Brigit Forsyth

Brigit Forsyth
File:Brigit Forsyth resize.jpg
Born	Brigit Dorothea Connell (1940-07-28)28 July 1940 Malton, North Riding of Yorkshire, England
Died	1 December 2023(2023-12-01) (aged 83)
Alma mater	Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1960–2021
Known for	Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? The Evil of the Daleks Still Open All Hours Boon The Practice The Likely Lads Playing the Field
Spouse	Brian Mills ​ ​ (m. 1975; sep. 1999)​
Children	2

Brigit Dorothea Mills (born Brigit Dorothea Connell ; 28 July 1940 – 1 December 2023), better known by her stage name Brigit Forsyth, was a British actress from Malton, England, best known for her roles as Thelma Ferris in the BBC sitcom Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? and Helen Yeldham in the ITV drama Boon. From 2013 to 2019, Forsyth appeared in the BBC sitcom Still Open All Hours.

Early life

Forsyth was born as Brigit Dorothea Connell, on 28 July 1940 in Malton, North Riding of Yorkshire, England. Her grandfather was a doctor in the town and delivered her. Her mother, Anne (nee Forsyth) was a painter, and her father, Frank James Connell, an architect and town planner in Edinburgh. After leaving St George's School for Girls in Edinburgh, Forsyth trained as a secretary before enrolling at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, where she won the Emile Littler Award.

Career

Forsyth began her professional career in Edinburgh with the Gateway Theatre Company (1960–61). She then moved to the Theatre Royal, Lincoln, (1961–62) and in 1962 to the Arthur Brough Players in Folkestone. On her return to Lincoln, she changed her professional name to Forsyth. Her film career began with the Roald Dahl-scripted The Night Digger (1971), playing a district nurse. Her film work also included a version of The Likely Lads (1976) as Thelma Ferris.

Forsyth played the cello from the age of nine, but abandoned it once she went to drama school; her ability was employed when, in 2004, she was cast in the lead role in Cello and the Nightingale, a play about internationally known cellist Beatrice Harrison that premiered at York Theatre Royal and in Killing Time (2019), an off-Broadway production in which she played the instrument and wrote the music.

Forsyth's best-known television work was Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? as Thelma Chambers / Thelma Ferris (1972–74). She also appeared in The Glamour Girls (1980–82) as Veronica Haslett; Tom, Dick and Harriet (1983) as Harriet Maddison, The Practice as Dr. Judith Vincent (1986), Sharon and Elsie as Elsie Beecroft (1984–85), Playing the Field (BBC1, 1998) as Francine Pratt, and Boon (ITV, 1989) as Helen Yeldham. She guest-starred in a number of other television shows such as The Bill, Doctor Who (The Evil of the Daleks, 1967), Agatha Christie's Poirot and Coronation Street.

In 1997 she appeared in a one-off sketch as the party host, in Harry Enfield & Chums, in which Enfield parodies both ex-Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Rev Ian Paisley and Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams at a house party.

In 2002, Forsyth was the subject of This Is Your Life when she was surprised by Michael Aspel at Broadcasting House. Forsyth appeared in the 2013 Christmas special of Still Open All Hours and returned for a full series on 26 December 2014 as Madge, sister of Maggie Ollerenshaw's character Mavis. In 2003 she made her first appearance at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre in their production of High Society, directed by Ian Talbot.

In 2013, Forsyth appeared as Mrs. Jennings in Helen Edmundson's BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility and as the recurring character of Pearl in Ed Reardon's Week.

Her stage work included Humble Boy in 2003 Calendar Girls in 2008 and Alan Bennett's People in 2013. She had previously appeared in a Radio 4 production of Bennett's Single Spies in which she played the part of Coral Browne. In 2015, she appeared in Now This is Not the End at the Arcola Theatre in London.

Personal life and death

Forsyth was married to television director Brian Mills from 1975, until his death in 2006, although they had separated in 1999. They had two children.

Forsyth died on 1 December 2023, at the age of 83.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1971	The Road Builder	District Nurse
1976	The Likely Lads	Thelma Ferris
1987	Crystalstone	Isabel
1999	Fanny and Elvis	Nurse Lynne

Television

Selected.

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1967	Doctor Who	Ruth Maxtible	Episode: "The Evil of the Daleks"
1973–1974	Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?	Thelma	21 episodes
1980–1982	The Glamour Girls	Veronica Haslett	All 13 episodes
1981–1982	Holding the Fort	Annabel Chesterton	2 episodes
1982–1983	Tom, Dick and Harriet	Harriet Maddison	All 12 episodes
1982	The Two Ronnies	Yvonne	Episode: "1982 Christmas Special"
1984–1985	Sharon and Elsie	Elsie Beecroft	All 12 episodes
1985–1986	The Practice	Dr. Judith Vincent	46 episodes
1989	Agatha Christie's Poirot	Ernestine Todd	Episode: "The Adventure of the Clapham Cook"
1989	Running Wild	Jenny	7 episodes
1989	Boon	Helen Yeldham	13 episodes
1991	Dark Season	Miss Maitland	All 6 episodes
1997	Spark	Mrs. Wells	5 episodes
1998	Coronation Street	Babs Fanshawe	Episode 4370
1998	Heartbeat	Elsie Harris	Episode: "Snake in the Grass"
1998–2002	Playing the Field	Francine Pratt	22 episodes
2000	Doctors	Penny Lattimer	Episode: "Twice Blessed"
2002	The Bill	Joanna Sulman	2 episodes
2005	Down to Earth	Sylvia Cosgrove	2 episodes
2005–2006	Emmerdale	Delphine LaClair	4 episodes
2006	The Outsiders	Enid	TV film
2006	Doctors	Pauline Hasland	5 episodes
2007	Heartbeat	Ellen Taylor	Episode: "Vendetta"
2007	The Street	Biopsy Doctor	Episode: "Old Flame"
2007	Jinx	Daphne	Episode: "Pilot"
2008	Waterloo Road	Susan Wilding	Episode: #3.15
2008	The Royal Today	Shona Kelly	Episode: #1.30
2008	Midsomer Murders	Estelle Balliol	Episode: "The Magician's Nephew"
2012	Mount Pleasant	Marie	Episode #2.4
2012	Doctors	Sister Vincent	Episode: "Wide of the Mark"
2013	EastEnders: Dorothy Branning - The Next Chapter	Lucinda Blake	TV film
2013–2019	Still Open All Hours	Madge	All 41 episodes
2013	Hollyoaks	Cressida	3 episodes
2016	Rovers	Marilyn	2 episodes
2016	Holby City	Valerie Sturgeon	2 episodes
2017	Unforgotten	Anne Barling	Episode: #2.4

External links

• Brigit Forsyth at IMDb
• Brigit Forsyth discography at Discogs
• "Short Stories by Brigit Forsyth" at podbean.com: short stories written and read by Forsyth, based on real childhood memories from the 1940s, with original piano music by her father, Frank James Connell (published 2022)