Actress Jean Marsh Passes Away at the Age of 90
Jean Marsh, the Emmy-winning actress and co-creator of the acclaimed 1970s ITV period drama Upstairs, Downstairs, has died at the age of 90. Her close friend Michael Lindsay-Hogg shared with the New York Times that she passed away due to complications from dementia.
Born on July 1, 1934, in London as Jean Lyndsay Torren Marsh, she showed a passion for performance early on, starting with dance lessons and later attending a repertory school. In the late 1950s, she gained recognition as Hero in John Gielgud’s Broadway adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing and also made notable television appearances in series like The Twilight Zone and Doctor Who.
Before Downton Abbey, a groundbreaking series about life in early 20th-century England, there was a show focused on the privileged Bellamy family and their staff during the sociopolitical changes of Edwardian England. Airing from 1971 to 1975, it included 68 episodes in which Marsh portrayed Mrs. Rose Buck, the parlormaid, earning a Lead Actress Emmy in 1975 and nominations in subsequent years. The series was revived in 2010 for two additional seasons on BBC One, continuing the family's story under a new king, with Marsh reprising her role.
Marsh's notable work includes roles in Alfred Hitchcock's thriller Frenzy, the war drama The Eagle Has Landed, and the ABC sitcom 9 to 5. She also appeared in the 1985 fantasy film Return to Oz, starred with Val Kilmer in Ron Howard's Willow, and had an uncredited role in Cleopatra. Additionally, she co-created the 1991 series The House of Eliott, which follows two aspiring fashion designers in 1920s London.
In 2012, she was awarded the Order of the British Empire.