
Person
Jane Freeman
Acting · 1935–2017 · Brentford, London, England, UK
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
Known for

Playhouse
Aunt Arina

Last of the Summer Wine
Ivy

ITV Playhouse
Mrs. Allen

Blackadder
Mrs. Applebottom

Trinity Tales
Cashier

Scrubbers
Sister
The Val Doonican Music Show
Self

Marriage
Aunt Arina
Hannah
Lilla Spencer-Smith

The Fishing Party
Audrey
Filmography
- 1984A Taste of HoneyHelen
- 1984Androcles and the LionMegaera
- 1983Getting Sam HomeIvy
- 1983BlackadderMrs. Applebottom
- 1982Ghost in the WaterMrs. Willetts
- 1982ScrubbersSister
- 1981MarriageAunt Arina
- 1980LindseyMrs. Allen
- 1980HannahLilla Spencer-Smith
- 1980Dark WaterManager's wife
- 1979All Day on the Sands
- 1978Scully's New Year's EveMrs Scully
- 1977The Val Doonican Music ShowSelf
- 1977Love on a GunboatKnitting lady
- 1975Through the NightMartha Paisley
- 1975Trinity TalesCashier
- 1974PlayhouseAunt Arina
- 1973Last of the Summer WineIvy
- 1972The Fishing PartyAudrey
- 1967ITV PlayhouseMrs. Allen
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