Gudrun Henderson Ure (12 March 1926 – 14 May 2024), also known as Ann Gudrun, was a Scottish actress, best known for her portrayal of the title character in the children's television series ''

Super Gran ''Super Gran'' is a Scottish fictional series about a grandmother with superpowers. Initially a series of books written by Forrest Wilson, a children's television show was adapted by Jenny McDade and produced by Tyne Tees Television for Ch ...

''. Ure's career encompassed stage, film, television, and radio, with notable performances including

Desdemona Desdemona () is a character in William Shakespeare's play ''Othello'' (c. 1601–1604). Shakespeare's Desdemona is a Venice, Italy, Venetian beauty who enrages and disappoints her father, a Venetian senator, when she elopes with Othello (char ...

in Orson Welles's 1951 stage production of ''Othello'' and a role in the 1953 film noir ''36 Hours''. Her portrayal of the title character in ''Super Gran'', a show that aired from 1985 to 1987, gained international recognition and was exported to sixty countries, winning an

International Emmy The International Emmy Awards, or International Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based International Academy of Television Arts and Sc ...

in 1985.

Early life

Ure was born in

Milton of Campsie Milton of Campsie is a village formerly in the county of Stirlingshire, but now in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland roughly north of Glasgow. Nestling at the foot of the Campsie Fells, it is neighboured by Kirkintilloch and Lennoxtown. History T ...

Stirlingshire Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling ( ) is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling.Registers of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. It borders Perthshir ...

, in 1926, the oldest of three children. She grew up in the

Hyndland Hyndland is an affluent residential area in the West End of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. Description Bordering Broomhill, Dowanhill, Kelvinside and Partickhill, it is a wealthy neighbourhood populated mainly by businessmen, lawyers, GPs ...

district of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, where she was educated at the Laurel Bank School for Girls. Ure began an acting career at

Citizens Theatre The Citizens Theatre, in what was the Royal Princess's Theatre, is the creation of James Bridie and playwright in residence Paul Vincent Carroll is based in Glasgow, Scotland, as a principal producing theatre. The theatre includes a 500-seat ...

in Glasgow, including a role as

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...

Career

In her teens, Ure performed on

BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish national radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same name from 23 N ...

's ''

Children's Hour ''Children's Hour'', initially ''The Children's Hour'', was the BBC's principal recreational service for children (as distinct from "Broadcasts to Schools") which began during the period when radio was the only medium of broadcasting. ''Childre ...

''. She first worked as a teacher after leaving school and then acted in repertory theatres in Scotland. Ure's first major acting part was starring as

opposite

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American director, actor, writer, producer, and magician who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is among the greatest and most influential film ...

in his 1951 stage production of ''Othello'' at

St James's Theatre The St James's Theatre was in King Street, St James's, King Street, St James's, London. It opened in 1835 and was demolished in 1957. The theatre was conceived by and built for a popular singer, John Braham (tenor), John Braham; it lost mone ...

in London. She also appeared in the 1953 film noir '' 36 Hours'' under the name Ann Gudrun, due to Orson Welles's inability to pronounce her surname correctly. She played Sergeant Smith in the 1954 film '' The Diamond''. Both ''36 Hours'' and ''The Diamond'' were directed by

Montgomery Tully Montgomery Tully (6 May 190410 October 1988) was an Irish film Film director, director and writer. Film career Born in Dublin, Tully studied at the University of London, and originally entered the film industry as a director of documentaries. ...

''Super Gran''

Ure's best known role was as the titular ''

'' in the children's TV series produced by

Tyne Tees Television ITV Tyne Tees, previously known as Tyne Tees, Channel 3 North East and Tyne Tees Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV television franchisee for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire. Tyne Tees launched on 15 January 1959 from stu ...

for

Children's ITV CITV is a British children's morning programming block on ITV2 and formerly a free-to-air channel owned by ITV plc. CITV, then Children's ITV, launched on 3 January 1983 as a late afternoon programming block on the ITV network for children aged ...

, which originally ran from 1985 to 1987 and was based on a series of books by Forrest Wilson. Twenty-seven episodes were produced; the show was exported to sixty other countries, and won an

in 1985.

Other work

Ure also starred in the pilot of a series called ''Life After Life'', written by ''

Yes Minister ''Yes Minister'' is a British political satire sitcom written by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn. Comprising three seven-episode series, it was first transmitted on BBC2 from 1980 to 1984. A sequel, ''Yes, Prime Minister'', ran for 16 episodes f ...

'' creator

Jonathan Lynn Jonathan Adam Lynn (born 3 April 1943) is an English film director, screenwriter, and actor. He directed the comedy films '' Clue'', '' Nuns on the Run'', '' My Cousin Vinny'', and '' The Whole Nine Yards''. He also co-created and co-wrote the ...

; no further episodes were produced. She also appeared in '' The 10th Kingdom'' as Mrs Murray, the mother of Tony Lewis's tyrannical boss and owner of their apartment building, '' T-Bag and the Pearls of Wisdom'', ''

Midsomer Murders ''Midsomer Murders'' is a British Mystery fiction, mystery television series, adapted by Anthony Horowitz and Douglas Watkinson from the novels in the ''Chief Inspector Barnaby'' book series created by Caroline Graham (writer), Caroline Graham. ...

'', ''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

'' and ''

The Crow Road ''The Crow Road'' is a novel by the Scottish writer Iain Banks, published in 1992. Plot introduction The novel describes Prentice McHoan's preoccupation with death, sex, his relationship with his father, unrequited love, sibling rivalry, a mi ...

''. Her final screen credit was a 2009 episode of ''Casualty''. Ure was in many radio plays in from the 1950s onwards. These included in ''The Snow Goose'' with

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier ( ; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director. He and his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud made up a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage of the m ...

and the part of Joan Danbury, the mother of Inspector Gwen Danbury, in the first series of the police drama ''An Odd Body'' by Sue Rodwell, broadcast on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

between 2008 and 2010. She also portrayed the secretary of the central detective in the series ''Destination Fire'' (1962–66) on

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

. In a set of ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...

''-produced educational films about the works of

Shakespeare 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 natio ...

, Ure played the role of

Lady Macbeth Lady Macbeth is a leading character in William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Macbeth'' (). As the wife of the play's tragic hero, Macbeth (a Scottish nobleman), Lady Macbeth goads her husband into committing regicide, after which she becomes quee ...

Personal life and death

Ure married John Ramsay in 1964; he died in 2008. She had a stepson, Gordon. Ure died at her home in London on 14 May 2024, at the age of 98.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ure, Gudrun 1926 births 2024 deaths 20th-century Scottish actresses 21st-century Scottish actresses People from Milton of Campsie Scottish film actresses Scottish radio actresses Scottish Shakespearean actresses Scottish television actresses Actresses from East Dunbartonshire