kay is found both as a surname (see Kay (surname)) and as a given name. In English-speaking countries, it is usually a feminine name, often a short form of Katherine or one of its variants; but it is also used as a first name in its own r ...

, alongside

Miranda Richardson Miranda Jane Richardson (born 3 March 1958) is an English actress. She made her film debut playing Ruth Ellis in '' Dance with a Stranger'' (1985) and went on to receive Academy Award nominations for '' Damage'' (1992) and '' Tom & Viv'' (1994). ...

and Zoë Wanamaker. She played Andinio in "

The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos "The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos" is the tenth and final episode of the eleventh series of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. It was written by Chris Chibnall and directed by Jamie Childs, and was first broadcast o ...

", the tenth episode in the eleventh series of '' Doctor Who''. She was cast in the second series of the British television series '' Guilt'', which was shown on both BBC Two and BBC Scotland in 2021.

Personal life

Logan married actor Kevin McNally, whom she met in the 1994 mini-series ''Love and Reason'', and have one child. They live in

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and ...

. She supports several charities that support the welfare of

dementia Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...

patients and is also a supporter of SSPCA.

Filmography

Film

Television

Radio appearances

*''

'' as Fiona *''Coming Alive'' on BBC Radio 4 *''BBC Radio Shakespeare: Macbeth (Dramatised)'' on BBC Radio 3 as Lady Macbeth *''R.L. Stevenson's Weir Of Hermiston'' on BBC Radio 4 as Kirstie *''Classic BBC Radio Horror: Dracula'' on BBC Radio 4 *''Dr Finlay: Adventures of a Black Bag' on BBC Radio 4

Selected stage roles

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Logan, Phyllis 1956 births Living people Actresses from Paisley, Renfrewshire Alumni of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland BAFTA Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles winners Scottish film actresses Scottish television actresses Place of birth missing (living people) 20th-century British actresses 21st-century British actresses People from Johnstone Scottish radio actresses