Freda Dowie

{{Infobox person

|name = Freda Mary Dowie

| image =

| caption =

| occupation = Actress

| years active = 1958−2009

| alma mater = Royal Central School of Speech and Drama

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1928|07|22}}

| birth_place = Carlisle, Cumberland, England

| death_date = {{death date and age|2019|8|10|1928|7|22|df=yes}}

| death_place = Suffolk, England

| spouse =

{{plainlist|

{{marriage|Lionel Butterworth|1952|end=div}}
{{marriage|John Goodrich|1961|end=div}}
{{marriage| David Thompson|1970|2019|end=died}}

}}

Freda Mary Dowie (22 July 1928 – 10 August 2019) was an English actress.

Her television credits include: Dixon of Dock Green, Doomwatch, Edna, the Inebriate Woman, Upstairs, Downstairs, I, Claudius, The Old Curiosity Shop, The Pickwick Papers, Lillie, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Our Friends in the North, Common As Muck, Lovejoy, Agatha Christie's Poirot, Crown Court and Heartbeat.

Dowie frequently portrayed long-suffering roles,{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2019/08/22/freda-dowie-actress-excelled-long-suffering-abused-mother-terence/|title=Freda Dowie, actress who excelled as the long-suffering abused mother in Terence Davies's 'Distant Voices, Still Lives' – obituary|newspaper=The Telegraph |date=22 August 2019|accessdate=9 September 2019}} most notably as the Mother in the 1988 film Distant Voices, Still Lives, for which she was nominated for a European Film Award. Her film career also includes roles in Subterfuge (1968), The Omen (1976), The Monk (1990), Butterfly Kiss (1995), Jude (1996), Cider with Rosie (1998), and Fragile (2005).

Early life

Freda Mary Dowie was born in Carlisle, Cumbria on 22 July 1928 to John Dowie, a fried fish seller, and his wife Emily Davidson. She attended Barrow Girls Grammar School, where she excelled in Latin, English Literature and foreign languages including French and German.{{Cite news |last=Hayward |first=Anthony |date=2019-08-23 |title=Freda Dowie obituary |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/aug/23/freda-dowie-obituary |access-date=2023-10-18 |issn=0261-3077}} She later gained a place to study teaching at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, graduating in 1948.{{Cite web |last= |title=Lost list (version 2) - Central School of Speech & Drama |url=https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/15546741/lost-list-version-2-central-school-of-speech-drama |access-date=2023-10-18 |website=yumpu.com |language=en}}

Personal life and death

Dowie was married three times. Her first marriage was to Lionel Butterworth in Barrow-in-Furness in 1952. She then married John Goodrich in Hampstead in 1961. Both marriages ended in divorce. Her third marriage in 1970 was to the artist and documentary filmmaker David Thompson; they remained together until his death in April 2019.{{Cite web |title=Suffolk Artists - THOMPSON, David |url=https://suffolkartists.co.uk/index.cgi?choice=painter&pid=1263 |access-date=2023-10-18 |website=suffolkartists.co.uk}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.familynotices24.co.uk/edt/view/4699300/freda-mary-thompson-ne-dowie|title=FREDA MARY THOMPSON (née DOWIE)|website=East Anglian Daily Times|language=en|access-date=16 August 2019|archive-date=18 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190818204110/https://www.familynotices24.co.uk/edt/view/4699300/freda-mary-thompson-ne-dowie|url-status=dead}}

Dowie died in Suffolk on 10 August 2019, aged 91.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/aug/23/freda-dowie-obituary|title=Freda Dowie obituary|last=Hayward|first=Anthony|date=23 August 2019|work=The Guardian|accessdate=9 September 2019}}

