Eirian Iola Gregory (15 September 1946 – 21 November 2017) was a British actress. She was best known for her role as Jean McGurk in the long-running

S4C S4C (, ''Sianel Pedwar Cymru'', meaning ''Channel Four Wales'') is a Welsh language free-to-air public broadcast television channel. Launched on 1 November 1982, it was the first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speakin ...

soap series '' Pobol y Cwm''.

Early life

Gregory's mother, Millicent "Millie" Gregory, was a Welsh language campaigner for the

Welsh Language Society The Welsh Language Society (, also often abbreviated to Cymdeithas yr Iaith or just Cymdeithas in English) is a direct action pressure group in Wales campaigning for the right of Welsh people to use the Welsh language in every aspect of their l ...

who died of a heart attack. Her father, Oliver Gregory, was manager of

National Westminster Bank National Westminster Bank, trading as NatWest, is a major retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by the merger of National Provincial Bank and Westminster Bank. In 2000, it becam ...

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth (; ) is a University town, university and seaside town and a community (Wales), community in Ceredigion, Wales. It is the largest town in Ceredigion and from Aberaeron, the county's other administrative centre. In 2021, the popula ...

Career

Gregory started acting professionally in the 1970s. In 1977, she co-founded Theatr Bara Caws, a community theatre in

Caernarfon Caernarfon (; ) is a List of place names with royal patronage in the United Kingdom, royal town, Community (Wales), community and port in Gwynedd, Wales. It has a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the easter ...

. She began starring in S4C's ''Pobol y Cwm'' as Jean McGurk in a recurring role in 1987. She left the series in 1997, but made further appearances as the character in 1999 and 2002. She was later cast in the S4C programmes '' Rownd a Rownd'' and ''Porthpenwaig''. Gregory also had roles in the Welsh-language films '' Coming Up Roses'' (1986), '' Dal: Yma/Nawr'' (2003).

Personal life and death

Gregory was married to Welsh actor Robert Blythe until their separation. The couple had two daughters, Angharad Elen and Rhian Alaw. Angharad is a writer and television producer, and Rhian also became an actress. She later in a relationship with poet Gerallt Lloyd Owen, and remained together until his death in July 2014. Gregory died with her daughters by her side on 21 November 2017 in

Llandwrog Llandwrog (; ) is a village and community (Wales), community in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, most notable for the presence of the headquarters of Welsh record label Sain (record label), Sain and the site of Caernarfon Airport. It has a population ...

, at the age of 71.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gregory, Iola 1946 births 2017 deaths 20th-century Welsh actresses 21st-century Welsh actresses Welsh film actresses Welsh radio actresses Welsh stage actresses British soap opera actresses Welsh television actresses Actresses from London People from Hammersmith People from Llandwrog Actors from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Actresses from Gwynedd