Megs Jenkins
Birthday: Born in 1917-04-21 in Birkenhead, Cheshire, England, UK
Deathday: 1998-10-05
An engineer's daughter, she had first planned on becoming a ballerina, using her original Christian name Muguette, but abandoned those plans by the age of 17 when she realized that her physique was more in keeping with her other first name, Megs. She trained in Liverpool at the School of Dancing and Dramatic Art and then joined the Liverpool Repertory Company in 1933 before moving to London to appear at the Player's Theatre four years later. During the 1950's, Megs was busy acting on stage and had considerable critical success in two plays by Emlyn Williams, 'Light of Heart' (1940) and 'The Wind of Heaven' (1945). Against character, she also played the vicious, unstable Alma Winemiller in 'Summer and Smoke' (1951) by Tennessee Williams. In 1956, she was awarded the Clarence Derwent Award as Best Supporting Actress for her role as the stoic wife of a longshoreman harbouring incestuous feelings for his niece in 'A View from the Bridge' by Arthur Miller. The previous year, she had made her Broadway debut in Chekhov's 'A Day by the Sea' as a supportive governess to an alcoholic physician.
TV Credits
Gideon's Way
Character: Liz Rikker
Gideon's Way is a British television crime series made by ITC Entertainment in 1964/65, based on the novels by John Creasey. The series was made at Elstree in twin production with The Saint TV series. It starred Liverpudlian John Gregson in the title role as Commander George Gideon of Scotland Yard, with Alexander Davion as his assistant, Detective Chief Inspector David Keen, Reginald Jessup as Det. Superintendent LeMaitre, Ian Rossiter as Detective Chief Superintendent Joe Bell and Basil Dignam...
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Character: Gentlewoman
Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The longest-running primetime series in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning during 1951 and continuing into 2013. From 1954 onward, all of its productions have been shown in color, although color television video productions were extremely rare in 1954. Many television movies have been shown on the program since its debut, ...
The Befrienders
Character:
The Befrienders is a British television series produced by the BBC in 1972. The series dealt with the work of the Samaritans organisation, and the individual cases its staff came across. The leading cast members were Megs Jenkins and Michael Culver. The Befrienders was first aired as a single play as part of the Drama Playhouse strand in 1970, which was followed by one series of eleven episodes....
Thirty-Minute Theatre
Character: Miss Wellcome
An anthology of short plays shown on BBC Television between 1965 and 1973, used in part at least as a training ground for new writers, on account of its short length, and which therefore attracted many writers who later became well known....
Orson Welles' Great Mysteries
Character: Mrs. White
Orson Welles' Great Mysteries was a British television series The series was an anthology of different tales. Each episode was introduced by Orson Welles, who was the only regular actor in the series. In the opening titles, Welles would be shown in silhouette as he walked through a hallway towards the camera, smoking a cigar and outfitted in a broad-brimmed hat and a huge cloak, the outfit itself being a nod to his having provided the voice of The Shadow in the radio program. When he actually ...
Menace
Character:
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Mystery and Imagination
Character:
Mystery and Imagination is a British television anthology series of classic horror and supernatural dramas. Five series were broadcast from 1966 to 1970 by the ITV network and produced by ABC and Thames Television....
Oh No, It's Selwyn Froggitt!
Character: Mum
Oh No, It's Selwyn Froggitt! is an ITV sitcom that ran from 1974 to 1977 starring Bill Maynard as the council labourer, Scarsdale Working Men’s Club secretary, hapless handyman and all-round public nuisance Selwyn Froggitt. It was created by Roy Clarke, who wrote the pilot episode transmitted in 1974, though the series was mostly written by Alan Plater. It was made for the ITV network by Yorkshire Television With outdoor location filming of the series filmed in Skelmanthorpe, West Yorkshire and...
Father Brown
Character:
Father Brown was a Catholic priest who doubled as an amateur detective in order to solve mysteries....
The Human Jungle
Character: Dr. Murphy
The Human Jungle is a British TV series about a psychiatrist, made for ABC Television by the small production company Independent Artists for transmission on ITV. Starring Herbert Lom, it ran for two series which were first transmitted during 1963 and 1965....
Worzel Gummidge
Character: Mrs. Braithwaite
Worzel Gummidge is a children's comedy series, produced by Southern Television for ITV, based on the books by Barbara Euphan Todd. Starting in 1979, the programme starred Jon Pertwee in the title role and ran for four series in the UK until 1981. Channel 4 reprised the show in 1987 as Worzel Gummidge Down Under, which was set in New Zealand....
Young at Heart
Character: Ethel Collyer
The lives of married couple Albert and Ethel Collyer, after Albert, a pottery worker for 50 years, is forced into retirement aged 65....
Playhouse
Character: Eileen Gray
A one-hour anthology television series of one-off contemporary and classic dramas produced by the BBC....
