Hilda Fenemore
Encyclopedia
Hilda Lilian Fenemore was an English actress with a prolific career in film and television from the 1940s to the 1990s. Fenemore played mainly supporting roles which were characterised in her obituary in The Stage
as "friends, neighbours, mothers and passers-by"; however her many credits meant that she fell into the category of actors who a majority of film and TV viewers would have been unable to name, yet whose face was instantly recognisable. Her longest-running role was recurring character Jennie Wren in TV series Dixon of Dock Green
, who she played for six seasons between 1960 and 1965.
in the 1940s. There she met and married fellow actor Rex Edwards, and worked under the supervision of dramatist Ted Willis
, with whom she would later work also in television.
Fenemore made her first film appearance in 1948, and the pattern of her screen career quickly established itself as she featured in a string of supporting parts, mainly in films financed by smaller independent studios rather than the major British set-ups of the day. She appeared in a number of productions financed by the non-profit making Children's Film Foundation
, which specialised in adventure-type films made for children, of generally around an hour in length. These films were well regarded as they generally used proven actors and crews, had good production values, and were sophisticated enough to be enjoyed by adults as well as children. In the 1950s, Fenemore continued to work in live theatre, while also accepting work in television.
At the end of the 1950s, Fenemore appeared in two of the early Carry On films, notably in a memorable, albeit brief, cameo in Carry On Nurse
(1959) as a wife visiting her husband in hospital, supremely oblivious to the absurdly snobbish impression of upper-middle-class gentility he has been trying to give his fellow patients, and blithely broadcasting embarrassingly working-class trivia at full volume to the entire ward ("I bought this with our divi from the Co-op!") as he cringes in humiliation. In 1960 she was cast as Jennie Wren in Dixon of Dock Green, which reunited her with Willis as scriptwriter, and played the role for the next six years. 1961 brought one of Fenemore's more prominent screen credits, portraying the matriarch of the family at the centre of The Wind of Change
, one of the first British films to confront the issue of contemporary race relations.
Through the 1960s and into the 1970s, Fenemore's career increasingly turned to television. She featured in recurring roles in comedy series The Fenn Street Gang
(as Mrs. Duffy) and Are You Being Served?
(as a cleaner, variously referred to as Ivy, Elsie or Daphne but presumed to be the same person). She also starred in the cult favourite CFF production Chico the Rainmaker
, originally shown as a serial during children's Saturday cinema matinees in the UK, and later on PBS in the United States. Fenemore's two final screen credits came in 1978 in the thriller Absolution and as the mother of Oliver Tobias
in camp favourite The Stud.
Fenemore's television career continued until the early 1990s, with her last significant appearances in 1992 comedy-drama Going to Seed. According to The Stage, she continued with radio voiceover work almost up to her death. Fenemore died on 13 April 2004, aged 89.
The Stage
The Stage is a weekly British newspaper founded in 1880, available nationally and published on Thursdays. Covering all areas of the entertainment industry but focused primarily on theatre, it contains news, reviews, opinion, features and other items of interest, mainly to those who work within the...
as "friends, neighbours, mothers and passers-by"; however her many credits meant that she fell into the category of actors who a majority of film and TV viewers would have been unable to name, yet whose face was instantly recognisable. Her longest-running role was recurring character Jennie Wren in TV series Dixon of Dock Green
Dixon of Dock Green
Dixon of Dock Green was a popular BBC television series that ran from 1955 to 1976, and later a radio series. Despite being a drama series, it was initially produced by the BBC's light entertainment department.-Overview:...
, who she played for six seasons between 1960 and 1965.
Career
Fenemore began her career as a stage actress, joining the company of actors at London's left-wing and progressive Unity TheatreUnity Theatre, London
The Unity Theatre was a theatre club formed in 1936, and initially based in St Judes Hall, Britannia Street, Kings Cross, in 1937 they moved to a former chapel in Goldington Street, near St Pancras, in the London Borough of Camden. Although the theatre was destroyed by fire in 1975 productions...
in the 1940s. There she met and married fellow actor Rex Edwards, and worked under the supervision of dramatist Ted Willis
Ted Willis
Edward Henry Willis, Baron Willis , commonly known as Ted Willis, was a British television dramatist who was also politically active in support of the Labour Party.-Political life:...
, with whom she would later work also in television.
