Natasha Pyne (born 9 July 1946) is an English actress who starred in ''

The Taming of the Shrew ''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken ...

'' (1967 film), '' The Breaking of Bumbo'' (1970) and '' Father, Dear Father'' (1973).

Early life

Pyne was born in

Crawley Crawley () is a large town and borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a population of 106,597 at the time of th ...

, Sussex on 9 July 1946. She is descended from a sister of Empress Eugénie, the wife of French emperor

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A neph ...

. Her father was a

military attaché A military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission, often an embassy. This type of attaché post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer, who retains a commission while serving with an embassy. Oppo ...

to the British embassy in Rome and she attended a private school in London. She went to a comprehensive school in Fulham, Hurlingham School, for the latter part of her education.

Theatre

Pyne began her acting career at the

Royal Court A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word "court" may also be appl ...

in a production of

John Osborne John James Osborne (12 December 1929 – 24 December 1994) was an English playwright, screenwriter and actor, known for his prose that criticized established social and political norms. The success of his 1956 play '' Look Back in Anger'' tr ...

's '' Inadmissible Evidence'' in 1964 Pyne played

Ophelia Ophelia () is a character in William Shakespeare's drama '' Hamlet'' (1599–1601). She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes and potential wife of Prince Hamlet, who, due to Hamlet's actions, ends u ...

in a

Charles Marowitz Charles Marowitz (26 January 1934 – 2 May 2014) was an American critic, theatre director, and playwright, regular columnist on Swans Commentary. He collaborated with Peter Brook at the Royal Shakespeare Company, and later founded and direc ...

's adaptation of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 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 ...

's '

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depi ...

' at the

Open Space Theatre The Open Space Theatre was created by Charles Marowitz and Thelma Holt in 1968. It began in a basement on Tottenham Court Road in London, then transferred to an art deco post office on the Euston Road in 1976. Thelma attracted a team of voluntee ...

Tottenham Court Road Tottenham Court Road (occasionally abbreviated as TCR) is a major road in Central London, almost entirely within the London Borough of Camden. The road runs from Euston Road in the north to St Giles Circus in the south; Tottenham Court Road ...

in July 1969. Pyne starred in the Denise Coffey directed production of Brandon Thomas's

Charley's Aunt ''Charley's Aunt'' is a farce in three acts written by Brandon Thomas. The story centres on Lord Fancourt Babberley, an undergraduate whose friends Jack and Charley persuade him to impersonate the latter's aunt. The complications of the plot in ...

and

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

The Importance of being Earnest ''The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People'' is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious ...

at the

Young Vic The Young Vic Theatre is a performing arts venue located on The Cut, near the South Bank, in the London Borough of Lambeth. The Young Vic was established by Frank Dunlop in 1970. Kwame Kwei-Armah has been Artistic Director since February 20 ...

in 1977. She returned to the

in 1990 in Robert Holman's '' Rafts and Dreams''.

Career

Pyne appeared as Bianca in the

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...

and

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable p ...

film ''

'' in 1967, alongside

Michael York Michael York OBE (born Michael Hugh Johnson; 27 March 1942) is an English film, television and stage actor. After performing on-stage with the Royal National Theatre, he had a breakthrough in films by playing Tybalt in Franco Zeffirelli's ''R ...

. and her other film roles include '' The Breaking of Bumbo'' (1970), '' Madhouse'' (1973) with

Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, art historian, art collector and gourmet cook. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Wa ...

, and the Disney British film '' One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing'' (1975) as Susan, a young nanny. She appeared in an episode of '' Jason King'' and also '' The Adventurer'' with

Gene Barry Gene Barry (born Eugene Klass, June 14, 1919 – December 9, 2009) was an American stage, screen, and television actor and singer. Barry is best remembered for his leading roles in the films '' The Atomic City'' (1952) and ''The War of The Worl ...

. She is best known for her role as Anna Glover in the British television

sitcom A sitcom, a Portmanteau, portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troup ...

'' Father, Dear Father'', which ran from 1968 to 1973. Made by

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...

, the series featured

Patrick Cargill Patrick Cargill (3 June 191823 May 1996) was an English actor remembered for his lead role in the British television sitcom ''Father, Dear Father''. Career Cargill was born to middle-class parents living in Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex. After educati ...

as her father, and Pyne also reprised her role in the 1973

film version A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...

. Her later appearances were mostly in television dramas such as ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused on ...

''. Pyne has also been in many Radio 4 plays. In 2007, she made a guest appearance in the '' Doctor Who'' audio play '' I.D.''. She married the actor Paul Copley in 1972, having performed with him in a 1971 production in

Leeds Leeds () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the thi ...

Frank Wedekind Benjamin Franklin Wedekind (July 24, 1864 – March 9, 1918) was a German playwright. His work, which often criticizes bourgeois attitudes (particularly towards sex), is considered to anticipate expressionism and was influential in the deve ...

