Draft:Gillian Brown (actress)

Gillian Brown (born 17 July 1944) is a British actress, singer, writer, composer and director, who trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). In 1963, when she graduated, Brown was awarded the RADA Special Silver Medal...

Early life
Brown, .. although born in Manchester, spent most of her childhood in Colchester. After several unsuccessful attempts to entertain the other children at the Saturday Morning Pictures, Brown discovered Colchester Repertory Theatre, now the Mercury Theatre, and knew she'd come home. She saw Marie Ney and the late Bruce Montague in Ibsen's Ghosts, followed by a production of Sandy Wilson's musical, The Boy Friend. Brown then joined Colchester Junior Repertory Club and was taught and mentored by Mrs Dorothy Hallett, to whom she owes a great deal.

In 1961, aged seventeen, Brown began her RADA training, in the same year as Geoffrey Hutchings, Richard Digby Day, Anthony Hopkins, Susan Fleetwood, Eric Allan, Udi Schneewind, Victor Henry and Alaknanda Samarth. Her final productions included playing Mitzi in Milo Sperber's production of Franz Kafka's, The Castle, opposite Geoffrey Hutchings, who played K (June 1963) and Sonya in John Fernald's production of Uncle Vanya, with Eric Allan as Astrov and Susan Fleetwood as Yeliena (July 1963).

Theatre
Brown is well known for having been a member of the Victoria Theatre company in Hartshill, Stoke-on-Trent, for six years, commencing in January 1966: the Artistic Director was Peter Cheeseman and the resident playwright was Peter Terson. During this time, she worked as an actor, singer, composer and director. Brown played the title role in Anna of the Five Towns - adapted from Arnold Bennett's novel by Joyce Cheeseman - on stage at the Victoria Theatre, Hartshill (1969) and on BBC Radio, directed by Anthony Cornish (1970).

During her time at the Victoria Theatre in Hartshill, Stoke-on-Trent, Brown was a member of the permanent company. She worked with, among many others, Susan Tracy, Alan David, Shane Connaughton, Jane Wood, Robert Powell, James Hayes, David Hill, Bob Hoskins, Geoffrey Larder, Susan Glanville, Ken Campbell, Anjula Harman, Christopher Bond, Jacqueline Morgan and Charles McKeown.

In 1967, Brown played Beatie Bryant in Arnold Wesker's play, Roots, at the Victoria Theatre. Jane Wood played Mrs Bryant, Beatie's mother, and Susan Glanville played Jenny Beales, Beatie's sister.

Brown directed two plays at the Victoria Theatre: the first, in 1969, was Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs by David Halliwell and the second, in 1970, was Eh? by Henry Livings.

In her role as Norma Elliott, Brown partnered George Costigan in Alpha Beta by Ted Whitehead, at the Man in the Moon Theatre in Chelsea (1987). This was the first London revival of the play since the Royal Court production, starring Rachel Roberts and Albert Finney (1972).

Theatre award nominations
Brown was nominated for a Time Out Award for Best Actress for her role as Martha Darby in April De Angelis's play, Ironmistress (1989). This production, which also featured Louise Waddington as Little Cog, opened at the Hill Street Theatre, in Edinburgh, after which it transferred to the Man in the Moon Theatre, in Chelsea, London.

In 1992, Brown received a London Fringe Award nomination for Best Actress for her role as Teresa Brown in House by Colin Hurley at the New Grove Theatre. Colin Hurley won the London Fringe Award for Best First Play for House. This production was directed by Martin Clunes for his Big Arts company with Neil Morrissey.

Music
Brown composed the music for The Ballad of the Artificial Mash, a musical play by Peter Terson. This agricultural satire, with lyrics by Terson, opened at the Victoria Theatre, Hartshill, on 5th September, 1967. The following year, the television producer, Leonard White, chose the show to be the 400th and final Armchair Theatre production. It was transmitted twice: on 25th July 1968 on ATV Television and on 27th July 1968 on ABC Television. Brown was Musical Director for the television production and taught the songs to the actors in that production. The cast included Stanley Holloway OBE, Alfred Lynch, The Paper Dolls, Mark Dignam, Valerie French and Derek Francis (who played Major Fatstock Gadget). Additionally, Brown played a small part in the television production (The Average Newspaper Reader's Wife). See Leonard White's memoir: Armchair Theatre, The Lost Years.

Brown wrote music and lyrics for the two theatre documentaries she was involved in, at the Victoria Theatre, as well as acting and singing in these productions. In The Knotty, a documentary which opened in July 1966, about North Staffordshire's famous railway, Brown was commissioned by Peter Cheeseman to write a song to close the first half of the show. "What about?" she asked. "About railways - but not about railways," Cheeseman replied. The song Brown wrote is called Railway Lines.

The second theatre documentary Brown was involved in, Six Into One, opened in July 1968, at the Victoria Theatre. This is a documentary concerning the federation of Stoke-on-Trent: the amalgamation of six towns into a single county borough. City status was granted to Stoke-on-Trent in 1925. Brown and Guillaume Oyônô Mbia, who played the talking drum, wrote and performed the narrative songs for the show.

In 1972, Brown appeared as Catherine Tekakwitha in Conversations, a musical revue based on the songs, books and poems of Leonard Cohen, at Hampstead Theatre Club. The show was produced by Greengage Productions, directed by Roger Christian and featured Sean Hewitt, Claire Marshall, John Plume and Brown.

Television roles
Brown's first professional television appearance was in 1965, in The Newcomers, directed by David Giles, on BBC Television. She played Ivy from the Pig Marketing Board. As a recent convert to vegetarianism, Brown found this to be a particularly challenging role.

Brown's numerous television roles include Casanova with Frank Finlay, Colditz - Lord, Didn't It Rain with Christopher Neame, Robert Wagner, directed by Michael Ferguson, Grange Hill, The Mayor of Casterbridge with Alan Bates and Ohica in Doctor Who - The Brain of Morbius with Tom Baker, Philip Madoc - all BBC Television.

Selected theatre
Not an exhaustive list

Selected television
Not an exhaustive list