Ann Sidney (born 27 March 1944) is a British actress, TV Host and beauty queen who won the 1964

Miss World Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Miss I ...

contest representing the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Early life

Sidney moved to

Poole Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council ...

when very young. She went to Martin Road School in Parkstone and then Martin Kemp-Welch secondary school, which later became St Aldhelm's Academy, leaving school at the age of 15. At first she took an

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

in hairdressing, working in salons in

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the English ...

, but then decided that she would rather be a model.

Miss World

Sidney became the second woman from her country to win the title, after Rosemarie Frankland had won the title in 1961. The pageant was held in London, United Kingdom on 12 November 1964. It was watched on TV by a reported 27.2 million people in the UK alone. During her reign as Miss World, she travelled around the world five times and joined

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in Bob Hope filmography, more than 70 short and ...

on his USO tour of Asia.

Career

After relinquishing the Miss World title, Sidney had many acting roles on TV, including ''

The Avengers Avenger, Avengers, The Avenger, or The Avengers may refer to: Arts and entertainment In the Marvel Comics universe * Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes ** Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes o ...

'' and '' Are You Being Served?'', and in films, including the spy thriller ''

Sebastian Sebastian may refer to: People * Sebastian (name), including a list of persons with the name Arts, entertainment, and media Films and television * ''Sebastian'' (1968 film), British spy film * ''Sebastian'' (1995 film), Swedish drama film ...

'' (1968) with

Dirk Bogarde Sir Dirk Bogarde (born Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde; 28 March 1921 – 8 May 1999) was an English actor, novelist and screenwriter. Initially a matinée idol in films such as ''Doctor in the House'' (1954) for the Rank Orga ...

and

Susannah York Susannah Yolande Fletcher (9 January 1939 – 15 January 2011), known professionally as Susannah York, was an English actress. Her appearances in various films of the 1960s, including ''Tom Jones'' (1963) and '' They Shoot Horses, Don't They?'' ( ...

, and the Donald Cammell/ Nicolas Roeg film ''

Performance A performance is an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Management science In the work place ...

'' (1970) with James Fox and

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

, as well as forming a touring cabaret act. In 1967 she appeared in the long-running

West End West End most commonly refers to: * West End of London, an area of central London, England * West End theatre, a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London, England West End may also refer to: Pl ...

farce '' Not Now, Darling'' opposite

Donald Sinden Sir Donald Alfred Sinden (9 October 1923 – 12 September 2014) was a British actor. Sinden featured in the film '' Mogambo'' (1953), and achieved early fame as a Rank Organisation film star in the 1950s in films including '' The Cruel Sea ( ...

and

Bernard Cribbins Bernard Joseph Cribbins (29 December 1928 – 27 July 2022) was an English actor and singer whose career spanned over seven decades. During the 1960s, Cribbins became known in the UK for his successful novelty records "The Hole in the Groun ...

. Sidney has appeared in numerous stage musicals such as '' Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris'' and as Maria von Trapp in the '' Sound of Music''. She has also appeared in several Christmas pantomimes in the UK, such as

Prince Charming Prince Charming is a fairy tale stock character who comes to the rescue of a damsel in distress and must engage in a quest to liberate her from an evil spell. This classification suits most heroes of a number of traditional folk tales, inclu ...

in ''

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

'' with

Brian Conley Brian Paul Conley (born 7 August 1961) is an English actor, comedian, singer and television presenter. Conley has been the host of ''The Brian Conley Show'', as well as presenting the Royal Variety Performance on eight occasions. In his 40-ye ...

and as Dick in '' Dick Whittington'' with

Les Dawson Leslie Dawson Jr. (2 February 1931 – 10 June 1993) was an English comedian, actor, writer, and presenter, who is best remembered for his deadpan style, curmudgeonly persona and jokes about his mother-in-law and wife. Early life Les Dawson w ...

. She also spent six years as a lead singer at the

MGM Grand Las Vegas The MGM Grand Las Vegas is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The MGM Grand is the largest single hotel in the world with 6,852 rooms. It is also the third-largest hotel complex in the world by number of room ...

. In December 1970, Sidney married actor Rod McLennan and moved to Australia. She featured in several Australian television programs, including the comedy series ''Birds In The Bush'' (1972), the war drama ''

Spyforce ''Spyforce'' is an Australian television series that aired from 1971 to 1973 on Nine Network. The series was based upon the adventures of Australian Military Intelligence operatives in the South West Pacific during World War II. It was produced ...

'' and later co-hosted an Australian version of the game show, '' The Better Sex'' (1978).

Personal life

Both before and during her reign as Miss World, Sidney was dating Bruce Forsyth, who at the time was married to Penny Calvert. In December 1970 Sidney married actor Rod McLennan and moved to Australia; The couple divorced in 1972. In 2005 Sidney married her fifth husband, the

producer Duncan Weldon."When Parkstone was at the centre of the world: Ann Sidney on being crowned Miss World 50 years ago"
He died in 2019.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sidney, Ann Living people 1944 births English female models Miss World 1964 delegates Miss World winners People from Poole English beauty pageant winners 20th-century English women 20th-century English people