Ben Travers Farces
Character: Mrs. Hewlett
Ben Travers' Farces is a British comedy television series which originally aired on BBC 1. It ran for a single series of seven episodes between 19 September and 31 October 1970. Each was a stand-alone adaptation of a farce by Ben Travers. The first six episodes were adaptations of Aldwych Farces beginning with Rookery Nook while the seventh She Follows Me About was based on his wartime play of the same title....
Movie Credits
Murder Most Foul
Character: Gladys Thomas
A murderer is brought to court and only Miss Marple is unconvinced of his innocence. Once again she begins her own investigation....
Bunny Lake Is Missing
Character: Sister
A woman reports that her young daughter is missing, but there seems to be no evidence that she ever existed....
Friends and Neighbours
Character: Lily Grimshaw
During the Cold War, a British family struggles to overcome cultural differences as they welcome two Russian social workers into their home for a visit....
Indiscreet
Character: Doris Banks
Anna Kalman is an accomplished actress who has given up hope of finding the man of her dreams. She is in the middle of taking off her face cream, while talking about this subject with her sister, when in walks Philip Adams. She loses her concentration for a moment as she realizes that this is the charming, smart, and handsome man she has been waiting for....
Asylum
Character: Nurse Higgins
A young psychiatrist applies for a job at a mental asylum and must pass a test by interviewing four patients. He must figure out which of the patients, is in fact, the doctor that he would be replacing if hired....
Green for Danger
Character: Nurse Woods
In the midst of Nazi air raids, a postman dies on the operating table at a rural hospital. But was the death accidental?...
Tiger Bay
Character: Mrs. Phillips
In Tiger Bay, the docklands of Cardiff, rough-and-tumble street urchin Gillie witnesses the brutal killing of a young woman at the hands of visiting Polish sailor Korchinsky. Instead of reporting the crime to the authorities, Gillie merely pockets a prize for herself — Korchinsky's shiny black revolver — and flees the scene. When Detective Graham discovers that Gillie has the murder weapon, the fiery young girl weaves a web of lies to throw him off course....
Trouble in Store
Character: Miss Gibson
Norman is working in the stock room of a large London department store, but he has ambition (doesn't he always !!), he wants to be a window dresser making up the public displays. Whilst trying to fulfill his ambition, he falls in love (doesn't he always !!), with one of the shopgirls. Together they discover a plot to rob the store and, somehow, manage to foil the robbers....
The Innocents
Character: Mrs. Grose
A young governess for two children becomes convinced that the house and grounds are haunted by ghosts and that the children are being possessed....
Oliver!
Character: Mrs. Bedwin
Musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, a classic tale of an orphan who runs away from the workhouse and joins up with a group of boys headed by the Artful Dodger and trained to be pickpockets by master thief Fagin....
Saraband for Dead Lovers
Character: Frau Busche
Sophie Dorothea is a young woman forced into a loveless marriage with Prince George Louis of Hanover. George Louis is later crowned King George I of England. Despairing of ever experiencing true love, the depressed queen finds life at court no solace. Sophie then falls for a dashing Swedish soldier of fortune, Count Konigsmark....
The Monkey's Paw
Character: Mrs. Alice Trelawne
A curio dealer sells a monkey's paw that can grant the possessor three wishes but warns that disaster will follow....
The History of Mr. Polly
Character: The Innkeeper
Quiet and somewhat direction-less, Alfred Polly uses the money he inherits from his father to marry and to set up shop in a small town. His heart is in neither of these enterprises and he eventually resorts to desperate measures to break free. His random wanderings in the countryside lead him to a new opportunity that just might be what he's been looking for all along....
Personal Affair
Character: Vi Vining
A schoolgirl disappears for three days after a frank talk with the wife of a Latin teacher she loves....
Painted Boats
Character: Barmaid
In this modest drama, set during World War II, two rival boat families battle it out for supremacy....
The Gay Dog
Character: Maggie Gay
Jim Gay loves his racing greyhound but, out of town, he finds a dog with a better chance to win. His friends bet on his dog while he bets against....
John and Julie
Character: Mrs. Pritchett
The adventures of two children who runaway to London to see the coronation of Queen Elizabeth....
Out of the Clouds
Character: Mrs Jones, the Landlady
A day following workers at an airport...
The Cruel Sea
Character: Tallow's Sister
At the start of World War II, Cmdr. Ericson is assigned to convoy escort HMS Compass Rose with inexperienced officers and men just out of training. The winter seas make life miserable enough, but the men must also harden themselves to rescuing survivors of U-Boat attacks, while seldom able to strike back. Traumatic events afloat and ashore create a warm bond between the skipper and his first officer...
A Boy, a Girl and a Bike
Character: Nan Ritchie
The lives of the members of a West Yorkshire cycling club are complicated by romantic entanglements and a series of bike thefts....
Jet Storm
Character: Rose Brock
Crisis in the air: A passenger aboard a commercial airplane flying from London to New York threatens to detonate a bomb over the Atlantic....
