Number 3 - Jenny Laird
Do we have something amazing for you today... well, who shall we do next, we pondered, thinking of the wide array of washed up performers for whom a guest role as "Man on Gate" in TV's "Doctor Who" was the highlight of an acting career. Finally we settled on Doctor Who's official WORST EVER FEMALE PERFORMER, Jenny Laird (aka Neska in "Planet of the Spiders") thinking it would be a cheap laugh.
Only to find that, on investigation, the bloody woman had an amazing film career spanning six decades!!
Career Resume (films):
Masks of Death, The (1984) (TV) .... Mrs. Hudson
Two Faces of Evil, The (1980) (TV)
"Lillie" (1978) (mini) TV Series .... Mrs. Stratton
"Shoulder to Shoulder" (1974) (mini) TV Series .... Matron of Holloway
Horse Without a Head, The (1963) (TV)
Village of the Damned (1960) .... Mrs. Harrington
Conspiracy of Hearts (1960) .... Sister Honoria
Face in the Night (1958) .... Postman's Widow
Life in Her Hands (1951) .... Matron
Long Dark Hall, The (1951) .... Mrs. Sims
Your Witness (1950) .... Mary Baxter
Kid Flanagan (1948) (TV)
Black Narcissus (1947) .... Sister Honey
Beware of Pity (1946) .... Trudi
Wanted for Murder (1946) .... Jeannie McLaren
Painted Boats (1945) .... Mary Smith
Lamp Still Burns, The (1943) .... Ginger Watkins
Just William (1939) .... Ethel Brown
Lily of Laguna (1938) .... Jane Marshall
What a Man! (1938) .... Daisy Pennyfeather
Auld Lang Syne (1937) .... Alison Begbie
Last Chance, The (1937) .... Betty
Passenger to London (1937) .... Barbara lane
Isn't it amazing? As you can see, she practically sustained the cinema industry single-handed for the last half century, although forty years playing characters called Betty, Ethel, "Sister Honoria" and "Postman's Widow" kind of suggest type-casting of Eileen Way proportions. But I know what you're thinking. "I can't see the jewel in the crown of her amazing career" you are saying. "Where's her star turn as Neska of Metabelis? IT'S NOT THE SAME WOMAN!"
Oh yes it is. The above is just her MOVIE work! Check out her TV appearances as well!
Career Resume (TV):
"Inspector Morse" (1987) playing "Mrs Keelan" in episode: "Second Time Around" (episode # 5.1) 2/20/1991
"All Creatures Great and Small" (1978) playing "Mrs Whithorn" in episode: "Barks And Bites" (episode # 4.2) 1/24/1988
"Hammer House of Horror" (1980) playing "Mrs. Roberts" in episode: "Two Faces Of Evil" (episode # 1.12) 11/29/1980
"1990" (1977) playing "Mrs Brooks" in episode: "What Pleases the Prince" (episode # 2.8) 1978
"Doctor Who" (1963) playing "Neska" in episode: "Planet of the Spiders" (episode # 11.5) 5/4/1974
"Onedin Line, The" (1971) playing "Ellen Jessop" 1972
"Night Gallery" (1970) playing "Victim" in episode: "Midnight Visit to the Neighbourhood Blood Bank, A" (episode # 2.27) 11/17/1971
"Vise, The" (1954) playing "Mrs.Sanson" in episode: "Captive Brain, The" 5/20/1958
As we can see, the sheer impact of her performance in "Spiders" led to many more Neska-type roles for Jenny, and characters called "Ellen Jessop" and "Mrs Whithorn" would have been easily at home amongst Gareth Hunt and the sheep on Metabelis.
So savour the irony. She had a career longer than Cliff Richard, so she must have been some cop at some point. The Doctor Who crew probably thought they had secured a real coup getting such a big Hollywood star to appear in their little BBC teatime show. They probably flew her in from LA or something to film it. Then... well, what happened? Was she actually crap for a bet? Don't like to speak ill of the dead and all (except Pertwee of course) but surely someone who was as rubbish as the late Mrs Laird was in Who wouldn't have been in all those movies and esteemed TV productions? Was she only crap for us?
This is all too much excitement for one day. I need a lie down. But we'll be back very soon with more of the same. Unless, of course, you pay us to stop.