Filmography

class="wikitable"
Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes
1959 \| The Eustace Diamonds \| Ellen \| Episode: "Episode #1.6"
rowspan="3"\| 1961 \| ITV Television Playhouse \| Waitress \| Episode: "I Having Dreamt Awake"
Doctor Faustus \| Duchess of Vanholt \| Episode: "Episode #1.2"
The Wakefield Shepherd's Play \| Mary \| Short film
rowspan="2"\| 1962 \| Antigone \| Antigone \| 2 episodes
The Bacchae \| Chorus \| 2 episodes
rowspan="3"\| 1963 \| BBC Sunday-Night Play \| Lillian, Gimlet's conductress \| Episode: "Just You Wait"
Armchair Theatre \| Elsie \| Episode: "The Monkey and the Mowhawk"
Maupassant \| Mlle. Zoe \| Episode: "Wives and Lovers"
1963−1967 \| ITV Play of the Week \| Princess Marie / Bronwen Iorweth / Sarah \| 3 episodes
1964 \| Diary of a Young Man \| Chief Marcher \| Episode: "Relationships"
1965 \| It's Dark Outside \| Martha Singer \| Episode: "A Slight Case of a Matrimony"
rowspan="4"\| 1966 \| Sunday Night \| Xanthippe \| Episode: "The Death of Socrates"
North and South \| Fanny Thornton \| 4 episodes
Dixon of Dock Green \| Mrs. Newman \| Episode: "The Golden Year"
Alice in Wonderland \| Nurse \| Television film
rowspan="3"\| 1967 \| Dr. Finlay's Casebook \| Beth Geddes \| Episode: "Call in Cameron"
Six Bites of the Cherry \| Various roles \| 6 episodes
The Newcomers \| Staff Nurse Murdoch \| 2 episodes
rowspan="3"\| 1968 \| Omnibus \| Maid \| Episode: "Whistle and I'll Come To You"
ITV Playhouse \| Unknown \| Episode: "The Retreat"
Subterfuge \| Waitress \|
1969 \| The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm \| Mrs. Flittersnoop \| 7 episodes
1970 \| Thirty-Minute Theatre \| Mrs. Armstrong \| 2 episodes
rowspan="3"\| 1971 \| Doomwatch \| Hilda \| Episode: "No Room for Error"
Play for Today \| Mother Superior \| Episode: "Edna, the Inebriate Woman"
Cider with Rosie \| Crabby \| Television film
1972 \| Cranford \| Miss Brown \| Episode: "Part 1"
1972−1975 \| Crown Court \| Sadie Dickinson / Helen Lord \| 5 episodes
rowspan="3"\| 1973 \| Jack the Ripper \| Amelia Palmer \| Episode: "The First Two"
Once Upon a Time \| Mother \| Episode: "Ishmael"
The Brontes of Haworth \| Miss Branwell \| 2 episodes
rowspan="4"\| 1974 \| The Carnforth Practice \| Mrs. Pollock \| Episode: "Undue Influence"
Miss Nightingale \| Sister Elizabeth Wheeler \| Television film
Upstairs, Downstairs \| Maria Schoenfeld \| Episode: "The Beastly Hun"
Father Brown \| Opal Banks \| Episode: "The Man with Two Beards"
rowspan="4"\| 1975 \| The Hanged Man \| Jean MacKinnon \| Episode: "Chariot of Earth"
The Poisoning of Charles Bravo \| Mrs. Cox \| 3 episodes
Within These Walls \| Elsie Storbridge \| Episode: "Prison Cat"
The Puritan Experience: Making of a New World \| Goody Adams \| Short film
rowspan="2"\| 1976 \| The Omen \| Nun \|
I, Claudius \| The Sybil / Caesonia \| 3 episodes
rowspan="2"\| 1978 \| Angels \| Mrs. Czechpinski \| Episode: "First Impressions"
Lillie \| Mathilde Peat \| Episode: "Fifty Cents a Dance"
1979−1980 \| The Old Curiosity Shop \| Sally Brass \| 6 episodes
rowspan="2"\| 1983 \| Hallelujah! \| Mildred Cooper \| Episode: "Counselling"
Zig Zag \| Edith \| 2 episodes
rowspan="2"\| 1985 \| The Pickwick Papers \| Rachel Wardle \| 3 episodes
Cover Her Face \| Alice Liddell \| 2 episodes
rowspan="4"\| 1986 \| Alice in Wonderland \| Cook \| 2 episodes
Lovejoy \| Mrs. Springer \| Episode: "Friends, Romans and Enemies"
Eastenders \| Clerk \| Episode: "Episode #1.152"
Call Me Mister \| Mrs. Oaks \| Episode: "Tour De Force"
rowspan="3"\| 1988 \| The Return of Sherlock Holmes \| Mrs. Porter \| Episode: "The Devil's Foot"
Distant Voices, Still Lives \| Mother \|
Sophia and Constance \| Maria Insull \| 5 episodes
rowspan="2"\| 1989 \| Poirot \| Eliza Dunn \| Episode: "The Adventure of the Clapham Cook"
Goldeneye \| Harley Street doctor \| Television film
rowspan="2"\| 1990 \| Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit \| Mrs. Green \| 3 episodes
The Monk \| Sister Ursula \|
rowspan="2"\| 1991 \| Kinsey \| Maureen Spencer \| Episode: "It's Going To Be a Close Call, Kinsey"
Stay Lucky \| Neighbour \| Episode: "Shingle Beach"
rowspan="2"\| 1992 \| Thacker \| Edith Folland \| TV series
Boon \| Eileen Wooley \| Episode: "Love or Money"
1992−2009 \| Heartbeat \| Edna / Phyllis / Muriel Gerard \| 3 episodes
1993 \| Crime Story \| Lady Peggy Hudson \| Episode: "The Ladies Man: Archibald Hall"
rowspan="2"\| 1994 \| Middlemarch \| Jane Waule \| 3 episodes
Moving Story \| Mrs. Kimball \| Episode: "Last Stand at Laurel Way"
1994−1997 \| Common as Muck \| Dulcie Green \| 6 episodes
1995 \| Butterfly Kiss \| Elsie \|
rowspan="4"\| 1996 \| Our Friends in the North \| Florrie Hutchinson \| 7 episodes
Jude \| Elderly landlady \|
Beck \| Freda Doyle \| Episode: "Episode #1.2"
Black Eyes \| Gran \| Short film
1997 \| Insiders \| Peggy Edwards \| Episode: "Good Behaviour"
1998 \| Cider with Rosie \| Granny Wallon \| Television film
1999 \| The Bill \| Anne Jefferson \| 2 episodes
rowspan="4"\| 2000 \| Jason and the Argonaut \| Hera as Old Peasant Woman \| 2 episodes
Trick of the Light \| Beatrice \| Short film
Maisie's Catch \| Maisie \| Short film
Wildwood \| Wise woman \| Television film
rowspan="2"\| 2002 \| Outside the Edge \| Freda Marshall \| TV series
How We Used to Live: A Giant in Ancient Egypt \| Old Sarah \| TV miniseries
2003 \| Death in Holy Orders \| Agatha Betterton \| 2 episodes
2005 \| Fragile \| Old Lady 1 \|
rowspan="2"\| 2007 \| Midsomer Murders \| Amie Pearce \| Episode: "The Animal Within"
The Royal \| Dora Rigby \| Episode: "Scabs"