's ''

Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, ...

'', directed by Peter Barnes.

Filmography

Film

*''

The Devil Ship Pirates ''The Devil-Ship Pirates'' is a 1964 British pirate adventure film directed by Don Sharp. The film was the first of several collaborations between Don Sharp and star Christopher Lee. Plot A pirate ship, involved in 1588 battles on the side of ...

'' (1964) *'' The Idol'' (1966) *'' Who Killed the Cat?'' (1966) *''

'' (1967) *'' The Breaking of Bumbo'' (1970) *'' Father, Dear Father'' (1973) *'' Madhouse'' (1973) *'' One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing'' (1975)

Radio work

She was in BBC's Radio Drama Company (RDC) in the mid-1980s and appeared in numerous Radio 4 plays and readings. She also appeared i
Drama on 3
and Children's

BBC Radio 5 (former) BBC Radio 5 was a national radio station that broadcast sports, children's and educational programmes. It ran from 1990 to 1994 and was transmitted via analogue radio on 693 and 909 kHz AM. On 28 March 1994, three years and seven month ...

. *''Whale Music (play)'' (

Anthony Minghella Anthony Minghella, (6 January 195418 March 2008) was a British film director, playwright and screenwriter. He was chairman of the board of Governors at the British Film Institute between 2003 and 2007. He won the Academy Award for Best Directo ...

) (1986) *Father Brown - The Curse of the Gold Cross (1986) *''The Clockmaker of Cordoba'' (1986) *''

All's Well That Ends Well ''All's Well That Ends Well'' is a play by William Shakespeare, published in the '' First Folio'' in 1623, where it is listed among the comedies. There is a debate regarding the dating of the composition of the play, with possible dates rang ...

'' (1986) *''Searching The Ashes'' (1986) *''The Making Of Frankenstein'' (1986) * Afternoon Play - ''The Cotswold Order'' (1986), as Dorkas *''Count Omega'' (1987) *'' The Demon Headmaster'' (1990) *''

The Secret Garden ''The Secret Garden'' is a novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett first published in book form in 1911, after serialisation in '' The American Magazine'' (November 1910 – August 1911). Set in England, it is one of Burnett's most popular novels an ...

'' (1991) *''Mrs Donaldson at sixty'' (1991) *''

The Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' or ''The Wizard of Oz'' most commonly refers to: *'' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', a 1900 American novel by L. Frank Baum often reprinted as ''The Wizard of Oz'' ** Wizard of Oz (character), from the Baum novel serie ...

'' (1994) *''The Secret Life of my Aunt Fanny'' (1994) *Thirty Minute Theatre – ''An Afterlife'' (1995) *Afternoon Play – ''Love To Hate'' (written by

Wally K. Daly Wally K. Daly (13 November 1940 – 30 April 2020) was an English writer for television and radio and one-time chairman of the Writers' Guild of Great Britain. He was born in Grangetown, Middlesbrough. Television As well as some minor actin ...

) (2000) *Afternoon Play – ''Ruth Ellis the son's story'' (2000) *Afternoon Play – ''Best Of Luck, Phyllis Diller'' (2005)

Television

She was in ''

Van der Valk ''Van der Valk'' is a British television crime drama series produced for the ITV network. The first series ran from 1972 to 1992; followed by a remake in 2020. Created by Nicolas Freeling and based on his novels about a detective in Amsterda ...

'' when it was revived once again towards the end of Thames' life as a part of the ITV network, with four two-hour episodes of the fourth series in January and February 1991, and the fifth series three two-hour episodes in February 1992. *''

Silas Marner ''Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe'' is the third novel by George Eliot. It was published in 1861. An outwardly simple tale of a linen weaver, the novel is notable for its strong realism and its sophisticated treatment of a variety of issue ...

'' (1964) *

The Wednesday Play ''The Wednesday Play'' is an anthology series of British television plays which ran on BBC1 for six seasons from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually original works written for television, although dramatic adaptations of fiction ...

– ''

A Hero of Our Time ''A Hero of Our Time'' ( rus, Герой нашего времени, links=1, r=Gerój nášego vrémeni, p=ɡʲɪˈroj ˈnaʂɨvə ˈvrʲemʲɪnʲɪ) is a novel by Mikhail Lermontov, written in 1839, published in 1840, and revised in 1841. It ...

'' (1966) *

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 ser ...

– ''Carmilla'' (1966) *'' Haunted'' – "Through a Glass Darkly" (1968) *''Father Dear Father'' (1968–73) *'' Jason King'' (1972) *'' The Adventurer'' (1972) *

Play For Today ''Play for Today'' is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stag ...

– ''A Brush with Mr Porter on the Road to Eldorado'' (1981) *''

'' (1991–92) *'' Cadfael'' (1998) *''

'' (2000s (decade))

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pyne, Natasha 1946 births Living people English film actresses English stage actresses English voice actresses People from Crawley Actresses from Sussex 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses