Joan Benham

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English actress (1918–1981)

title: "Joan Benham" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1918-births", "1981-deaths", "english-television-actresses", "english-film-actresses", "actresses-from-london", "20th-century-english-actresses", "actors-from-the-london-borough-of-hammersmith-and-fulham", "people-from-fulham"] description: "English actress (1918–1981)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Benham" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary English actress (1918–1981) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

FieldValue
imageFile:Joan Benham in Upstairs Downstairs.jpg
captionJoan Benham as Lady Prudence Fairfax
nameJoan Benham
birthnameJoan Olive Benham
birth_placeFulham, London, UK
birth_date
death_date
death_placeWestminster, London, UK
spouse
relationsOlive Sturgess (cousin)
yearsactive1938–1981
occupationActress
::

| image = File:Joan Benham in Upstairs Downstairs.jpg | imagesize = | caption = Joan Benham as Lady Prudence Fairfax | name = Joan Benham | birthname = Joan Olive Benham | birth_place = Fulham, London, UK | birth_date = | death_date = | death_place = Westminster, London, UK | spouse = | relations = Olive Sturgess (cousin) | yearsactive = 1938–1981 | occupation = Actress

Joan Benham (17 May 1918 – 13 June 1981) was an English actress best known for her portrayal of Lady Prudence Fairfax in the ITV period drama series Upstairs, Downstairs. She was born in London and was the first cousin of Hollywood actress Olive Sturgess.

Although her career mostly centred on television, Benham began her career appearing on the West End stage in the 1940s and continued to appear on the London stage periodically throughout her career. She appeared on Broadway as Helena in the 1954 revival of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream opposite Patrick Macnee as Demetrius.

Joan Benham appeared in sixteen episodes of Upstairs, Downstairs, from the first to the last series, as a Bellamy family friend, Lady Prudence Fairfax. Other London Weekend Television roles for her saw her appear as Lady Loftus in the comedies Doctor in the House, Doctor in Charge and Doctor on the Go and as Cecily Foyle, the friend of prison governor Faye Boswell (and a recurring role), in the drama Within These Walls.

Other television programmes she appeared in include Mrs Thursday, Father Brown, The Duchess of Duke Street, Just William and Take My Wife. Her film credits include the Miss Marple movie Murder Ahoy! (1964), Ladies Who Do (1963), Perfect Friday (1970) and Carry On Emmannuelle (1978).

Her last role was as Melinda Spry in the sitcom Terry and June.

Selected filmography

References

References

  1. "Joan Benham".
  2. (May 16, 2016). "The Encyclopedia of British Film: Fourth edition". Manchester University Press.
  3. Weaver, Tom. (December 11, 2009). "I Talked with a Zombie: Interviews with 23 Veterans of Horror and Sci-Fi Films and Television". McFarland.
  4. "Joan Benham | Theatricalia".
  5. "A Midsummer Night's Dream – Broadway Play – 1954 Revival | IBDB".
  6. "BFI Screenonline: Upstairs, Downstairs (1971-75) Credits".
  7. "Joan Benham".
  8. (13 November 1981). "BBC One - Terry and June, The Lawnmower".

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1918-births1981-deathsenglish-television-actressesenglish-film-actressesactresses-from-london20th-century-english-actressesactors-from-the-london-borough-of-hammersmith-and-fulhampeople-from-fulham