Eve Lucinda "Lucy" Fleming (born 15 May 1947) is a British actress.

Early life and ancestry

Fleming was born in Nettlebed, England. She is the second daughter of actress

Celia Johnson Dame Celia Elizabeth Johnson (18 December 1908 – 26 April 1982) was an English actress, whose career included stage, television and film. She is especially known for her roles in the films ''In Which We Serve'' (1942), ''This Happy Breed ...

and writer Peter Fleming, the brother of ''

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

'' author

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer, best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his ...

. She is a granddaughter of Valentine Fleming, a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Member of parliament who was killed during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in May 1917, and of his widow, Evelyn. Amaryllis Fleming was the actress's half-aunt, fathered by Welsh painter

Augustus John Augustus Edwin John (4 January 1878 – 31 October 1961) was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a time he was considered the most important artist at work in Britain: Virginia Woolf remarked that by 1908 the era of John Singer Sarg ...

during his relationship with Evelyn. Fleming spent part of her childhood growing up in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

: "My parents packed me off to some friends in New Zealand when I was 16, hoping I would grow up a little and perhaps change my mind about acting. I was quite a

tomboy A tomboy is a girl or young woman who generally expresses masculine traits. Such traits may include wearing androgynous or unfeminine clothing and engaging in activities and behaviors traditionally associated with boys or men. Origins The w ...

. I ended up at the

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, which was just the most beautiful place in the world. I was meant to be looking after the friends' little boy, but I didn't have a clue, and I don't recall doing much of that at all. I loved the country, though."

Career

Fleming is perhaps best known for her role as Jenny Richards in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction are genres of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astronom ...

drama series '' Survivors'', which originally aired from 1975 to 1977. Jenny is the only character to appear in both the first and last episodes of the show. Her numerous credits in other British television series include '' The Avengers'', Lydia Bennet in BBC's 1967 Pride and Prejudice series, Maud Ruthyn on the Season 4 episode "Uncle Silas" of the anthology series ''

Mystery and Imagination ''Mystery and Imagination'' is a British television anthology series of classic horror and supernatural dramas. Five series were broadcast from 1966 to 1970 by the ITV network and produced by ABC and (later) Thames Television. Outline The se ...

'', '' Smiley's People'', ''

Mr. Bean ''Mr. Bean'' is a British sitcom created by Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis, produced by Tiger Aspect Productions and starring Atkinson as the title character. The sitcom consists of 15 episodes that were co-written by Atkinson alongside ...

'', the regular role of Jo in '' Cold Warrior'', the first Helen Wycliffe in '' Wycliffe'', ''

A Dance to the Music of Time ''A Dance to the Music of Time'' is a 12-volume ''Book series#History, roman-fleuve'' by English writer Anthony Powell, published between 1951 and 1975 to critical acclaim. The story is an often comic examination of movements and manners, power ...

'', '' Heartbeat'', ''

Rosemary & Thyme ''Rosemary & Thyme'' is a British television cosy mystery Thriller (genre), thriller series starring Felicity Kendal and Pam Ferris as gardening detectives Rosemary Boxer and Laura Thyme. The show began on ITV (TV network), ITV in 2003. The th ...

'' and '' Kingdom''. Between 2016 and 2017, she appeared on the long running radio soap opera ''

The Archers ''The Archers'' is a British radio soap opera currently broadcast on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word Radio broadcasting, channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now pr ...

'' as Miranda, who entered the series as the wife of minor tycoon Justin Elliot but subsequently reached a divorce settlement following his affair with Lilian Bellamy. She returned the role in 2024 as a love interest for Brian Aldridge, to ex-husband Justin's considerable chagrin. Justin is played by Simon Williams, her real-life husband.

Personal life

Fleming has been married twice; first to Joseph William Peter Laycock, with whom she had a daughter and two sons. Her husband and her daughter drowned on 14 December 1980 in a boating accident on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

. She married her second husband, the actor Simon Williams, in 1986. Her uncle Ian's literary estate passed to her father Peter after his death. Since Peter's death, Fleming and her sister Kate have controlled

Ian Fleming Publications Ian Fleming Publications Limited (formerly known as Glidrose Productions Limited, from 1972 to 1998, and Ian Fleming (Glidrose) Publications Limited, from 1998 to 2002, named after its founders John Gliddon and Norman Rose) is a production compan ...

References

External links

*
Times article by Lucy Fleming on her childhood
31 August 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Fleming, Lucy 1947 births Actresses from Oxfordshire

Lucy Lucy is an English language, English feminine given name derived from the Latin masculine given name Lucius with the meaning ''as of light'' (''born at dawn or daylight'', maybe also ''shiny'', or ''of light complexion''). Alternative spellings ar ...

English people of Scottish descent English people of Welsh descent English television actresses

Ian Fleming Publications directors Living people People from Oxfordshire (before 1974)