Fenemore made her first film appearance in 1948, and the pattern of her screen career quickly established itself as she featured in a string of supporting parts, mainly in films financed by smaller independent studios rather than the major British set-ups of the day. She appeared in a number of productions financed by the non-profit making Children's Film Foundation
Children's Film Foundation
The Children's Film Foundation was a non-profit-making organisation which made films for children in the United Kingdom, typically running for about 55 minutes. It was founded in 1951. For 30 years it was subsidised by the Eady Levy - a tax on box office receipts, but this was abolished in 1985...
, which specialised in adventure-type films made for children, of generally around an hour in length. These films were well regarded as they generally used proven actors and crews, had good production values, and were sophisticated enough to be enjoyed by adults as well as children. In the 1950s, Fenemore continued to work in live theatre, while also accepting work in television.
At the end of the 1950s, Fenemore appeared in two of the early Carry On films, notably in a memorable, albeit brief, cameo in Carry On Nurse
Carry On Nurse
Carry On Nurse is the second Carry On film, released in 1959. Of the regular team, it featured Joan Sims , Kenneth Williams, Kenneth Connor and Charles Hawtrey, with Hattie Jacques and Leslie Phillips. The film was written by Norman Hudis based on the play Ring For Catty by Patrick Cargill and Jack...
(1959) as a wife visiting her husband in hospital, supremely oblivious to the absurdly snobbish impression of upper-middle-class gentility he has been trying to give his fellow patients, and blithely broadcasting embarrassingly working-class trivia at full volume to the entire ward ("I bought this with our divi from the Co-op!") as he cringes in humiliation. In 1960 she was cast as Jennie Wren in Dixon of Dock Green, which reunited her with Willis as scriptwriter, and played the role for the next six years. 1961 brought one of Fenemore's more prominent screen credits, portraying the matriarch of the family at the centre of The Wind of Change
The Wind of Change (film)
The Wind of Change is a 1961 British drama, directed by Vernon Sewell and starring Donald Pleasence, Johnny Briggs and Ann Lynn. Taking its title from the famous "Wind of Change" speech given by British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in South Africa in February 1960, it is one of the earliest...
, one of the first British films to confront the issue of contemporary race relations.
Through the 1960s and into the 1970s, Fenemore's career increasingly turned to television. She featured in recurring roles in comedy series The Fenn Street Gang
The Fenn Street Gang
The Fenn Street Gang is a British television sitcom which ran for three seasons between 1971 and 1973. The series was created by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey, it was spun-off from their Please Sir! series, and followed the lives of many of the pupils from Fenn Street School as they entered the...
(as Mrs. Duffy) and Are You Being Served?
Are You Being Served?
Are You Being Served? is a British sitcom broadcast from 1972 to 1985. It was set in the ladies' and gentlemen's clothing departments of Grace Brothers, a large, fictional London department store. It was written mainly by Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft, with contributions by Michael Knowles and John...
(as a cleaner, variously referred to as Ivy, Elsie or Daphne but presumed to be the same person). She also starred in the cult favourite CFF production Chico the Rainmaker
Chico the Rainmaker
Chico the Rainmaker was an English TV show made by Eyeline Films and the Children's Film Foundation.It was shown in 1974 on PBS in the USA, and broadcast in many UK cinemas in the 1970s and 1980s as part of their "Saturday Matinees"....
, originally shown as a serial during children's Saturday cinema matinees in the UK, and later on PBS in the United States. Fenemore's two final screen credits came in 1978 in the thriller Absolution and as the mother of Oliver Tobias
Oliver Tobias
Oliver Tobias is a UK-based film, stage, and television actor and directorBorn Oliver Tobias Freitag in Zürich, Switzerland, he is the son of Austrian-Swiss actor Robert Freitag and German actress Maria Becker. He came to the United Kingdom at the age of eight and trained at East 15 Acting School,...
in camp favourite The Stud.
Fenemore's television career continued until the early 1990s, with her last significant appearances in 1992 comedy-drama Going to Seed. According to The Stage, she continued with radio voiceover work almost up to her death. Fenemore died on 13 April 2004, aged 89.
Filmography (partial)
- Chance of a LifetimeChance of a Lifetime (film)Chance of a Lifetime is a 1950 British film starring, produced, part-written and directed by Bernard Miles. It was nominated for the 1951 BAFTA for Best British Film, to which it was beaten by The Blue Lamp.-Plot:...
(1950) - Saturday IslandSaturday IslandSaturday Island is a 1952 British romantic war film directed by Stuart Heisler and starring Linda Darnell, Tab Hunter, Donald Gray and John Laurie, Lloyd Lamble and Peter Butterworth....
(1952) - Time BombTime Bomb (1953 film)Time Bomb is a 1953 British-made MGM post-war thriller film written by Kem Bennett and directed by Ted Tetzlaff. It starred Glenn Ford and Anne Vernon.-Plot:...
(1953) - The Titfield ThunderboltThe Titfield ThunderboltThe Titfield Thunderbolt is a 1953 British comedy film about a group of villagers trying to prevent British Railways from closing the fictional Titfield branch line. The film was written by T.E.B...
(1953) - Turn the Key SoftlyTurn the Key SoftlyTurn the Key Softly is a 1953 British drama film, directed by Jack Lee and starring Yvonne Mitchell, Joan Collins, Kathleen Harrison and Terence Morgan...
(1953) - The Strange World of Planet XThe Strange World of Planet X (film)The Strange World of Planet X is a British science fiction horror film, and a cautionary tale about science. It was also known as Cosmic Monsters, The Crawling Terror, The Cosmic Monster, and The Crawling Horror....
(1958) - The SafecrackerThe SafecrackerThe Safecracker is a 1958 British crime film directed by Ray Milland and starring Ray Milland, Barry Jones and Victor Maddern.-Cast:* Ray Milland as Colley Dawson* Barry Jones as Bennett Carfield* Jeanette Sterke as Irene* Victor Maddern as Morris...
(1958) - Carry On NurseCarry On NurseCarry On Nurse is the second Carry On film, released in 1959. Of the regular team, it featured Joan Sims , Kenneth Williams, Kenneth Connor and Charles Hawtrey, with Hattie Jacques and Leslie Phillips. The film was written by Norman Hudis based on the play Ring For Catty by Patrick Cargill and Jack...
(1959) - Carry On ConstableCarry On ConstableCarry On Constable is the fourth Carry On film. It was released in 1960. Of the regular team, it featured Kenneth Connor, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims and Hattie Jacques. Sid James makes his debut in the series here, while early regulars Leslie Phillips, Eric Barker and Shirley...
(1960) - The Wind of ChangeThe Wind of Change (film)The Wind of Change is a 1961 British drama, directed by Vernon Sewell and starring Donald Pleasence, Johnny Briggs and Ann Lynn. Taking its title from the famous "Wind of Change" speech given by British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in South Africa in February 1960, it is one of the earliest...
(1961)
- StrongroomStrongroom (film)Strongroom is a 1962 British crime drama film directed by Vernon Sewell and starring Derren Nesbitt, Colin Gordon and Ann Lynn. During a bank robbery the bank manager and cashier are locked in a safe, but the criminals are forced to return to the bank to release them before the police...
(1962) - The BoysThe Boys (1962 film)The Boys is a 1962 British courtroom drama film, directed by Sidney J. Furie and with a screenplay by Stuart Douglass.-Plot:A night watchman at a garage is found murdered, and four teddy boys are put on trial for the crime...
(1962) - The War LoverThe War LoverThe War Lover is a 1962 British black-and-white war film directed by Philip Leacock and written by Howard Koch loosely based on the 1959 novel, The War Lover by John Hersey, altering the names of characters and events but retaining its basic framework...
(1962) - This Is My StreetThis Is My StreetThis Is My Street is a 1964 British drama film directed by Sidney Hayers and starring Ian Hendry, June Ritchie, Avice Landone, John Hurt and Meredith Edwards. A bored housewife living in a suburban house begins an affair with the lodger, a salesman...
(1964) - WitchcraftWitchcraft (1964 film)Witchcraft is a 1964 British black and white horror film. It was directed by Don Sharp from a script by Harry Spalding. It stars Lon Chaney Jr. in one of his last proper acting roles.-Plot:...
(1964) - The OffenceThe OffenceThe Offence is a 1972 drama film, based upon the acclaimed 1968 stage play This Story of Yours by John Hopkins, directed by Sidney Lumet under the working title Something Like the Truth. It stars Sean Connery as police detective Johnson, who kills Kenneth Baxter , a suspected child molester, while...
