Jane Freeman

Acting

Jane Freeman

Born 1935-03-15 · Brentford, London, England, UK

Freeman was born in Brentford, London, in 1935 but raised in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, as a child, following the death of her father in an accident when she was 9 years old and her mother's subsequent remarriage. She graduated from the City Cardiff College of Music and Drama in 1955, and after a stay in London joined the Osiris Repertory Theatre touring company, based in Gloucestershire. She joined the Arena Theatre, Sutton Coldfield, in 1958, followed by Birmingham Rep from 1968 and 1973. Her stage appearances include Margaret More in the Welsh Theatre Company's first production, A Man for All Seasons, at Cardiff's New Theatre in 1962. She was best known for her role as café owner Ivy, one of the main characters in the long-running British TV comedy Last of the Summer Wine. Freeman died in March 2017 at the age of 81 from lung cancer. Her age was often incorrectly reported as being 96 at the time of her death, but official birth records prove that she was born in 1935

Acting credits

Marriage poster
NR

Councillor Podkolyossin has called on the services of Madame Fyokla, the matchmaker - decision he is already beginning to regret. Against his better judgment he finds himself competing for the hand of Miss Agafya.

Marriage

1981

Scrubbers poster
5.2

Inmates fight, pair off, try suicide and attempt escape at a British reform school for girls.

Scrubbers

1982

Dark Water poster
5.0

In order to enjoy a romantic private swim together, Jo and Eddie hide when their local swimming pool is closing for the evening. But unknown to them, a killer is on the loose - and in the building with them.

Dark Water

1980

The Fishing Party poster
8.5

Three miners plan a weekend fishing.

The Fishing Party

1972

Ghost in the Water poster
6.7

Judith Allchurch and Ian Stevens star in this drama based on the story by Edward Chitham. When young historians Teresa (Allchurch) and David (Stevens) discover that the name on a piece of embroidered cloth belonging to Teresa's family matches that of a strange gravestone in the local churchyard, their intrique is piqued and they set out to find out what happened to the mysterious Abigail Parkes.

Ghost in the Water

1982

Androcles and the Lion poster
NR

Shaw used the traditional fable of Andocles to focus on the integrity of religious belief. Androcles, a christian fleeing persecution in Rome, is captured by Caesar's men. Alongside other christians - Ferrovius, a fierce fighter, Lavinia, a beautiful aristocrat and would-be martyr Spintho - he must face the lions of the Coliseum. How will each of them face their desperate fate?

Androcles and the Lion

1984

All Day on the Sands poster
7.0

Mr and Mrs Cooper are staying at a boarding-house in the seaside resort of Morecambe with their small children, Colin and Jennifer. Mr Cooper has just been made redundant, but the family are trying to keep this a secret from the other guests. Also staying at the hotel are Keith and Jo, a young couple on their honeymoon, and an older couple, Mr and Mrs Thornton. Waking early one morning, Colin amuses himself by dangling one of his sister's sandals out of the window on a piece of string. The sandal accidentally lands on a flat roof just outside the window of the honeymooning couple, and his father's now straitened financial circumstances mean Colin has to get it back, by fair means or foul.

All Day on the Sands

1979

Getting Sam Home poster
8.0

Three old chums agree to take the ailing Sam on one last trip to see his flousy girl-friend, Lily Bless Her, in the middle of the night.

Getting Sam Home

1983

Love on a Gunboat poster
NR

In 1956 Britain staggers through crises in Suez and Cyprus while Leslie Potter pursues and marries Monica Dobbs. Twenty years later the nation has still not recovered. Neither has Leslie.

Love on a Gunboat

1977

Through the Night poster
NR

The play tells the story of Christine Potts, who undergoes an unexpected mastectomy, and struggles to cope with the aftermath and the deficiencies of her post-operative care.

Through the Night

1975

No artwork available
NR

Feature-length 1984 adaptation of Shelagh Delaney's classic play.

A Taste of Honey

1984

No artwork available
NR

Mary and Barry Case's second child, Lindsey, has spina bifida. They must decide whether to allow an operation which would save her life but leave her permanently crippled, or leave her fate to nature.

Lindsey

1980

Scully's New Year's Eve poster
9.0

Scully invites his mates to gatecrash his mum's New Year's Eve party.

Scully's New Year's Eve

1978