Carolyn Jane Onslow How (born 21 December 1950) is an English actress with a range of television, film, and stage credits. She is best known for her role as

Jan Hammond The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' in 1986, by order of first appearance. All characters were introduced by the show's co-creator Julia Smith. The first character to be introduced du ...

, the mistress of

Den Watts Dennis "Den" Watts is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by actor Leslie Grantham. He became well known for his tabloid nickname, "Dirty Den". Den was the original landlord of The Queen Victoria public house ...

in '' EastEnders''. She appeared in the programme regularly from 1986 to 1987 and also made brief return appearances in 2002 and 2003, the latter leading up to Den's return to the show.

Career

After training at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, where she won the Rodney Millington Award, she spent several years in provincial theatre. Other roles include two series of "The Spoils of War ", '' War and Remembrance'', ''

A.D. The terms (AD) and before Christ (BC) are used to label or number years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The term is Medieval Latin and means 'in the year of the Lord', but is often presented using "our Lord" instead of "the Lord", ...

'', "Anglo Saxon Attitudes", "The Cazalet Chronicles", "Zoya", "Love in a Cold Climate", another famous mistress,

Camilla Parker Bowles Camilla (born Camilla Rosemary Shand, later Parker Bowles, 17 July 1947) is Queen Consort of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms as the wife of King Charles III. She became queen consort on 8 September 2022, upon the acc ...

, in the TV movie '' Charles and Diana: Unhappily Ever After'' (1992). She has also appeared in ''

The Citadel The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, commonly known simply as The Citadel, is a public senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina. Established in 1842, it is one of six senior military colleges in the United States. ...

'', ''

Midsomer Murders ''Midsomer Murders'' is a British crime drama television series, adapted by Anthony Horowitz and Douglas Watkinson from the novels in the '' Chief Inspector Barnaby'' book series (created by Caroline Graham), and broadcast on two channels of ...

'', '' Judge John Deed'', "Byron", '' Bad Girls'', "Love Soup", "Armadillo", ''

Agatha Christie's Poirot ''Poirot'' (also known as ''Agatha Christie's Poirot'') is a British mystery drama television programme that aired on ITV from 8 January 1989 to 13 November 2013. David Suchet starred as the eponymous detective, Agatha Christie's fictional H ...

'', "Daniel Deronda", as well as in four series of the sitcom '' Don't Wait Up'' as Helen with

Nigel Havers Nigel Allan Havers (born 6 November 1951) is an English actor. His film roles include Lord Andrew Lindsay in the 1981 British film ''Chariots of Fire'', which earned him a BAFTA nomination; as Dr. Rawlins in the 1987 Steven Spielberg war drama ...

. Her first television credit was in the 1973 '' Doctor Who'' story '' Planet of the Daleks''. Her films include ''

AKA Aka, AKA or a.k.a. may refer to: * "Also known as", used to introduce an alternative name Languages * Aka language (Sudan) * Aka language, in the Central African Republic * Hruso language, in India, also referred to as Aka * a prefix in the n ...

'' (2002), '' A Good Woman'' (2004), '' The Best Man'' (2005), ''

Miss Potter ''Miss Potter'' is a 2006 biographical drama film directed by Chris Noonan. It is based on the life of children's author and illustrator Beatrix Potter, and combines stories from her own life with animated sequences featuring characters from her ...

'' (2006) and ''

1st Night ''1st Night'' is a 2010 opera themed comedy film directed by Christopher Menaul and starring Richard E. Grant, Sarah Brightman, Mia Maestro, and Julian Ovenden. Plot 1st Night is about a rich industrialist Adam ( Richard E. Grant), who aspire ...

'' (2010). In the West End, she has appeared for the R.S.C. in ''

The Return of A. J. Raffles ''The Return of A. J. Raffles'', first produced and published in 1975, is an Edwardian comedy play in three acts, written by Graham Greene and based somewhat loosely on E. W. Hornung's characters in ''The Amateur Cracksman''. Set in the late summe ...

'', as Larita in

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combina ...

's '' Easy Virtue'' at The Garrick, she was in the original cast of ''

Don't Dress for Dinner ''Don't Dress for Dinner'' is an adaptation of a two-act play titled ''Pyjama Pour Six'' by French playwright Marc Camoletti, who wrote '' Boeing-Boeing.'' It ran in London for six years and opened on Broadway in 2012. Productions After a succes ...

'' at The Apollo, ''Home and Beauty'' at the Lyric and ''Top People'' at the Ambassadors Theatre. How has also played Lady Punnett in the highly successful '' Half a Sixpence'', which opened in the Noël Coward Theatre on 17 November 2016 and had its last performance on Saturday 2 September 2017 after 347 performances. In 2009, How appeared as a finishing school teacher in a commercial for

Go Compare Go.Compare (formerly GoCompare.com) is a British financial services comparison company based in Newport, Wales. Its website provides comparison details for financial products including car insurance, home and pet insurance and breakdown cover. ...

insurance, while in March 2010 she appeared briefly as hospital executive Zara Merrick in the BBC1 drama series '' Casualty''. In 2014, she played the role of Joan Rogerson in ''

Fatal Attraction ''Fatal Attraction'' is a 1987 American psychological thriller film directed by Adrian Lyne from a screenplay by James Dearden, based on his 1980 short film '' Diversion''. Starring Michael Douglas, Glenn Close, and Anne Archer, the film center ...

'', at the

Theatre Royal Haymarket The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre on Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use. Samuel Foot ...

. In 2018, she played the role of Florence Boorman in '' Her Naked Skin'' at the

Salisbury Playhouse Salisbury Playhouse is a theatre in the English city of Salisbury, Wiltshire. It was built in 1976 and comprises the 517-seat Main House and the 149-seat Salberg, a rehearsal room and a community & education space. It is part of Arts Council E ...

Personal life

In 1977, she married actor Mark Burns; they had a son, Jack, in 1981 and divorced in 1983. She later married actor Richard Durden, in 1996. She has been chairwoman of the charity the Theatrical Guild since 2011, having been involved with the committee for many years.

References

External links

* English television actresses English soap opera actresses Living people 1950 births {{UK-tv-actor-1950s-stub