class="wikitable"

Year

! Title

! Role

! Notes

1959

| The Eustace Diamonds

| Ellen

| Episode: "Episode #1.6"

rowspan="3"| 1961

| ITV Television Playhouse

| Waitress

| Episode: "I Having Dreamt Awake"

Doctor Faustus

| Duchess of Vanholt

| Episode: "Episode #1.2"

The Wakefield Shepherd's Play

| Mary

| Short film

rowspan="2"| 1962

| Antigone

| Antigone

| 2 episodes

The Bacchae

| Chorus

| 2 episodes

rowspan="3"| 1963

| BBC Sunday-Night Play

| Lillian, Gimlet's conductress

| Episode: "Just You Wait"

Armchair Theatre

| Elsie

| Episode: "The Monkey and the Mowhawk"

Maupassant

| Mlle. Zoe

| Episode: "Wives and Lovers"

1963−1967

| ITV Play of the Week

| Princess Marie / Bronwen Iorweth / Sarah

| 3 episodes

1964

| Diary of a Young Man

| Chief Marcher

| Episode: "Relationships"

1965

| It's Dark Outside

| Martha Singer

| Episode: "A Slight Case of a Matrimony"

rowspan="4"| 1966

| Sunday Night

| Xanthippe

| Episode: "The Death of Socrates"

North and South

| Fanny Thornton

| 4 episodes

Dixon of Dock Green

| Mrs. Newman

| Episode: "The Golden Year"

Alice in Wonderland

| Nurse

| Television film

rowspan="3"| 1967

| Dr. Finlay's Casebook

| Beth Geddes

| Episode: "Call in Cameron"

Six Bites of the Cherry

| Various roles

| 6 episodes

The Newcomers

| Staff Nurse Murdoch

| 2 episodes

rowspan="3"| 1968

| Omnibus

| Maid

| Episode: "Whistle and I'll Come To You"

ITV Playhouse

| Unknown

| Episode: "The Retreat"

Subterfuge

| Waitress

1969

| The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm

| Mrs. Flittersnoop

| 7 episodes

1970

| Thirty-Minute Theatre

| Mrs. Armstrong

| 2 episodes

rowspan="3"| 1971

| Doomwatch

| Hilda

| Episode: "No Room for Error"

Play for Today

| Mother Superior

| Episode: "Edna, the Inebriate Woman"

Cider with Rosie

| Crabby

| Television film

1972

| Cranford

| Miss Brown

| Episode: "Part 1"

1972−1975

| Crown Court

| Sadie Dickinson / Helen Lord

| 5 episodes

rowspan="3"| 1973

| Jack the Ripper

| Amelia Palmer

| Episode: "The First Two"

Once Upon a Time

| Mother

| Episode: "Ishmael"

The Brontes of Haworth

| Miss Branwell

| 2 episodes

rowspan="4"| 1974

| The Carnforth Practice

| Mrs. Pollock

| Episode: "Undue Influence"

