Jenny Laird


Phyllis Edith Mary Blythe, known professionally as Jenny Laird, was a British stage, film and television actress.

Early life and education

Born in Manchester, Laird and her parents moved to the south, and she was educated at Maidstone grammar school and London University. She worked briefly as an advertising copywriter while studying acting with teachers such as the Central School's legendary Elsie Fogerty and in 1937 she made her repertory debut at the Brixton Theatre in A Bill of Divorcement.

Theatre

Laird worked with director Alec Clunes at the Arts Theatre Club during its heyday in the 1940s and 1950s. What the actor-manager sought for the little underground playhouse in London's Great Newport Street was an audience "eager for intelligent and entertaining plays". Laird's acting went from strength to strength in Farquhar, Ibsen, Chekhov, Shaw and other modern plays. While at the Arts Theatre, she periodically returned to "commercial" theatre, playing Rose in The Recruiting Officer and Nora in A Doll's House. As Ellie, in the revival by Californian John Fernald of Shaw's Heartbreak House, she revealed, one critic wrote, "an enchanting combination of youth and firmness. Her broken heart never ceased to glint through her mask of ice". Her shapely legs and green eyes figured prominently in West End plays by Ivor Novello, N. C. Hunter and Robert Morley.

Writing

With her husband, she co-wrote the West End comedy And No Birds Sing, adapted several plays from the French, and in 1977 wrote Mixed Economy, which played at the King's Head Theatre in Islington, starring Margaret Rawlings and Laird's daughter Karen Fernald.

Personal life

In 1947, Laird married her collaborator John Fernald; they had one daughter, Karen.

Selected filmography

The Morals of Marcus - Maid Auld Lang Syne - Alison BegbieThe Last Chance - BettyPassenger to London - Barbara LaneWhat a Man! - Daisy PennyfeatherLily of Laguna - Jane MarshallBlack Eyes - LucyJust William - Ethel BrownThe Lamp Still Burns - Ginger WatkinsPainted Boats - Mary SmithBeware of Pity - TrudiWanted for Murder - Jeannie McLarenBlack Narcissus - Sister HoneyYour Witness - Mary Baxter, Sam's WifeThe Long Dark Hall - Mrs. SimsLife in Her Hands - MatronGilbert Harding Speaking of Murder - Linda MaxwellFace in the Night - Postman's WidowConspiracy of Hearts - Sister HonoriaVillage of the Damned - Mrs. HarringtonThe Masks of Death - Mrs. Hudson

Television

The Human JungleThe Onedin Line Doctor Who Shoulder to Shoulder - Matron of Holloway Prison Secret_Army_(TV_series) - Little Old Lady Lillie All Creatures Great and Small