Hannah Gordon

Hannah Cambell Grant Gordon^[1] (sometimes known as Hannah Warwick, born 9 April 1941) is a Scottish actress who is well known in the United Kingdom for her television work, including My Wife Next Door (1972), Upstairs, Downstairs (1974–75), Telford's Change (1979), Joint Account (1989–90) and an appearance in the final episode of One Foot in the Grave.^[2]

Early life

Gordon was born in Edinburgh, the daughter of Hannah (née Grant) and William Munro Gordon.^[1][3] She studied drama at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow and, after graduating, spent one year at a Repertory theatre in Dundee.^[2][3] Shortly after, Gordon settled in London, and had early television appearances in the mid-1960s in programmes such as Out of the Unknown, The Wednesday Play, David Copperfield and Thirty-Minute Theatre.^[2] In 1966-67, Gordon played Kirsty in the Doctor Who serial The Highlanders, and made appearances on Jackanory (1969). In 1967, she appeared in the stage play Spring and Port Wine,^[3] and in 1970 took the same role in the film version. In 1972, Hannah Gordon had her first lead role, alongside John Alderton in the sitcom My Wife Next Door.^[2]

Film and Television career

Gordon married cameraman Norman Warwick; they had a son Ben, and Gordon returned to work after a year off in 1974.^[2] Her first appearance was as Virginia Hamilton who later married Lord Bellamy in the fourth and fifth series of the period drama Upstairs, Downstairs.^[2] In 1979, she appeared in Telford's Change, another drama.^[2] During the 1970s, Gordon also appeared in Play for Today, The Persuaders! and the 1973 Christmas Edition of The Morecambe & Wise Show. In 1989-90 she starred as a bank manager with Peter Egan and John Bird in the BBC sitcom Joint Account. She voiced the character Hyzenthlay in Watership Down (1978), and her other film roles included Alfie Darling (1975) ^[3] and The Elephant Man (1980) as the wife of Anthony Hopkins. Her most recent film role was as Kevin McKidd's mother in Made of Honor (2008).

In 1981 she starred in Miss Morrison's Ghosts (with Wendy Hiller). She has appeared on television in Goodbye, Mr Kent (1982), My Family and Other Animals (1987), Taggart (1993) and Jonathan Creek (1998). Since 2000, she has made guest appearances in Midsomer Murders (2000), Monarch of the Glen (2002) and Heartbeat (2004).^[2] In 2000, Gordon played Glynis, the woman who kills Victor Meldrew in "Things Aren't Simple Any More", the final episode of the sitcom One Foot in the Grave.^[2]

From 1998 to 2002 she hosted the Channel 4 programme Watercolour Challenge.^[3]

She also more recently appeared in the 2007 Christmas episodes of BBC Scotland soap River City, as hotel owner Rose who had rescued Archie Buchanan from the cliffside and taken him in because of his memory loss. In the final episode of series 7 of the BBC series Hustle (2011), she played an old flame of Albert Stroller.

Stage and theatre

Hannah Gordon narrated Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf in a Christmas concert with the Corinthian Chamber Orchestra at St. James's Church, Piccadilly, London on 14 December 2007.^[4]

She was the narrator of the opening concert at the 2008 Edinburgh International Festival - Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht at Usher Hall on Friday, 8 August 2008.^[5] This performance brought together the RSNO, the Edinburgh Festival Chorus, the ladies of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and eight soloists.^[6]

From 9–20 March 2009, Gordon read Nina Bawden's novel Family Money for BBC Radio 4's Book at Bedtime.

Safeway UK

Throughout the 1980s, Hannah was the face of the UK division of Safeway. She appeared in all the TV commercials, voiced the radio adverts and was present at many store openings.

Hannah Gordon - the rose

In 1983/1984 W. Kordes and Son, Germany, bred a tall, slender shrub rose which they named 'Hannah Gordon'. It is a cross of an unnamed seedling x ‘Bordure Rose’ (Floribunda, Delbard, 1974).^[7]

References

External links

• Hannah Gordon at the Internet Movie Database