Polly Adams
{{Short description|English actress (born 1939)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Polly Adams
| image =
| imagesize =
| alt =
| caption =
| birthname = Pauline Adams
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1939|8|27}}
| birth_place = Chichester, Sussex, England
| othername =
| occupation = Actress
| yearsactive =
| spouse = Richard Owens
| children = 3, including Caroline and Susannah
| relatives = Joseph Harker (great-grandfather)
}}
Pauline "Polly" Adams (born 27 August 1939) is an English actress best known for her work on the stage both in England and in the United States, and for her portrayal of Mrs. Brown on the television series Just William.
She made her Broadway debut in a 1975 revival of London Assurance as Grace Harkaway. For her portrayal she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award. Her other Broadway credits include Bedroom Farce.
Life and career
Adams was born in Chichester, Sussex.{{cite web|url=https://www.unitedagents.co.uk/polly-adams|title=Polly Adams|work=unitedagents.co.uk |access-date=9 November 2022}} She trained at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and has appeared in several productions on the London Stage appearing at such theatres as the Old Vic, the Oxford Stage Company, the Hampstead Theatre, the Royal National Theatre, the Greenwich Theatre, the Haymarket Theatre, the Lyric Hammersmith, the Globe Theatre, the Queen's Theatre, the Piccadilly Theatre, the Savoy Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company among others.
Her theatre credits include Ida in The Chiltern Hundreds,{{cite web|url= http://www.cft.org.uk/cft-productions_talents.asp?tid=134 | title=Polly Adams Chichester Festival Theatre 2006 Biography|website=cft.org.uk|date=2008|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080305080124/http://www.cft.org.uk/cft-productions_talents.asp?tid=134 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2008-03-05}} Time and the Conways, A Month in the Country, Pygmalion, Tis Pity She’s a Whore, A Small Family Business, Tons of Money, Plunder, The Philanderer, Engaged, Troilus and Cressida and Don Juan Comes Back From The War, The Government Inspector, Benefactors, The Real Thing, Present Laughter, The Importance of Being Earnest, Hay Fever, The Merchant of Venice, Private Lives, The Complaisant Lover, and Relatively Speaking, among several others.
Adams worked on television in the United Kingdom, appearing in programmes including The Ruth Rendell Mysteries, Element of Doubt, Just William, A Dark-Adapted Eye, The Cinder Path, Blisters , Inspector Alleyn, Bonjour la Classe, The Camomile Lawn, Sob Sisters, Executive Stress, The Murder at the Vicarage, Faint-Hearted Feminist, Winter Sunshine, Goodbye Darling , Tribute to the Lady, Upstairs, Downstairs, The First Churchills, The Spoils of Poynton, Pride and Prejudice, and Compact and Sea Song. Her film credits include Clinic Exclusive (1971), Element of Doubt (1996) and Kisna: The Warrior Poet (2005).
Personal life
Her daughters, Susannah, Nelly, and Caroline Harker are also actresses. Adams portrayed Jane Bennet in the 1967 television adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, while Susannah Harker played the same role in the 1995 TV series Pride and Prejudice.
Filmography
=Film=
| class=wikitable |
| Year
!Title !Role !Notes |
|---|
| 1964
| Receptionist | |
| rowspan="2"|1970
| Tilly Winn | TV film |
| She Follows Me About
| Benny | TV film |
| 1971
| Ann | |
| 1976
| Sibyl Chase | TV film |
| 1980
| Jan | TV film |
| rowspan="2"|1986
| Ann Protheroe | TV film |
| L'étincelle
| Kathryn | |
| 1996
| Ellen | TV film |
| 2002
| Falling Apart | Clare's Mum | TV film |
| 2005
| Lady Katherine | |
=Television=
| class=wikitable |
| Year
!Title !Role !Notes |
|---|
| rowspan="2"|1959
| Sally Ford | Episode: "Duffy Calls the Tune" |
| The Two Charleys
| Jessie | Episode: "Canteen Capers" |
| 1960
| Theatre Night | Serena Tilney | Episode: "The Bride Comes Back" |
| rowspan="2"|1961
| An Enemy of the People | Petra Stockmann | Miniseries |
| ITV Play of the Week
