Jean Marsh, Star and Creator of \’Upstairs, Downstairs,\’ Passes Away at 90

Jean Marsh, a distinguished British actress known for both theater and film, gained international acclaim as the co-creator and lead actor of \”Upstairs, Downstairs,\” the Emmy Award–winning show from the 1970s that delved into themes of social hierarchy and political turmoil during the Edwardian era and afterward. She passed away on April 13 at her residence in London; she was 90 years old.

Her agent, Lesley Duff, along with her friend Michael Lindsay-Hogg, the theatre and film director, stated that the reason for her passing was complications arising from dementia.

First aired on Britain’s ITV in 1971, \”Upstairs, Downstairs\” provided a detailed depiction of an upper-class household and their staff members, spanning three decades of societal transformation. This included exploring events such as the First World War, the fight for women’s voting rights, and the economic downturn following the 1929 stock market crash, all centered around the lives within 165 Eaton Place—a luxurious home situated in downtown London.

Commended for its detailed portrayal of the Bellamy family residing upstairs and their hardworking staff downstairs, this series aired over five seasons and reached audiences across more than 70 nations. It first premiered in the U.S. in 1974 as part of PBS\’s \”Masterpiece Theatre.\”

The show\’s triumph facilitated the rise of other servant-master genre series like \”Downton Abbey\” and director Robert Altman’s film \”Gosford Park.\” It propelled Ms. Marsh into fame both in Britain and across the pond in America, where she was prominently featured on promotional materials and humorously noted her image turning up ubiquitously, even adorning public waste containers and transit vehicles.

As Rose Buck, Ms. Marsh portrayed the family’s acerbic yet benevolent maidservant. The supporting staff also featured Gordon Jackson as the strict butler Hudson.
Jenny Tomasin
, portraying the awkward kitchen maid Ruby Finch; and Angela Baddeley, who took on the role of the cook, Mrs. Bridges. The upstairs residence was home to the patriarch and politician Richard Bellamy, portrayed by David Langton, along with family members such as his strong-willed daughter Elizabeth, played by
Nicola Pagett
.

\”It’s not merely about nostalgia for the so-called \’good old days,\’ regardless of what those times entailed, nor is it solely about the strict, structured order of life. This sentiment runs deeper, tracing all the way back to our origins,\” Ms. Marsh explained to The New York Times.
in 1974
Offering insight into the show\’s appeal, he says, \”Everybody is fascinated by social hierarchy, regardless of which side of the divide they belong to. People might deny it, but that\’s what draws them in. The series encompasses all—wealthy and impoverished, entitled or otherwise.\”

Ms. Marsh mentioned that she was looking after a well-off acquaintance\’s home in southern France when she and her friend Eileen Atkins, another accomplished actress, started conceiving the concept for \”Upstairs, Downstairs.\” They both came from modest backgrounds—Ms. Marsh having spent her childhood in dilapidated apartments in northern London, even sharing a bed with her elder sibling at times—and they felt let down by the 1967 BBC series \”The Forsyte Saga,\” which was based on John Galsworthy’s novels focusing on an upper-middle-class clan.

Ms. Marsh recounted in an interview, “We wondered, ‘This all sounds great, but who handled the laundry? Who pressed the garments? Who’s taking care of the shoes? Who’s performing all these tasks?’”
the A.V. Club
“And we said, ‘Wow, it’s really unjust that the true laborers never get recognized.’”

Soon enough, the pair came up with characters, relationships, and six different storylines, expanding their original concept of a series centered solely around existence beneath the staircase. These concepts were further developed by screenwriters and producers John Hawkesworth and John Whitney—who were acknowledged as co-creators—as they refined the material.

Even though she frequently portrayed sophisticated, high-society roles, Ms. Marsh mentioned that she made sure to take on the part of Rose, a character inspired partly by her own mother—a maid, bartender, and theatrical dresser. This role earned her the 1975 Emmy Award for leading actress in a drama series, alongside two additional Emmy nominations.

This resulted in more prominent television parts, such as her role as the cunning and obsequious office manager Roz during the first two seasons of \”9 to 5,\” an ABC series based on the 1980 film of the same title. She often portrayed antagonists in movies, like the malevolent Princess Mombi in Disney’s \”Return to Oz\” (1985), which was an unauthorized follow-up to \”The Wizard of Oz\” (1939). Additionally, she took on the character of Queen Bavmorda in director Ron Howard’s fantasy-adventure film \”Willow\” (1988) featuring Warwick Davis.
Val Kilmer
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Ms. Marsh mentioned that she was puzzled why she consistently found herself playing roles of sorcerers and witches—around eight such parts altogether, according to her count, before she began work on \”Willow.\”

“She remembered sharing with Howard before the production started that everyone believes I have quite a gentle-looking face,” she recounted in their discussion about her casting. He responded, ‘That’s because you possess great strength, which turns out to be surprising. And from this emerges, “Wow!”’”

