Denise Bryer (5 January 1928 – 16 October 2021) was an English actress, known for her

voice The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound produ ...

roles on television and radio.

Career

Bryer was born 5 January 1928 in Kensington, London to Claude and Susie ( Mott) Bryer. Her father was a jeweller and her mother a former actress. She was the youngest of seven children. Her eldest sister, Vera, was also an actor and dancer. Denise Bryer made her motion picture debut in 1937 in '' A Romance in Flanders''. Evacuated to

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

during World War II, she attended school there before returning to London after the war. She subsequently studied acting at 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 ...

. Bryer resumed her acting career on the radio in 1947. Best remembered in her UK homeland for her work on the

Gerry Anderson Gerald Alexander Anderson (; 14 April 1929 – 26 December 2012) was an English television and film producer, director, writer and occasional voice artist, who is known for his futuristic television programmes, especially his 1960s production ...

series, ''

Terrahawks ''Terrahawks'' is a 1980s British science fiction television series created by Gerry Anderson and Christopher Burr for London Weekend Television. The series was Anderson's first in over a decade to use puppets for its characters, and also his ...

'', where she voiced both the main villain Zelda and the heroic Capt. Mary Falconer, Bryer became well known in the United States when she voiced Billina in

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

's 1985 film '' Return to Oz'', as well as The Junk Lady in the 1986 movie ''Labyrinth'', and many other films. In addition to her work voice acting in film and television, she worked extensively on UK radio and children's recordings. Bryer first came to public attention when she voiced Footso in '' The Adventures of Twizzle'' and would go on to voice in Anderson's later series '' Four Feather Falls'' as Ma Jones and Little Jake. She also voiced Kiki The Frog in '' Hector's House'' and Noddy on the eponymous television show between 1955 till 1969 alongside commercials for Kellogg's Ricicles and audio adaptations. She dubbed the voice of Commander Makara in the Japanese puppet series '' Star Fleet'' around the same time as ''Terrahawks''. In Big Finish's

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

audio dramas '' The Reaping'' and '' The Gathering'', she provided the voice of Dominique Van Gyseghem.

Radio

Bryer featured in ''

Eurydice Eurydice (; Ancient Greek: Εὐρυδίκη 'wide justice', classical pronunciation: ) was a character in Greek mythology and the wife of Orpheus, whom Orpheus tried to bring back from the dead with his enchanting music. Etymology Several ...

'', a 1951 BBC Radio adaptation of a play by

Jean Anouilh Jean Marie Lucien Pierre Anouilh (; ; 23 June 1910 – 3 October 1987) was a French dramatist and screenwriter whose career spanned five decades. Though his work ranged from high drama to absurdist farce, Anouilh is best known for his 1944 play ...

. The cast included

Paul Scofield David Paul Scofield (21 January 1922 – 19 March 2008) was an English actor. During a six-decade career, Scofield achieved the Triple Crown of Acting, winning an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Tony Award for his work. Scofield ...

and Sebastian Cabot. In 1954, she appeared in '' Zuleika Dobson'' by

Max Beerbohm Sir Henry Maximilian Beerbohm (24 August 1872 – 20 May 1956) was an English essayist, Parody, parodist and Caricature, caricaturist under the signature Max. He first became known in the 1890s as a dandy and a humorist. He was the theatre crit ...

, aired on the BBC Third Programme, with

Michael Hordern Sir Michael Murray Hordern (3 October 19112 May 1995) was an English actor. He is best known for his Shakespearean roles, especially King Lear. He often appeared in film, rising from a bit part actor to leading roles; by the time of his death ...

Recordings

Bryer also starred in or narrated several of the stories in the '' Tale Spinners for Children'' series of record albums released beginning in 1960. She also was a narrator of the Marshall Cavendish partwork Storyteller I and II as well as the little StoryTeller series.

Personal life

Bryer married actor/presenter

Nicholas Parsons Christopher Nicholas Parsons (10 October 1923 – 28 January 2020) was an English actor, straight man and radio and television presenter. He was the long-running presenter of the comedy radio show ''Just a Minute'' and hosted the game show '' S ...

in 1954; together they had two children, interior designer son Justin and daughter Suzy. Bryer and Parsons divorced in 1989 after thirty five years of marriage but remained on friendly terms. Bryer died on 16 October 2021, at the age of 93.

Filmography

Film and television

*'' Junior Miss'' (1946) - Lois Graves *'' Noddy'' (1955–1969) - Noddy (voice) *''Here Comes Kandy'' (1956) - Additional voices *'' The Adventures of Twizzle'' (1957–1958) - Footso, Additional voices *'' Four Feather Falls'' (1960) - Martha Jones, Makooya the Little India Boy, Additional voices *''

Maigret Jules Maigret (), or simply Maigret, is a fictional French police detective, a '' commissaire'' ("commissioner") of the Paris ''Brigade Criminelle'' ('' Direction Régionale de la Police Judiciaire de Paris:36, Quai des Orfèvres''), created ...

'' (1963) - Child's Voice *'' Hector's House'' (1966) - Kiki the Frog, Mrs. Frog (voices) *''

Gulliver's Travels ''Gulliver's Travels'', originally titled ''Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships'', is a 1726 prose satire by the Anglo-Irish writer and clerg ...

'' (1977) - Additional voices *'' Star Fleet'' (1980–1982) - Commander Makara (voice) *''

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

'' (1983) - Circe (voice; uncredited) *''

'' (1983–1986) - Mary Falconer, Zelda *'' Return to Oz'' (1985) - Billina (voice) *''

Labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth () is an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the h ...

'' (1986) - The Junk Lady (voice) *''G-Force Intergalactic'' (1993) - Dr. Julie Sigmund * ''Reflections in the Mirror'' (2018) - Billina (voice)

Radio

*''

'' (1951) *'' Zuleika Dobson'' (1954) *'' Wimsey - Unnatural Death'' (1975)

Narrator

*'' Tale Spinners for Children'' series (1960s)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bryer, Denise 1928 births 2021 deaths 20th-century English actresses Actors from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Actresses from London English radio actresses English voice actresses People from Kensington