Daphne Helen Slater (3 March 1928 – 4 October 2012) was an English actress noted for

Shakespearean William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

and period films.

Biography

She was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and educated at

Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls Haberdashers' Girls' School is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Elstree, Hertfordshire. It is often referred to as "Habs" (or "Habs Girls" to distinguish it from the neighbouring Haberdashers' Boys' School). The sch ...

, when it was in Acton, before attending the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central London ...

, where she won the academy's gold medal. Frequently lavished with praise by

Kenneth Tynan Kenneth Peacock Tynan (2 April 1927 – 26 July 1980) was an English theatre critic and writer. Initially making his mark as a critic at ''The Observer'', he praised John Osborne's ''Look Back in Anger'' (1956) and encouraged the emerging wave ...

, the most influential critic of his day, Slater divided her career between Shakespearean roles and appearances in television plays. After leaving

RADA The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central Lond ...

with a Gold Medal, she was snapped up by the

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

Herbert Wilcox Herbert Sydney Wilcox Order of the British Empire, CBE (19 April 1890 – 15 May 1977) was a British film producer and film director, director. He was one of the most successful British filmmakers from the 1920s to the 1950s. He is best know ...

, who gave her a seven-year contract and a leading role in ''

The Courtneys of Curzon Street ''The Courtneys of Curzon Street'' (also titled ''The Courtney Affair'' or ''Kathy's Love Affair'', in the U.S.) is a 1947 British drama film starring Anna Neagle and Michael Wilding. It is a postwar, reconstruction-era movie following a family ...

'' (1947) and she played major screen parts in dozens of television dramas and novel adaptations, including the role of

Queen Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain as the wife of King Philip II from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She made vigorous a ...

in the 1971

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

TV serial ''

Elizabeth R ''Elizabeth R'' is a BBC television drama serial of six 90-minute plays starring Glenda Jackson as Queen Elizabeth I of England. It was first broadcast on BBC2 from February to March 1971, through the ABC in Australia and broadcast in the Un ...

'' opposite

Glenda Jackson Glenda May Jackson (9 May 1936 – 15 June 2023) was an English actress and politician. Over the course of her distinguished career she received List of awards and nominations received by Glenda Jackson, numerous accolades including two Academy ...

Death

Slater died on 4 October 2012, aged 84. She was predeceased by her brother and her second husband. She was survived by her first husband John Harrison (born 1924), film/television actor, director and producer and their two sons, Stephen and William.List of Members of Equity, 1953

Roles

* ''

'' (1947) .... Cynthia Carmody * ''Emma'' (1948) (TV) .... Harriet Smith * ''Pride and Prejudice'' (1952) (TV miniseries) ....

Elizabeth Bennet Elizabeth Bennet is the protagonist in the 1813 novel '' Pride and Prejudice'' by Jane Austen. She is often referred to as Eliza or Lizzy by her friends and family. Elizabeth is the second child in a family of five daughters. Though the circ ...

* ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

'' (1954) Stratford-upon-Avon RSC Theatre ... Rosalind * ''

Jane Eyre ''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The firs ...

'' (1956) (TV) ....

* ''Precious Bane'' (1957) TV series .... Prue Sarn * ''

BBC Sunday Night Theatre ''Sunday Night Theatre'' was a long-running series of televised live television plays screened by BBC Television from early 1950 until 1959. The productions for the first five years or so of the run were re-staged live the following Thursday, ...

'' ("Berkeley Square"; 1959) (TV) .... Helen Pettigrew * ''The Burning Glass'' (1960) TV episode .... Mary Terriford * ''

ITV Play of the Week ''Play of the Week'' is a 90-minute British television anthology series produced for the ITV network by a variety of companies including Granada Television, Associated-Rediffusion, ATV and Anglia Television. Synopsis Approximately 500 episodes ...

'' .... Mary Terriford (1 episode, 1960) * ''

Persuasion Persuasion or persuasion arts is an umbrella term for influence. Persuasion can influence a person's beliefs, attitudes, intentions, motivations, or behaviours. Persuasion is studied in many disciplines. Rhetoric studies modes of persuasi ...

'' (1960) (TV miniseries) .... Anne Elliot * ''

Armchair Theatre ''Armchair Theatre'' is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by ABC Weekend TV. Its successor Thames Television took over from mid-1968. The Ca ...

'' ("Nothing to Pay"; 1962) TV episode * ''Our Man at St Mark's'' TV series * ''

Out of the Unknown ''Out of the Unknown'' is a British television science fiction and horror anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and broadcast on BBC2 in four series between 1965 and 1971. Most episodes of the first three series were dramatisations of s ...

'' ("Stranger in the Family"; 1965) TV episode .... Margaret Wilson * ''

The Wednesday Play ''The Wednesday Play'' is an anthology series of United Kingdom, British television plays which ran on BBC One, BBC1 for six seasons from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually original works written for television, although dramatic ...

'' .... Stella Forty (2 episodes, 1964–66) * ''The Big Breaker'' (1964) TV episode .... Sybil * ''

Jackanory ''Jackanory'' was a BBC children's television series which was originally broadcast between 1965 and 1996. It was designed to stimulate an interest in Reading (activity), reading. The programme was first transmitted on 13 December 1965, and the ...

'' (5 episodes, 1967; see below): :: ''The Little White Horse: Part 5'' ("Out of the Sea"; 1967) ... Storyteller :: ''The Little White Horse: Part 4'' ("The Castle in the Pinewoods"; 1967) ... Storyteller :: ''The Little White Horse: Part 3'' ("The Iron Sword"; 1967) .... Storyteller :: ''The Little White Horse: Part 2'' ("The Ghost of Sir Wrolf"; 1967) ... Storyteller :: ''The Little White Horse: Part 1'' ("The Merryweathers of Moonacre"; 1967) ... Storyteller * ''The Jazz Age'' ("Black Exchange"; 1968) TV episode .... Miss Crowe * ''

Callan Callan is a given name and surname of Irish and Scottish origin. It can derive from Ó Cathaláin, meaning ''descendant of Cathalán''. Callan can also be an Anglicized form of the Gaelic Mac Allin or Mac Callin. Notable people with the name includ ...

'' ("Jack-on-Top"; 1969) TV episode .... Stella Paxton * ''The Gold Robbers'' ("Account Rendered"; 1969) TV episode .... Mrs. Oscroft * ''W. Somerset Maugham'' ("Virtue"; 1970) TV episode .... Margery Bishop * ''

Play for Today ''Play for Today'' is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage ...

'' ("I Can't See My Little Willie"; 1970) TV episode .... Mary Palmer * ''

'' (1971) (TV miniseries) .... Mary I * ''

Thirty-Minute Theatre ''Thirty-Minute Theatre'' was a British anthology drama series of short plays shown on BBC Television between 1965 and 1973, which was used in part at least as a training ground for new writers, on account of its short running length, and which ...

'' ("Footprints"; 1971) TV episode * ''

ITV Playhouse ''Playhouse'', also known as ''ITV Playhouse'', is a British television anthology series that ran from 1967 to 1983, which featured contributions from playwrights such as Dennis Potter, Rhys Adrian and Alan Sharp. The series began in black a ...

'' (

Shadows A shadow is a dark area on a surface where light from a light source is blocked by an object. In contrast, shade occupies the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross-section of a shadow is a two-dimensiona ...

'' ("The Future Ghost"; 1975) TV episode .... Mrs. Butler

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Slater, Daphne 1928 births 2012 deaths English television actresses English film actresses Actresses from London Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art 20th-century English actresses People educated at Haberdashers' Girls' School 20th-century English businesspeople