Ann Sidney (born 27 March 1944) is a British actress, television 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, Mi ...

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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Early life

Sidney moved to

Poole Poole () is a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area in Dorset, England. The town is east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east ...

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 fifteen. She initially took an

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulat ...

in hairdressing, working in salons in

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

, 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 in 1961. The pageant was held in London on 12 November 1964. It was watched on television 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 an American comedian, actor, entertainer and producer with a career that spanned nearly 80 years and achievements in vaudeville, network radio, television, and USO Tours. He appeared ...

on his

USO The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

tour of Asia.

Career

After relinquishing the Miss World title, Sidney had many television acting roles, including '' The Avengers'' and ''

Are You Being Served? ''Are You Being Served?'' is a British television sitcom that was broadcast from 1972 to 1985. It was created and written by David Croft (TV producer), David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd. Croft also served as executive producer and television directo ...

'', and in films, including the spy thriller '' Sebastian'' (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 (film), Doctor in the Hous ...

and Susannah York, and the Donald Cammell/

Nicolas Roeg Nicolas Jack Roeg ( ; 15 August 1928 – 23 November 2018) was an English film director and cinematographer, best known for directing ''Performance (film), Performance'' (1970), ''Walkabout (film), Walkabout'' (1971), ''Don't Look Now'' (1973) ...

film ''

Performance A performance is an act or process 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. Performance has evolved glo ...

'' (1970) with James Fox and

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

, as well as forming a touring cabaret act. In 1967 she appeared in the long-running West End farce '' Not Now, Darling'' opposite Donald Sinden and Bernard Cribbins. Sidney has appeared in numerous stage musicals such as '' Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris'' and as

Maria von Trapp Maria Augusta von Trapp Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Catholic), DHS (; 26 January 1905 – 28 March 1987), often styled as "Baroness", was the stepmother and matriarch of the Trapp Family, Trapp Family Singers. She wrote ''The Story of the ...

in the '' Sound of Music''. She has also appeared in several Christmas pantomimes in the UK, such as Prince Charming in ''

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

'' 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+ ...

and as Dick in '' Dick Whittington'' with Les Dawson. 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. It is owned by Vici Properties and operated by MGM Resorts International. The resort was developed by Kirk Kerkorian through his company, MGM Grand ...

. 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 theatre of World War II, South West ...

'' 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 Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson (22 February 1928 – 18 August 2017) was an English entertainer and television presenter whose career spanned more than 75 years. Forsyth came to national attention from the late 1950s through the Associated Te ...

, 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 West End 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 Actors from Poole English beauty pageant winners 20th-century English women 20th-century English people Actresses from Dorset Models from Dorset