(1972) - I Want What I WantI Want What I Want (film)I Want What I Want is a 1972 British drama film directed by John Dexter and starring Anne Heywood, Harry Andrews and Jill Bennett. It is based on the novel I Want What I Want.-Cast:* Anne Heywood - Roy / Wendy* Harry Andrews - Roy's Father...
(1972) - Chico the RainmakerChico the RainmakerChico the Rainmaker was an English TV show made by Eyeline Films and the Children's Film Foundation.It was shown in 1974 on PBS in the USA, and broadcast in many UK cinemas in the 1970s and 1980s as part of their "Saturday Matinees"....
(1972) - The Stud (1978)
- Absolution (1978)
Television (selected)
- Sunday Night TheatreSunday Night TheatreSunday Night Theatre was a long-running series of plays created by the BBC first in early 1950, and was regularly shown on Sundays until late 1959, when the last play, A Cup of Kindness, was staged...
(1952-1956) - Dixon of Dock GreenDixon of Dock GreenDixon of Dock Green was a popular BBC television series that ran from 1955 to 1976, and later a radio series. Despite being a drama series, it was initially produced by the BBC's light entertainment department.-Overview:...
(1955-1965) - Emergency - Ward 10 (1959)
- No Hiding PlaceNo Hiding PlaceNo Hiding Place is a British television series that was produced at Wembley Studios by Associated-Rediffusion for the ITV network between 16 September 1959 and 22 June 1967....
(1960-1961) - Sergeant CorkSergeant CorkSergeant Cork is a British detective television series which first aired between 1963 and 1968 on ATV. It featured a police procedural show which followed the efforts of two police officers and their battle against crime in Victorian London. In all 66 hour-long episodes were aired during the five...
(1963) - Adam Adamant Lives!Adam Adamant Lives!Adam Adamant Lives! is a British television series which ran from 1966 to 1967 on the BBC. Proposing that an adventurer born in 1867 had been revived from hibernation in 1966, the show was a comedy adventure that took a satirical look at life in the 1960s through the eyes of an Edwardian .- Character...
(1967) - Z-CarsZ-CarsZ-Cars is a British television drama series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby in the outskirts of Liverpool in Merseyside. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.-Origins:The series was developed by...
(1967-1971) - The Fenn Street GangThe Fenn Street GangThe Fenn Street Gang is a British television sitcom which ran for three seasons between 1971 and 1973. The series was created by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey, it was spun-off from their Please Sir! series, and followed the lives of many of the pupils from Fenn Street School as they entered the...
(1971-1973)
- EmmaEmma (1972 TV serial)Jane Austen's novel Emma was released on British television in 1972.This dramatization brings to life the wit and humour of Jane Austen's arguably finest novel Emma, recreating her most irritatingly endearing female character, of whom she wrote "no one but myself could like."Emma presides over the...
(1972) - Are You Being Served?Are You Being Served?Are You Being Served? is a British sitcom broadcast from 1972 to 1985. It was set in the ladies' and gentlemen's clothing departments of Grace Brothers, a large, fictional London department store. It was written mainly by Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft, with contributions by Michael Knowles and John...
(1974-1979) - Dad's ArmyDad's ArmyDad's Army is a British sitcom about the Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft and broadcast on BBC television between 1968 and 1977. The series ran for 9 series and 80 episodes in total, plus a radio series, a feature film and a stage show...
(1975) - The Duchess of Duke StreetThe Duchess of Duke StreetThe Duchess Of Duke Street is a BBC television drama series set in London between 1900 and 1935. It was created by John Hawkesworth, the former producer of the highly successful ITV period drama Upstairs, Downstairs...
(1976) - It Ain't Half Hot MumIt Ain't Half Hot MumIt Ain't Half Hot Mum was a British sitcom about the adventures of a Royal Artillery Concert Party, broadcast on the BBC between 1974 and 1981, and written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, the creators of Dad's Army...
(1980) - Goodnight SweetheartGoodnight SweetheartGoodnight Sweetheart is a sitcom that ran for six series on BBC1 from 1993 to 1999. It stars Nicholas Lyndhurst as Gary Sparrow, an accidental time traveller who leads a double life after discovering a time portal allowing him to travel between the London of the 1990s and the same area during the...
(1993) - Harry Enfield and Chums (1994)
External links
- Hilda Fenemore filmography at Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- Hilda Fenemore at BFI Film & TV Database