Isabel Dean (born Isabel Hodgkinson, 29 May 1918 – 27 July 1997) was an English stage, film and television actress.
Life and career Born in Aldridge, Staffordshire, Dean studied painting at Birmingham Art School. In 1937, she joined the Cheltenham Repertory Company as a scenic artist. She was soon involved in acting with some small parts.
She appeared on stage in London in Agatha Christie's Peril at End House in 1940. Her stage appearances included The Deep Blue Sea, Breaking the Code and John Osborne's The Hotel in Amsterdam, at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. In 1949 she appeared in The Foolish Gentlewoman at the Duchess Theatre in London.
By 1953, she was also appearing on British television in The Quatermass Experiment and over her career appeared in television series such as I, Claudius (1976) and Inspector Morse (1990). She appeared with Paul Scofield in an ITV Saturday Night Theatre production of The Hotel in Amsterdam broadcast on 14 March 1971.
Among her film appearances are roles in The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan (1953) and the film version of Inadmissible Evidence (1968).
Personal life In 1953, Dean married writer William Fairchild; the couple had two daughters, Caroline and Angela. The marriage was later dissolved.
Radio Paul Temple and the Spencer Affair (1957) Paul Temple and the Geneva Mystery (1965) Home at seven (1966) by RC Sherriff The Reluctant Peer by William Douglas-Home broadcast on BBC (1967) Have His Carcase (1981) The Bird Table (1982) A Photograph of Lindsey Mowatt (1986) by Ellen Dryden Summer Attachment (1986) by Michael Sharp
Filmography
Film Year Title Role Notes1949Pat Stratton1952May HarmanUS title: Man Bait1952Isobel Mansell195224 Hours of a Woman's LifeMiss JohnsonAKA, Affair in Monte Carlo1953Mrs. Gilbert1953Twice Upon a TimeMiss Burke1955Out of the CloudsMrs. Malcolm1955Handcuffs, LondonDoris Tedford1958DavyHelen Carstairs1958Virgin IslandMrs. Lomax1962Light in the PiazzaMiss Hawtree1965Alice Thornton1966Miss Bannister1968Inadmissible EvidenceMrs. Gamsey1971To Catch a SpyCelia1975RansomMrs. PalmerAKA, The Terrorists1976Bridget1980Rough CutMrs. Willis1982Five Days One SummerKate's Mother
Television Year Title Role Notes1948AfterglowIlonaTV film1948Berkeley SquareHelen PettigrewTV film1949Joyce HarperTV film1950Man of Two MindsMadrigal GreyTV film1950Sunday Night TheatreAntistia"The Tragedy of Pompey the Great"1951Nocturne in ScotlandJane StirlingTV film1952Martha GrahamTV film1952Sunday Night TheatreAlison Parrilow"The Morning Star"1952Another LanguageStella HallamTV film1953Judith CarroonTV series1953Sunday Night TheatreCelia / Mary Drew"As You Like It", "The Return of Peggy Atherton"1954Patrol CarMrs. Regis"The Extra Bullet"1955Patrol CarDoris Tedford"Nell Gwynn's Tear"1955Sunday Night TheatreAnne Eilers"The Devil's General"1955Saber of LondonSylvia Pemberton"Code Name: Murder"1956Sunday Night TheatreMrs. Seddon"The Seddons"1957Dixon of Dock GreenMrs. Dyce"The Silent House"1957ITV Play of the WeekRona"Accolade"1958Armchair TheatreHelène Madinier"The Web of Lace"1959ITV Television PlayhouseRose Hanbury"A Bit of Happiness"1959ITV Play of the WeekGabrielle Broadbent / Liz Heyward"Sugar in the Morning", "The Signal"1960Anne FellowsTV series1960Barnaby RudgeMrs. RudgeRegular role1961Sunday Night PlayEvelyn Hunter"Off Centre"1961ITV Play of the WeekMargaret Adams"Faraway Music"1961Miss CushingTV film1961No Hiding PlaceGretel Naunton"Caught and Bowled"1963ITV Play of the WeekElizabeth Hollis / Enid"The Eve of St. Marks", "Three Roads to Rome"1965199 Park LaneStella GrahamRecurring role1965Armchair TheatreGwen Timwood"A Cold Peace"1966Public EyeJean Clayton"I Could Set It to Music"1966BlackmailLady Belmont"A Man of Reputation"1968Lydia Laing"Someone I Knew", "Long Time Since You've Got My Breakfast"1969ITV Sunday Night TheatrePeggy"The Comic"1970Mrs. Hammond"The Italian Table"1970Husbands and LoversEva MullerTV miniseries1971Sense and SensibilityMrs. DashwoodRecurring role1971Shadows of FearGwen"Sour Grapes"1971Play of the MonthEmpress Alexandra"Rasputin" 1971 ITV Saturday Night Theatre "The Hotel in Amsterdam"1972Hilda Frisby"Eric"1972KateMiss Wren"People Depend on You"1973Mrs. FarrenTV film1973Orson Welles Great MysteriesChristine Kaye"Money to Burn"1973Play for TodayMrs. Richardson"Jack Point"1974Alexandra WinfieldTV series1974Centre PlayFay Casaubon"Mutinies"1974Dial M for MurderJean Browning"Should Anyone Answer"1975Churchill's PeopleAnne, Lady Rochester"A Bill of Mortality"1975Ten from the TwentiesMrs. Garthorne"Motherlove"1975Against the CrowdLady Peggy Frobisher"Blind Man's Buff"1975CouplesMrs. BrierleyTV series1976Life and Death of PenelopeLady Cartwright"The Affair"1976I, ClaudiusLollia"Queen of Heaven"1977SupernaturalCharlotte Gall"Ghost of Venice"1977Ripping YarnsLady Chiddingfold"Murder at Moorstones Manor"1979BettyTV film1980Company and CoBarbara HarrisTV series1983The Weather in the StreetsMrs. CurtisTV film1986EvaTV film1986Mrs. WalkerTV film1989Mystery!: CampionDonna Beatrice"Death of a Ghost: Parts 1 & 2"1990Inspector MorseIsobel Radford"The Sins of the Fathers"
References
External links
Theatre performances in Theatre Archive University of Bristol