He mentioned, \’I think you have the ability to transform a stone into gold.\’

Ms. Marsh came into this world in London on July 1, 1934, where her dad had a job as both a printer’s assistant and a maintenance worker. According to numerous reports, she first saw light as Jean Lyndsey Torren Marsh—some references write her middle name with one \’d\’ instead of two. However, her acquaintance Lindsay-Hogg stated in an electronic message that she actually originated from Jean Sylvia Marsh and later incorporated Lindsay Torren into her identity sometime during her second decade.

During the Blitz, Ms. Marsh experienced those harrowing times as a young girl, witnessing German forces relentlessly bombarding her city with explosives and missiles. She shared in an interview for People magazine, \”It felt like the bombings were ceaseless.\” When she turned five years old, she unexpectedly lost her ability to walk; physicians diagnosed her condition as psychogenic paralysis.

Following her parents enrolling her in dance and mime lessons as therapeutic intervention for her condition, she shifted towards acting. Before reaching the age of 16, she had begun performing in summer theater productions.

By the age of twenty, she had tied the knot with Jon Pertwee, an actor who was fifteen years older than her. Their marriage came to an end after half a decade when Ms. Marsh started gaining recognition for her acting skills. During the year 1959, she took part in several notable projects: She starred alongside Laurence Olivier in the television film \”The Moon and Sixpence\”; she played a realistic android comforting a solitary convict (portrayed by Jack Warden), bound to reside on an isolated planet in one of the initial episodes of \”The Twilight Zone\”; furthermore, she launched her theatrical career on Broadway in a rendition of \”Much Ado About Nothing,\” directed by John Gielgud, where she portrayed Hero.

Throughout her career, Ms. Marsh divided her time between Britain and the United States, featuring in Hollywood films like \”Cleopatra\” from 1963 where she played a minor character named Octavia alongside actors Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. She also starred in stage plays during the 1970s, including Alan Bennett’s comedy \”Habeas Corpus\” on Broadway and Brian Clark\’s dramatic work \”Whose Life Is It Anyway?\”

She made several appearances on \”Doctor Who\” starting with a role in 1965 as a medieval princess, and she was featured in the 1972 Alfred Hitchcock film \”Frenzy,\” playing a secretary who finds a corpse.

Ms. Marsh and Atkins, her \”Upstairs, Downstairs\” collaborator, joined forces once again to produce another historical drama titled \”The House of Eliott.\” This show revolves around two sisters establishing a dressmaking enterprise in 1920s London. First airing on the BBC in 1991, the program continued for three years without either creator making an appearance on camera. According to Ms. Marsh, their partnership was characterized by what felt like one continuous dialogue throughout.

“She mentioned that they both use their hands more frequently than the typical British individual and usually rise to their feet when they have differing opinions.”
the Times
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Atkins stated, \”However, we don’t engage in conflict. It remains quite tranquil.\”

Ms. Marsh hesitated: \”We can both be temperamental.\”

Following her divorce, Ms. Marsh dated several actors.
Albert Finney
And Kenneth Haigh, along with her friend of 60 years, Lindsay-Hogg. She does not leave behind any immediate survivors.

\”I\’ve had partners whom I considered marrying and who also contemplated marrying me,\” she shared with the Telegraph.
in 2010
The issue was that we never considered them simultaneously.

Later in her career, she portrayed Mrs. Ferrars, the widowed matriarch, in a 2008 BBC rendition of \”Sense & Sensibility.\” In 2010, she took on her iconic role once more for a rebirth of \”Upstairs, Downstairs,\” earning herself a fourth and ultimate Emmy nod. Following a stroke in 2011 that forced Ms. Marsh to withdraw from the nine-part series, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II named her an Officer of the Order of the British Empire the subsequent year.

The show\’s return happened at the same time as the debut of \”Downton Abbey,\” which Ms. Marsh saw as a repeat of her previous series. During an interview with the Telegraph, she mentioned starting the first episode but choosing not to continue viewing it because she feared losing her patience.

Nevertheless, she pointed out, the series highlighted the ongoing appeal of aristocratic period shows.

We continue to desire this situation because if someone elevated themselves from their social standing, they understood they had succeeded. We appreciate it since history seems less daunting than current events.