Frances Mabel Morton (née Rowe, 26 June 1913 – 31 July 1988) was an English stage, film and television actress.

Early years

Rowe was born in

Preston, Lancashire Preston () is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston, Lancashire, City of Preston local government district. Preston ...

, the daughter of a

parson A parson is an ordained Christian person responsible for a small area, typically a parish. The term was formerly often used for some Anglican clergy and, more rarely, for ordained ministers in some other churches. It is no longer a formal term d ...

, and educated at Channing School For Girls in

Highgate Highgate is a suburban area of N postcode area, north London in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden, London Borough of Islington, Islington and London Borough of Haringey, Haringey. The area is at the north-eastern corner ...

and then went on to study at

Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicen ...

Stage

Rowe's acting career started in the Marlowe Society,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

. She then worked on the West End and in

repertory theatre A repertory theatre, also called repertory, rep, true rep or stock, which are also called producing theatres, is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation. United Kingdom ...

from 1936 onward, at

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and civil parish in the North Yorkshire District, district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist de ...

Worthing Worthing ( ) is a seaside town and borough in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 113,094 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Br ...

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

and Windsor. She appeared in many theatrical productions both on the West End and also in the United States. Her American stage debut was in '' Man and Superman''. In 1951 she was awarded the

Clarence Derwent Award The Clarence Derwent Awards are theatre awards given annually by the Actors' Equity Association on Broadway in the United States and by Equity, the performers' union, in the West End in the United Kingdom. Clarence Derwent (23 March 1884 – 6 ...

(her real name Frances Rowe is listed). She played the part of Alex Cornwall in '' Who Goes There!''. In 1952 she was in John Clements' comedy '' The Happy Marriage''. In 1955 she starred in the J.B. Priestley play '' Mr. Kettle and Mrs. Moon''.

Radio

Rowe made her American radio debut on '' Grand Central Station''.

Television

Rowe's television work included ''Love Story'', ''Rogues' Gallery'', '' Vanity Fair'', ''The Mill on the Floss'' (1965 TV adaptation of the book) and as Emily Forsyte in the 1967 BBC TV serial drama '' The Forsyte Saga''. In later years, her most famous roles were that of Nancy Penrose, the mother of Hester played by Julia McKenzie in the ITV sitcom '' Fresh Fields'', (1984–86) and Vera Polling in '' After Henry'' (1988). She was also in the '' Tales of the Unexpected'' episode '' What Have You Been up to Lately?''. (series 5-episode 13) She appeared in an episode of '' Upstairs, Downstairs'', " The Hero's Farewell", as the Duchess of Mitcham, and she made a guest appearance in the final episode of ''

Rising Damp ''Rising Damp'' is a British sitcom, written by Eric Chappell and produced by Yorkshire Television for ITV, which was originally broadcast from 2 September 1974 until 9 May 1978. Chappell adapted the story from his 1973 stage play ''The Banana ...

'', playing Miss Jones's mother.

Personal life

Rowe married actor

Clive Morton Clive Morton (16 March 1904 – 24 September 1975) was an English actor. Best known for playing upper class Englishmen, he made many screen appearances, especially on television. Career In 1955, Morton appeared in Laurence Olivier's film vers ...

in 1954. She died in London on 31 July 1988 at the age of 75.

Filmography

Radio appearances

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rowe, Fanny 1913 births 1988 deaths English stage actresses English television actresses English film actresses Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge 20th-century English actresses Actresses from Preston, Lancashire People educated at Channing School