Janet Ethne Anne Henfrey (born 16 August 1935) is a British stage and television actress whose career has spanned over 50 years. A familiar face on stage and screen since the 1960s starring in a variety of British Television favourites. She is perhaps best known for playing Mrs. Bale on '' As Time Goes By'', and for her role as the schoolteacher in the

Dennis Potter Dennis Christopher George Potter (17 May 1935 – 7 June 1994) was an English television dramatist, screenwriter and journalist. He is best known for his BBC television serials '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978) and '' The Singing Detective'' ...

television play '' Stand Up, Nigel Barton'' (1965) and Potter's serial ''

The Singing Detective ''The Singing Detective'' is a six-part BBC television serial drama, written by Dennis Potter, starring Michael Gambon and directed by Jon Amiel. Its six episodes are "Skin", "Heat", "Lovely Days", "Clues", "Pitter Patter" and "Who Done It". ...

'' (1986), also as a schoolteacher.

Early life

Before training 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 ...

she read English at

St Anne's College, Oxford St Anne's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 and gained full college status in 1959. Originally a women's college, it has admitted men since 1979. ...

, and spent a graduate year at

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

reading History.

Credits

Other TV credits include: '' Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV'' (1985); ''As Time Goes By'', '' The Jewel in the Crown''; ''

Reilly, Ace of Spies ''Reilly, Ace of Spies'' is a 1983 British television programme dramatizing the life of Sidney Reilly, a Russian-born adventurer who became one of the greatest spies ever to work for the United Kingdom and the British Empire. Among his exploits ...

''; ''

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 ...

'' (in the serial '' The Curse of Fenric'' and the episode "

Mummy on the Orient Express "Mummy on the Orient Express" is the eighth episode of the Doctor Who (series 8), eighth series of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 11 October 2014. The episode was written by Ja ...

"); ''

Jeeves and Wooster ''Jeeves and Wooster'' is a British comedy television series adapted by Clive Exton from P. G. Wodehouse's "Jeeves" stories. It aired on the ITV network from 22 April 1990 to 20 June 1993, with the last series nominated for a British Aca ...

''; ''

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 ...

''; ''

Lovejoy ''Lovejoy'' is a British television comedy-drama mystery fiction, mystery series, based on the Lovejoy (novel series), novels by John Grant (Lovejoy), John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six ser ...

''; ''

One Foot in the Grave ''One Foot in the Grave'' is a British television British sitcom, sitcom written by David Renwick. There were six series (each consisting of six half-hour episodes) and seven Christmas specials over a period of ten years from early 1990 to late ...

''; '' My Uncle Silas'' and '' Simon and the Witch''. Henfrey also played a minor character in an episode of the 1996 series of '' The Famous Five'', "Five Get into Trouble" and Mistress Hecate Broomhead in two episodes of ''

The Worst Witch ''The Worst Witch'' is a series of children's books written and illustrated by English author Jill Murphy. The series are primarily about a girl named Mildred Hubble who attends a witch school and fantasy stories, with eight books published. ...

'' ("The Inspector Calls" and "Just Like Clockwork"). She appeared in the 2002 adaptation of the British miniseries ''Tipping The Velvet'' playing the character Mrs Jex, based on the novel by Sarah Waters. She also appeared in the 2015 British miniseries adaptation of ''

Wolf Hall ''Wolf Hall'' is a 2009 historical novel by English author Hilary Mantel, published by Fourth Estate, named after the Seymour family's seat of Wolfhall, or Wulfhall, in Wiltshire. Set in the period from 1500 to 1535, ''Wolf Hall'' is a sym ...

''.

Personal life

Henfrey lives in

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

, north London. She is a member of the Labour Party and a trustee of the International Performers Aid Trust.

Filmography

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Henfrey, Janet 1935 births Living people 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Alumni of St Anne's College, Oxford English film actresses English radio actresses English stage actresses English television actresses Actresses from Aldershot Smith College alumni