Daphne Heard

Delia Phyllis Daphne Heard (21 August 1904^[1][2] – 22 June 1983) was an English actress and acting teacher. She was born in Plymouth, Devon. She appeared in numerous made-for-TV movies and TV series. She was perhaps best known in later years as Richard's elderly mother Mrs. Polouvicka in To the Manor Born.

Early life

Heard got her first taste of acting when she sang in an end of term play whilst at kindergarten school in Southampton around 1908. This caused her to decide to become an actress but her parents (her father being a ship's engineer then an inspector of ships for the Board of Trade and her mother a suffragette)^[3] initially tried to dissuade her. In the end, they allowed their daughter at the age of 16 to attend the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama for training.^[4] There, Heard attended with John Laurie^[3] and trained under Elsie Fogerty.^[5]

Theatre

Her career starting in 1922,^[6] Heard joined the Lena Ashwell Players the following year, playing lead roles. In 1925, she joined Sir Barry Jackson's company in The New Morality at the Kingsway Theatre followed by touring in plays such as The Green Hat and The Beaux' Stratagem. Rejoining Jackson's company in 1928, she appeared at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre and Malvern Festival, as well as touring in Canada.^[7]

During the Second World War, Heard worked in the prisoner of war section of the Red Cross and afterwards joined the Bristol Old Vic.^[8] By 1968 she accepted Sir Laurence Olivier's offer to join the National Theatre.^[5]

Film

Her film credits include roles in Goodbye Gemini (1970), the film version of Please Sir! (1971) as an old gypsy, Jude the Obscure (1971) as Drusilla Fawley, and The Triple Echo (1972).^[9] She also appeared as the nanny in Laurence Olivier's film Three Sisters (1970) based on the Anton Chekhov play, with Joan Plowright, Alan Bates and Olivier himself as Chebutikin.^[10]

Television and radio

She performed in many other television serials, including Wild, Wild Women, Doctor Who (in a story-stealing turn in the serial Image of the Fendahl as white witch 'Granny' Tyler), the sitcom Don't Forget to Write! as Mrs Field the cleaner, Z-Cars and Nanny Webster in Upstairs, Downstairs, series 2, episode 8, "Out of the Everywhere".^[11] In 1966, she was cast as a beleaguered tenant in Vacant Possession,^[12] a TV play produced by Rediffusion.^[13]

In 1971, Heard starred in a couple of episodes in the TV sitcom For the Love of Ada playing the nosey next door neighbour.^[14]

In 1974, she played the part of Mrs. Froggitt in the pilot episode of Oh No It's Selwyn Froggitt.^[15]

From its inception until her death in 1983, she played the part of Maud, the eccentric housekeeper, in the Hinge and Bracket radio series.^[16]

Teaching career

In 1955, Heard left the cast of a West End play starring Yvonne Arnaud to take up teaching drama at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.^[17] She spent seven years working there, resigning in 1962 after a disagreement with the new principal Richard Ainley over the school's new policies.^[18] During this time, her pupils included Peter O'Toole,^[8] Brian Blessed,^[19] Robin Phillips and Patrick Stewart.^[20]

Filmography

References

1. ^ Per original research added by a contributor from IP address 192.176.202.37 to this article on 21 August 2020, Heard appears in the 1939 England & Wales Register as Daphne Barns (her married name) with the birth date of 21 August 1904; the contributor also commented "A few years ago, only her month and year of birth were known and the 1st [n.b. another date formerly given in the article] was probably a guess".
2. ^ "Births". The Western Evening Herald. 22 August 1904. p. 1. Retrieved 22 January 2026.
3. ^ "Why Tiny Daphne Loved To Be Heard". Swindon Advertiser. 19 May 1973. p. 7. Retrieved 22 January 2026.
4. ^ "Daphne's days of romance in Brum". Birmingham Evening Mail. 30 August 1978. p. 2. Retrieved 22 January 2026.
5. ^ "National change for Clifton actress". Bristol Evening Post. 3 August 1968. p. 7. Retrieved 22 January 2026.
6. ^ "District News: Sussex - Hartfield". Sevenoaks Chronicle. 28 July 1922. p. 9. Retrieved 22 January 2026.
7. ^ "Canada Rich In Virile Drama". Times Colonist. 25 January 1932. p. 11. Retrieved 22 January 2026.
8. ^ "Final tribute to queen of the manor". Western Daily Press. 24 June 1983. p. 5. Retrieved 22 January 2026.
9. ^ "Daphne Heard". BFI. Archived from the original on 22 November 2017.
10. ^ "Three Sisters (1970) - Laurence Olivier, John Sichel | Cast and Crew | AllMovie". – via www.allmovie.com.
11. ^ "Daphne Heard". www.aveleyman.com
12. ^ ""Blackmail" Vacant Possession (TV Episode 1966) - IMDb". imdb.com. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
13. ^ "Vacant Possession". Radio Times^{[dead link]}
14. ^ "The Queen's Birthday (1971)". BFI. Archived from the original on 29 October 2021.
15. ^ "Oh No, It's Selwyn Froggit[30/09/74] (1974)". BFI. Archived from the original on 26 February 2021.
16. ^ "BBC Radio 4 Extra - The Enchanting World of Hinge and Bracket, Pilot". BBC
17. ^ "Old Vic students' new home". Bristol Evening Post. 21 September 1955. p. 10. Retrieved 22 January 2026.
18. ^ "Another Old Vic School resignation". Bristol Evening Post. 13 April 1962. p. 1. Retrieved 22 January 2026.
19. ^ Blessed, Brian (19 May 2016). Absolute Pandemonium: The Autobiography. Pan Macmillan. ISBN 9781447292975. – via Google Books.
20. ^ "Making It So". BooKey.app. Retrieved 22 January 2026.

External links

• Daphne Heard at IMDb
• A young Daphne Heard in the play She Stoops To Conquer (Univ. of Washington Sayre Collection) (*url updated)
• Daphne Heard (Aveleyman)
• Daphne Heard at Theatricalia