Jean Anderson

Mary Jean Heriot Powell, better known by her stage name Jean Anderson, was an English actress best remembered for her television roles as formidable matriarch Mary Hammond in the BBC drama The Brothers and as rebellious aristocrat Lady Jocelyn "Joss" Holbrook in the Second World War series Tenko. She also had a distinguished career on stage and appeared in 46 films.

Early life and stage

Anderson was born on 12 December 1907 in Eastbourne, Sussex to Scottish parents, and grew up in Guildford, Surrey. She trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art from 1926–1928. Her first professional engagement was in Many Waters at the Prince's Theatre, Bristol, in 1929 with her fellow RADA student Robert Morley.
In 1934 she joined the Cambridge Festival Theatre, appearing in The Circle by Somerset Maugham and Yahoo by Lord Longford. In 1935 she played Lady Macbeth with The Seagull Players in Leeds.
In 1936 Lord Longford's company from the Gate Theatre, Dublin were appearing at the Westminster Theatre in London. Anderson joined them to appear in Ah, Wilderness! and stayed on for the rest of their season, including Carmilla, The Moon in the Yellow River, Youth’s the Season... ? and Yahoo. When the company returned to Dublin she went with them and appeared regularly at the Gate Theatre for three years. Among many notable productions were As You Like It, The Duchess of Malfi, The Cherry Orchard and Doctor Faustus.
John Cowell wrote:

Jean Anderson, with her fascinating voice and medieval good looks, became a tower of strength in Longford Productions... As Longford’s first leading lady, she brought a new and fresh charm to every role. Her Rosalind in As You Like It caught the scent of the musk-rose in the hidden places of the Forest of Arden.

When Anderson returned to London in 1940 she joined the staff of the Players’ Theatre Club, which was a popular refuge from the war. When the director Leonard Sachs was called up for service, Anderson took over running the club and kept it going for the duration.
Her acting career resumed after the war with 1066 and All That, Don Juan in Hell, The Apple Cart and The Moon in the Yellow River with Jack Hawkins. At this point the focus of her work swung to television and film, but she continued to appear on stage in notable productions, such as Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author directed by Dame Ngaio Marsh, Hedda Gabler, an all-star Uncle Vanya at Hampstead Theatre, and Les Liaisons Dangereuses with Alan Rickman and the Royal Shakespeare Company in London and also on Broadway. Her last stage work was in Terence Rattigan’s Harlequinade in 1988.

Television

Her first appearance on television was in Weep for the Cyclops on BBC in 1947.
Other TV credits include: Police Surgeon, Maigret, The Odd Man, The Man in Room 17, The Borderers, Paul Temple, Codename, Oil Strike North, Miss Marple, Inspector Morse, Campion, Rab C. Nesbitt, Keeping Up Appearances and Hetty Wainthropp Investigates. She also played the role of the mother in The Railway Children in two separate BBC adaptations in 1951 and 1957.
She reprised her role in the play The Moon in the Yellow River BBC 1953. Her last television work was in Keeping Mum in 1998 on BBC.

Filmography

Films

The Mark of Cain – Extra Bond Street – Dress Shop Assistant Elizabeth of Ladymead The Romantic Age – Miss Sankey Seven Days to Noon – Mother at Railway Station Out of True – Dr. BellThe Franchise Affair – Miss TuffLife in Her Hands – Night SisterWhite Corridors – Sister GaterHigh Treason – Woman in Street The Brave Don't Cry – Mrs. SloanTime Bomb – Matron Street Corner – Miss Haversham – Store DetectiveJohnny on the Run – Mrs. MacIntyreThe Kidnappers – Grandma MacKenzieThe Pleasure Garden – Aunt MinervaThe Weak and the Wicked – Policewoman in Court Lease of Life – Miss CalthorpLaughing in the Sunshine – Diana MasefieldThe Secret Tent – Mrs. MartynA Town Like Alice – Miss HorsefallThe Barretts of Wimpole Street – WilsonLucky Jim – Mrs. WelchRobbery Under Arms – Ma MarstonHeart of a Child – MariaA Night to Remember – Stuffy Lady in Lifeboat SOS Pacific – Miss ShawSolomon and Sheba – TakyanSpare the Rod – Mrs. PondLittle Girls Never Cry – Aunt KateWaltz of the Toreadors – AgnesThe Inspector – Mrs. JongmanThe Three Lives of Thomasina – Mrs. MacKenzieThe Silent Playground – Mrs. LaceyHalf a Sixpence – Lady BottingCountry Dance – MatronThe Night Digger – Mrs. Millicent McMurtreyDear Parents The Lady Vanishes – BaronessScreamtime – MildredMadame Sousatzka – Lady with Removal MenLeon the Pig Farmer – Mrs. SamuelsSimon Magus – RoiseThe Harpist – Mrs. MerzEndgame – Nell
Her last role was in Conor McPherson’s film of Samuel Beckett’s Endgame, shot in Dublin just a few months before her death.