Miss Nightingale

| Sister Elizabeth Wheeler

| Television film

Upstairs, Downstairs

| Maria Schoenfeld

| Episode: "The Beastly Hun"

Father Brown

| Opal Banks

| Episode: "The Man with Two Beards"

rowspan="4"| 1975

| The Hanged Man

| Jean MacKinnon

| Episode: "Chariot of Earth"

The Poisoning of Charles Bravo

| Mrs. Cox

| 3 episodes

Within These Walls

| Elsie Storbridge

| Episode: "Prison Cat"

The Puritan Experience: Making of a New World

| Goody Adams

| Short film

rowspan="2"| 1976

| The Omen

| Nun

I, Claudius

| The Sybil / Caesonia

| 3 episodes

rowspan="2"| 1978

| Angels

| Mrs. Czechpinski

| Episode: "First Impressions"

Lillie

| Mathilde Peat

| Episode: "Fifty Cents a Dance"

1979−1980

| The Old Curiosity Shop

| Sally Brass

| 6 episodes

rowspan="2"| 1983

| Hallelujah!

| Mildred Cooper

| Episode: "Counselling"

Zig Zag

| Edith

| 2 episodes

rowspan="2"| 1985

| The Pickwick Papers

| Rachel Wardle

| 3 episodes

Cover Her Face

| Alice Liddell

| 2 episodes

rowspan="4"| 1986

| Alice in Wonderland

| Cook

| 2 episodes

Lovejoy

| Mrs. Springer

| Episode: "Friends, Romans and Enemies"

Eastenders

| Clerk

| Episode: "Episode #1.152"

Call Me Mister

| Mrs. Oaks

| Episode: "Tour De Force"

rowspan="3"| 1988

| The Return of Sherlock Holmes

| Mrs. Porter

| Episode: "The Devil's Foot"

Distant Voices, Still Lives

| Mother

Sophia and Constance

| Maria Insull

| 5 episodes

rowspan="2"| 1989

| Poirot

| Eliza Dunn

| Episode: "The Adventure of the Clapham Cook"

Goldeneye

| Harley Street doctor

| Television film

rowspan="2"| 1990

| Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

| Mrs. Green

| 3 episodes

The Monk

| Sister Ursula

rowspan="2"| 1991

| Kinsey

| Maureen Spencer

| Episode: "It's Going To Be a Close Call, Kinsey"

Stay Lucky

| Neighbour

| Episode: "Shingle Beach"

rowspan="2"| 1992

| Thacker

| Edith Folland

| TV series

Boon

| Eileen Wooley

| Episode: "Love or Money"

1992−2009

| Heartbeat

| Edna / Phyllis / Muriel Gerard

| 3 episodes

1993

| Crime Story

| Lady Peggy Hudson

| Episode: "The Ladies Man: Archibald Hall"

rowspan="2"| 1994

| Middlemarch

| Jane Waule

| 3 episodes

Moving Story

| Mrs. Kimball

| Episode: "Last Stand at Laurel Way"

1994−1997

| Common as Muck

| Dulcie Green

| 6 episodes

1995

| Butterfly Kiss

| Elsie

rowspan="4"| 1996

| Our Friends in the North

| Florrie Hutchinson

| 7 episodes

Jude

| Elderly landlady

Beck

| Freda Doyle

| Episode: "Episode #1.2"

Black Eyes

| Gran

| Short film

1997

| Insiders

| Peggy Edwards

| Episode: "Good Behaviour"

1998

| Cider with Rosie

| Granny Wallon

| Television film

1999

| The Bill

| Anne Jefferson

| 2 episodes

rowspan="4"| 2000

| Jason and the Argonaut

| Hera as Old Peasant Woman

| 2 episodes

Trick of the Light

| Beatrice

| Short film

Maisie's Catch

| Maisie

| Short film

Wildwood

| Wise woman

| Television film

rowspan="2"| 2002

| Outside the Edge

| Freda Marshall

| TV series

How We Used to Live: A Giant in Ancient Egypt

| Old Sarah

| TV miniseries

2003

| Death in Holy Orders

| Agatha Betterton

| 2 episodes

2005

| Fragile

| Old Lady 1

rowspan="2"| 2007

| Midsomer Murders

| Amie Pearce

| Episode: "The Animal Within"

The Royal

| Dora Rigby

| Episode: "Scabs"

References

External links

{{IMDb name|0235782}}

Category:1928 births

Category:2019 deaths

Category:English television actresses

Category:Actresses from Carlisle, Cumbria

Category:English film actresses

Category:20th-century English actresses

Category:21st-century English actresses