Susan Maureen Fleetwood (21 September 1944 – 29 September 1995) was a British stage, film, and television actress, who specialized in classical theatre. She received popular attention in the television series '' Chandler & Co'' and '' The Buddha of Suburbia''. 'Susan Fleetwood; Obituary,' ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...

'' (2 October 1995), p. 23

Personal life

Fleetwood was born in

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's four ...

, Fife,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

, the daughter of Bridget Maureen (née Brereton) and John Joseph Kells Fleetwood, an RAF officer. She was the elder sister of musician and actor Mick Fleetwood, drummer of rock band

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the li ...

. The service family was stationed in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...

in the years before the

Suez crisis The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...

and, afterwards, in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

where John Fleetwood received a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

appointment and where Susan received her first role as the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the m ...

in a school play. On her return to the UK, she was encouraged to take up drama by a nun at a convent school, winning a scholarship to the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Sena ...

at the age of sixteen. Her partner at the time of her death was theatre director Sebastian Graham Jones. She never married.

Stage

After training with RADA, where a student production won Fleetwood the Bancroft gold medal, in 1964 she joined the company of the Liverpool Everyman theatre, where her fellow student

Terry Hands Terence David Hands (9 January 1941 – 4 February 2020) was an English theatre director. He founded the Liverpool Everyman Theatre and ran the Royal Shakespeare Company for thirteen years during one of the company's most successful periods; h ...

had been appointed director. When Hands moved to the RSC in 1967, she followed. In 1968 at Stratford she gave two commanding performances: in the relatively unpromising part of Cassandra in ''

Troilus and Cressida ''Troilus and Cressida'' ( or ) is a play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1602. At Troy during the Trojan War, Troilus and Cressida begin a love affair. Cressida is forced to leave Troy to join her father in the Greek camp. M ...

'' and as Regan in '' Lear''. In 1969, under the direction of Hands, she movingly doubled the parts Thaisa and Marina in ''

Pericles Pericles (; grc-gre, wikt:Περικλῆς, Περικλῆς; c. 495 – 429 BC) was a Greeks, Greek politician and general during the Fifth-century Athens, Golden Age of Athens. He was prominent and influential in Athens, Athenian politi ...

''. In 1974, she played Imogen in John Barton's production of '' Cymbeline''. Many principal roles followed, until in 1977 the former RSC director Peter Hall persuaded her to join him in the National Theatre company where, in addition to playing Ophelia to

Albert Finney Albert Finney (9 May 1936 – 7 February 2019) was an English actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and worked in the theatre before attaining prominence on screen in the early 1960s, debuting with ''The Entertainer'' (1960), ...

's Hamlet, she was offered parts from a wider repertory of plays. In the early 1980s she appeared in seasons with both companies, including a memorable Rosalind in ''

As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has ...

''. Her last season with the RSC was 1990–91.

Death

Susan Fleetwood died in

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

, Wiltshire, England on 29 September 1995, aged 51, after suffering from

ovarian cancer Ovarian cancer is a cancerous tumor of an ovary. It may originate from the ovary itself or more commonly from communicating nearby structures such as fallopian tubes or the inner lining of the abdomen. The ovary is made up of three different ...

for a decade.

Select TV and filmography

*''

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 ...

'' (BBC television recording of a Prospect Theatre Company stage performance, 1972), Ophelia, opposite

Ian McKellen Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. His career spans seven decades, having performed in genres ranging from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. Regarded as a British cultural ...

*''The Watercress Girl'' ( Granada's ''Country Matters'' series, 1972) title role *''Don't Be Silly ''(BBC Television Play for Today, 1979) as Pamela Redman'' *'' The Good Soldier'' (

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...

, 1981) as Leonora *'' Clash of the Titans'' (1981) as

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of ...

*'' Heat and Dust'' (1983) as Mrs. Crawford, the Burra Memsahib (The Nineteen Twenties in the Civil Lines at Satipur) *'' Minder'' (1983) Series 4 Episode 2 "Senior Citizen Caine" as Sonia Caine * '' Strangers and Brothers'' (1984) as Lady Caroline Quaife (2 episodes) *''

Young Sherlock Holmes ''Young Sherlock Holmes'' (also known with the title card name of "''Young Sherlock Holmes and the Pyramid of Fear''") is a 1985 American mystery adventure film directed by Barry Levinson and written by Chris Columbus, based on the characters ...

'' (1985) as Mrs. Dribb *'' The Sacrifice'' (1986) as Adelaide *'' White Mischief'' (1987) as

Gwladys, Lady Delamere Gwladys Helen Cholmondeley, Baroness Delamere, CBE (née Beckett; 17 January 1898 – 22 February 1943), formerly Lady Charles Markham, was the first female Mayor of Nairobi from 1938 to 1940. She was awarded her CBE in 1941 for public services in ...

*''

Dream Demon ''Dream Demon'' is a 1988 British horror film co-written and directed by Harley Cokeliss and starring Jemma Redgrave in her debut role opposite Kathleen Wilhoite, Jimmy Nail, Susan Fleetwood and Timothy Spall. Plot Diana Markham, an upper cl ...

'' (1988) as Deborah *'' Summer's Lease'' (1989) as Molly Pargeter *'' The Krays'' (1990) as Rose *'' Six Characters in Search of an Author'' (TV drama, 1992) as The Mother *'' Shakespeare: The Animated Tales: Hamlet'' (series, 1992) as Queen Gertrude ( voice) *'' The Buddha of Suburbia'' (TV drama 1993) as Eva Kay *'' Lovejoy'' (TV drama, Series 5, Episode 8, 1993) as Mary Gladden * '' Under the Hammer'' (TV, 1994) as Calpurnia Beacon * ''

Wycliffe Wycliffe (and other similar spellings) may refer to: People *John Wycliffe (and other spellings) (c.1320s – 1384), English theologian and Bible translator * Wycliffe (name), includes a list of other people with the name Places * Wycliffe, Count ...

'' (TV, 1994) as Lady Cynthia Bottrell *'' Chandler & Co'' (

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced t ...

, 1995) as Kate Phillips *'' Persuasion'' (1995) as Lady Russell

References

External links

RSC performance database
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fleetwood, Susan 1944 births 1995 deaths Deaths from ovarian cancer People from St Andrews Royal Shakespeare Company members British film actresses British stage actresses British television actresses British voice actresses Deaths from cancer in England 20th-century British actresses Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art