Television

Weep for the Cyclops – Rebecca DingleyThe Governess – KateCharles and Kate – Mrs. BracebridgeThe Railway Children – Mother The Fifty Mark – Aunt StellaA Tomb with a View – Miss HeronBBC Sunday Night Theatre – Various Joey's Burglar – Mrs. SpencerShadow and Substance – Miss Jemima CooneyDear Randolph – Hilda RandolphDouglas Faibanks Presents – Various The Messenger – ElizabethRemember Jane – Miss TempleITV Play of the Week – Various The Railway Children – Mother The Survivors – Jane DeckerThe Kentish Robin – Queen Elizabeth IDona Clariñes – Dona ClariñesAfrican Patrol – Linda Newton Uncertain Mercy – Miss WatsonBoyd Q.C. – TBC No Hiding Place – Mrs. Evesham Interpol Calling – Nun Saturday Playhouse – Various The Vise – Marion A Chance to Live – Winnie ThorpeArmchair Mystery Theatre – MegBBC Sunday Night Play – Various The Knight Errant Limited – Mrs. Smith Someone to Talk To – Jessie TruscottPolice Surgeon – Miss Pears Armchair Theatre – Various Maigret – Madame Gallet Somerset Maughan Hour – Mrs. Hannay Doctor Knock – Madama Pons Ghost Squad – Tante Marie Suspense – Miss Reid Wuthering Heights – EllenThe Odd Man – Miss Twilight Moonstrike – Madame The Third Man – Lady Fiona Lorna Doone – Miss Ridd Smuggler's Bay – Aunt Jane Thursday Theatre – Monica Pleydon MP Dr. Finlay's Casebook – Various The Wednesday Play – Miss Grant The Sullavan Brothers – Mrs. Lamorbey Alexander Graham Bell – Jeannie MacEwan Jury Room – Miss Jenkins Buddenbrooks – Frau Consul Jackanory – Storyteller The Heart of Midlothian – Meg MerdocksonThis Man Craig – Miss Dougall Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – Ada Grey Look and Read – Miss Brown St. Ives – Miss Gilchrist Late Night Horror – Mrs. Revdale BBC Play of the Month – Miss Ramsden The Tenant of Wildfell Hall – Mrs. Maxwell Run a Crooked Mile – Sister TeresaThe Borderers – Lady Grizel Wicked Women – Mrs. Wallace Kate – Pamela Stanton Paul Temple – Marthe Codename – Penelope Blanchard Bachelor Father – Mrs. Jenkins Little Women – Aunt March Fathers and Sons – Princess Natasha Alberte – Mrs. Digby The Adventures of Black Beauty – The Hon. Mrs. Jameson Scoop – Great Aunt Anne The Brothers – Mary Hammond Late Call – Voice #1 Oil Strike North – Mrs. Douglas The ITV Play – Charlotte Ardsley Love Story: A Chance to Sit Down – Dolly Q.E.D. – Aunt Effie, Lady Euphimia Martin Tenko – Joceyln Holbrook Tears Before Bedtime – Jean Summer Season – Mrs. Mcleod The Good Doctor Bodkin-Adams – Mrs. Langton-JonesMiss Marple – Mrs. Fane Campion – Belle Lafcadio Back Home – Grandmother DickinsonScreen One – Molly Cowper Screen Two – Various Casualty – Various The Black Velvet Gown – Madame GulmingtonTonight at 8:30 – Aunt Martha G.B.H. – Dr. Goldup The House of Elliot – Mrs. Spenser-Ewell Keeping Up Appearances – Mrs. Fortescue Trainer – Harriet May Heartbeat – Victoria Wainwright The Bogie Man – Mrs. NapierInspector Morse – Lady Hinksey Diana: Her True Story – Lady FemoyRab C. Nesbitt – Mrs. Monteith Moonacre – Mrs. Heliotrope The Whipping Boy – Queen MumSecond Thoughts – Hermoine Mission Top Secret – Aunt Edith Cranberry Doctor Finlay – Mrs. Stirling Family Money – Dolores Rebecca – Grandma The Uninvited – Elizabeth Madigan The Beggar Bride – Lady Alice Hurleston Hetty Wainthropp Investigates – Alice Marsden Keeping Mum – Norma

Personal life and death

In 1934 she married Peter Powell, who directed her in many plays over the years. They divorced in 1949. They had a daughter, Aude Powell, who became an agent, representing significant clients such as Rik Mayall and Billy Boyd.
She had a London home in Barnes, and in her later years moved to Eden Valley in the north-west of England near her daughter. Her interests were collecting porcelain figurines and horse racing.
She was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1985 when she was surprised by Eamonn Andrews.
Anderson died in 2001, aged 93.