Angela Browne(1938-2001)
- Actress
Angela Browne was infatuated with cinema from early childhood,
imagining herself in the the part of the screen heroine during her frequent
visits to the pictures. Aged thirteen, she left her Catholic convent
school to study at the Cone-Ripman Drama Academy in London. After four
years, she earned herself a scholarship to RADA. She then joined
repertory companies in Worthing, York and Scarborough, eventually
making her West End debut as an uninhibited Swedish girl in the 1959
comedy, "The Marriage Go-Round", alongside
John Clements and
Kay Hammond. She was serious enough
about her newly acquired craft to study the films of
Ingmar Bergman in order to appear as
'authentically Swedish' as possible. By 1960, after further theatrical
success in both comedy and drama, Angela came to be regarded as one of
the most promising up-and-coming actresses of the stage.
A vivacious blonde of uncommon and exquisite beauty, Angela inevitably
attracted the attention of television producers. After a few early bit
parts she co-starred with
Patrick McGoohan as the titular "Girl
in Pink Pajamas" in the
The Girl in Pink Pajamas (1960)
episode of the cult series,
Danger Man (1960). She got on
extremely well with McGoohan who proved very supportive on the set.
Years later, Angela jumped at the chance -- when offered -- to appear with
him again in the aptly-titled
A Change of Mind (1967)
episode of The Prisoner (1967).
Her role as "No. 86", a mind-control specialist tasked with
'rehabilitating' "No. 6" (McGoohan) by means of a pre-frontal lobotomy,
has become the one for which she is best-remembered. In a later
interview, Angela confessed that she never quite understood the
intricacies of the plot and simply
'got on with it' by following an old axiom she had learned from Noël Coward:
"learn your lines and don't bump into the furniture".
Gainfully employed within Britain's ITV network, Angela had a recurring
part in the crime series
Ghost Squad (1961) and made
appearances in The Saint (1962) and
The Avengers (1961). She was
also the obligatory romantic interest in the
Norman Wisdom farce
Press for Time (1966), a rare role
in a feature film. Guesting on television -- which meant a less rigorous
schedule than either films or the stage -- became, for several years, her
preferred means of deriving a living from her profession. After her
marriage to actor
Francis Matthews (best known as
the urbane lead of
Paul Temple (1969)), Angela took
a step back from performing to raise a family, in essence eschewing any further
chance of stardom. By the early 1970s, she had eased into character
roles, turning up at auditions in deliberately un-glamorous attire in
order to snare more interesting assignments. While her screen
appearances became fewer, she remained active on the stage in plays by
Noël Coward,
Henrik Ibsen and
Alan Ayckbourn. She retired from acting
altogether in 1990 and devoted her sadly few remaining years to her
family and to charity work.
imagining herself in the the part of the screen heroine during her frequent
visits to the pictures. Aged thirteen, she left her Catholic convent
school to study at the Cone-Ripman Drama Academy in London. After four
years, she earned herself a scholarship to RADA. She then joined
repertory companies in Worthing, York and Scarborough, eventually
making her West End debut as an uninhibited Swedish girl in the 1959
comedy, "The Marriage Go-Round", alongside
John Clements and
Kay Hammond. She was serious enough
about her newly acquired craft to study the films of
Ingmar Bergman in order to appear as
'authentically Swedish' as possible. By 1960, after further theatrical
success in both comedy and drama, Angela came to be regarded as one of
the most promising up-and-coming actresses of the stage.
A vivacious blonde of uncommon and exquisite beauty, Angela inevitably
attracted the attention of television producers. After a few early bit
parts she co-starred with
Patrick McGoohan as the titular "Girl
in Pink Pajamas" in the
The Girl in Pink Pajamas (1960)
episode of the cult series,
Danger Man (1960). She got on
extremely well with McGoohan who proved very supportive on the set.
Years later, Angela jumped at the chance -- when offered -- to appear with
him again in the aptly-titled
A Change of Mind (1967)
episode of The Prisoner (1967).
Her role as "No. 86", a mind-control specialist tasked with
'rehabilitating' "No. 6" (McGoohan) by means of a pre-frontal lobotomy,
has become the one for which she is best-remembered. In a later
interview, Angela confessed that she never quite understood the
intricacies of the plot and simply
'got on with it' by following an old axiom she had learned from Noël Coward:
"learn your lines and don't bump into the furniture".
Gainfully employed within Britain's ITV network, Angela had a recurring
part in the crime series
Ghost Squad (1961) and made
appearances in The Saint (1962) and
The Avengers (1961). She was
also the obligatory romantic interest in the
Norman Wisdom farce
Press for Time (1966), a rare role
in a feature film. Guesting on television -- which meant a less rigorous
schedule than either films or the stage -- became, for several years, her
preferred means of deriving a living from her profession. After her
marriage to actor
Francis Matthews (best known as
the urbane lead of
Paul Temple (1969)), Angela took
a step back from performing to raise a family, in essence eschewing any further
chance of stardom. By the early 1970s, she had eased into character
roles, turning up at auditions in deliberately un-glamorous attire in
order to snare more interesting assignments. While her screen
appearances became fewer, she remained active on the stage in plays by
Noël Coward,
Henrik Ibsen and
Alan Ayckbourn. She retired from acting
altogether in 1990 and devoted her sadly few remaining years to her
family and to charity work.