| Penny Gracey | Episode: "The Two on the Beach" |
| rowspan="3"|1962
| Clarissa Davenport | Episode: "Both Ends Meet" |
| Suspense
| Miss Eaton | Episode: "Killer in the Band" |
| Somerset Maugham Hour
| Sally | Episode: "Killer in the Band" |
| 1963
| Tessie Dunton | Episode: "For King and Country #2: The Barricade" |
| 1964
| Jan | Episode: "Drama '64: The Brick Umbrella" |
| 1964-1965
| Compact | Julia Preston | Series regular |
| 1967
| Jane Bennet | Miniseries |
| rowspan="2"|1968
| Barbara Mayne | 4 episodes |
| ITV Playhouse
| Caol | Episode: "Neutral Ground" |
| rowspan="2"|1969
| Who-Dun-It | Delphine Minniver | Episode: "Crime at the Panto" |
| The First Churchills
| Henrietta Churchill | 5 episodes |
| rowspan="2"|1970
| Maggie | Miniseries |
| From a Bird's Eye View
| Betty | Episode: "Millie's Moveable Feast" |
| 1972
| Villains | Mother | Episode: "Sand Dancer" |
| rowspan="2"|1974
| Jackie | Episode: "Only the Other Day" |
| Armchair Cinema
| Anna | Episode: "Sea Song" |
| rowspan="2"|1975
| Three Comedies of Marriage | | Episode: "One of the Family" |
| Upstairs, Downstairs
| Mrs. Polly Merivale | Episode: "Such a Lovely Man" |
| 1976
| Margaret Orme | Episode: "Loyalties" |
| 1977
| Devenish | Prudence Devenish | Episode: "The Great American Job" |
| 1978
| The Sunday Drama | Eloise Gainsborough | Episode: "The Marrying Kind" |
| 1981
| Goodbye Darling | Phillippa | Episode: "Daisy" |
| rowspan="2"|1984
| The Fainthearted Feminist | Irene | |
| Winter Sunlight
| Jane | Miniseries |
| 1986
| Olive | 1 episode |
| 1989
| Dorothy | Series regular |
| 1991
| Melanie Dearborn | Episode: "Murder Being Once Done" |
| 1992
| Sarah | Miniseries |
| rowspan="2"|1993
| Jean Halifax | Series regular |
| Alleyn Mysteries
| Mildred Potter | Episode: "Death in a White Tie" |
| rowspan="2"|1994
| Helen | Miniseries |
| The Cinder Path
| Florence Chapman | Miniseries |
| 1994-1995
| Mrs. Brown | Series regular |
| 2009
| Kingdom | Amelia | 1 episode |
=Theatre=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Venue ! Notes |
|---|
| 1959
| Ann Howard | |
| rowspan="2"|1962
| Extra | Chichester Festival Theatre, Chichester | |
| The Broken Heart
| Christella | Chichester Festival Theatre, Chichester | |
| 1963
| Cynthia | |
| 1967
| Virginia | Duke of York's Theatre, London | |
| 1971
| Anémone | |
| 1973
| Sibyl Chase | |
| 1975
| Engaged | Belinda Treherne | |
| rowspan="2"|1976
| Helen | Royal National Theatre, London | |
| Plunder
| Joan Hewlett | |
| 1977
| Alithea | |
| rowspan="3"|1978
| Grace Tranfield | |
| Don Juan Comes Back From The War
| Ensemble | |
| Bedroom Farce
| Jan | Prince of Wales Theatre, London | |
| 1979
| Myra Arundel | |
| 1980
| The Importance of Being Earnest | Gwendolen Fairfax | Haymarket Theatre, Leicester & The Old Vic, London | |
| 1981
| Joanna | Greenwich Theatre, London & Vaudeville Theatre, London | |
| 1982
| Charlotte | |
| 1985
| Jane | |
| 1986
| Louise Allington | |
| 1987
| Poppy McCracken | |
| 1988
| Hippolita | |
| 1990
| Rumors | Christine Bevans | Chichester Festival Theatre, Chichester | also, UK tour |
| 1991
| Anna | |
| 1992
| Mrs Eynsford-Hill | |
| 1994
| Lizaveta Bogdanovna | Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford & Albery Theatre, London | |
| 1997
| Mrs. Conway | Mercury Theatre, Colchester & Salisbury Playhouse, Salisbury | |
| 1999
| Lady Lister | |
| 2000
| Muriel | |
| 2001
| Grace Winslow |
| 2005
| Laura Stockdale | Jersey Opera House, Saint Helier | |
| 2006
| Ruth | Chichester Festival Theatre, Chichester | |
| 2007
| Charlotte Ardsley | |
| 2008
| | |
| 2010
| Mother | Salisbury Playhouse, Salisbury | |
| 2014
| Alice | |
| 2016
| Mrs. Ebony | |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0011272}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20081222053157/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,909035,00.html Time Magazine, December 30, 1974]
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Polly}}
Category:Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Category:English film actresses
Category:English stage actresses
Category:English television actresses