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Jane Freeman

Acting Born Mar 15, 1935 Brentford, London, England, UK 19 credits

Biography

Freeman was born in Brentford, London, in 1935 but raised in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, as a child, following the death of her father in an accident when she was 9 years old and her mother's subsequent remarriage. She graduated from the City Cardiff College of Music and Drama in 1955, and after a stay in London joined the Osiris Repertory Theatre touring company, based in Gloucestershire. She joined the Arena Theatre, Sutton Coldfield, in 1958, followed by Birmingham Rep from 1968 and 1973. Her stage appearances include Margaret More in the Welsh Theatre Company's first production, A Man for All Seasons, at Cardiff's New Theatre in 1962.

She was best known for her role as café owner Ivy, one of the main characters in the long-running British TV comedy Last of the Summer Wine. Freeman died in March 2017 at the age of 81 from lung cancer. Her age was often incorrectly reported as being 96 at the time of her death, but official birth records prove that she was born in 1935

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Known for

Last of the Summer Wine

as Ivy

Blackadder

as Mrs. Applebottom

Full filmography

  • Last of the Summer Wine (1973) as Ivy
  • Playhouse (1974) as Aunt Arina
  • Blackadder (1983) as Mrs. Applebottom
  • ITV Playhouse (1967) as Mrs. Allen
  • The Val Doonican Music Show (1977) as Self
  • Trinity Tales (1975) as Cashier
  • Dark Water (1980) as Manager's wife
  • Scrubbers (1982) as Sister
  • All Day on the Sands (1979)
  • Marriage (1981) as Aunt Arina
  • Through the Night (1975) as Martha Paisley
  • Ghost in the Water (1982) as Mrs. Willetts
  • Love on a Gunboat (1977) as Knitting lady
  • Androcles and the Lion (1984) as Megaera
  • Lindsey (1980) as Mrs. Allen
  • Getting Sam Home (1983) as Ivy
  • Scully's New Year's Eve (1978) as Mrs Scully
  • The Fishing Party (1972) as Audrey
  • A Taste of Honey (1984) as Helen