The Amorous Milkman
Character: Iris Peters
Davey's milk delivery job offers him scant excitement. But when a few of the lonely housewives, including the alluring Rita, want him to deliver a little more than just pints of milk, Davey launches into a series of sexcapades that quickly get out of hand. Soon, he finds himself engaged to two women, dodging a local gangster who doesn't appreciate his "service" and fighting false rape charges in court....
David Copperfield
Character: Clara Peggotty
A young man journeys from a difficult childhood to maturity, exploring social injustice, personal development, and the complexities of human relationships....
The Ten Year Plan
Character: Housewife
The British Government's ten year plan for providing prefabricated homes....
Poison Pen
Character: Barmaid
The inhabitants of a peaceful village begin receiving mysterious hate mail penned by someone with malicious thoughts....
Rough Shoot
Character: Mrs. Powell
An American military officer and his wife move to a cottage in what they think is the peaceful English countryside, only to discover the area is a hotbed of spies and secret agents....
The Passionate Stranger
Character: Millie
Judith Wynter is a happily married novelist whose romantic works are eagerly devoured by scores of female readers. When Carlo, a handsome young Italian chauffeur, arrives to work for Judith and her husband, a professor currently recovering from an attack of paralysis, he causes quite a flutter; when he then reads the manuscript of Judith's latest novel, he jumps to a rather unfortunate conclusion... and life in the Wynter household becomes very complicated indeed!...
Millions Like Us
Character: Gwen Price
When Celia Crowson is called up for war service, she hopes for a glamorous job in one of the services, but as a single girl, she is directed into a factory making aircraft parts. Here she meets other girls from all different walks of life and begins a relationship with a young airman....
Macbeth
Character: Gentlewoman
Hallmark Hall of Fame's second version of Shakespeare's classic play, with the same two stars and the same director as its first version, but a different supporting cast....
No Place for Jennifer
Character: Mrs. Marshall
A young girl goes through the trauma of her parent's divorce and seperate re-marriages....
29 Acacia Avenue
Character: Shirley
The Robinsons are two respectable middle class parents living with their children in a suburban house in Acacia Avenue. Preferring to holiday every year in Bognor, they are pressed into booking a cruise for their annual vacation and thereby leaving their teenage children free run of their house. As the youngsters enjoy their newfound freedom and discover the angst of teenage life, Mr. and Mrs. Robinson begin to have second thoughts about their cruise and decide to return home early....
The Turn of the Screw
Character: Sra. Grose
An English governess is hired to take care of two adorable orphans, who turn out to be not exactly what they seem to be....
The Man in the Sky
Character: Mrs. Snowden
The efforts of test pilot John Mitchell to make a better life for his wife Mary and their two children seem doomed to failure and he blames himself. At the Conway Aero-Manufacturing Company of Wolverhampton, Mitchell is to take the company's new rocket-propulsion transport plane up for tests, fully loaded and carrying two important passengers - Ministry official Crabtree and buyer's representative Ashmore. Mitchell learns from his boss, Reg Conway, that if Ashmore does not recommend the plane, t...
Secret People
Character: Penny
This tale of intrigue finds Valentina Cortese involved in an assassination plot. She helps the police apprehend the conspirators after an innocent bystander is accidentally killed....
The Green Helmet
Character: Kitty Launder
After suffering a near fatal accident in his last race over the hill, top British race car driver Greg Rafferty, is about to call it quits when he gets a telegram from racing car tire manufacture Joseph Bartell. He wants Greg to test out his latest invention, a heat resistant car tire, in actual racing competition....
Heart to Heart
Character: Lady Johnson
A television interviewer is determined to get a coup on a dodgy cabinet minister....
Cop-Out
Character: Mrs. Christoforides
John Sawyer, once an eminent barrister, has slid into a life of cynicism and drunkenness since his wife left him. When his daughter's boyfriend is accused of murder, Sawyer decides to try to pull himself together and defend him in court....
Life for Ruth
Character: Mrs Gordon
John Harris finds himself ostracized and placed on trial for allowing his daughter Ruth to die. His religious beliefs forbade him to give consent for a blood transfusion that would have saved her life. Doctor Brown is determined to seek justice for what he sees as the needless death of a young girl....
The Barber of Stamford Hill
Character:
Mr. Figg, the barber, is fond of telling customers about his family, but he hasn’t really got one – he’s a bachelor quite alone in the world. But that may change....
The Story of Esther Costello
Character: Nurse Evans
Eighteen-year-old Esther has been deaf and blind since the accident which killed her mother. Wealthy Margaret Landi, a native of Esther's village in Ireland, is talked into helping to educate and possibly heal Esther. Margaret grows to love Esther as a daughter, but finds Esther's innocence threatened by sleazy promoters and her own sleazy ex-husband. Radiant performance by Heather Sears. Based on a book that nearly had Helen Keller's co-workers suing for libel due to perceived parallels between...
A Cup O' Tea An' A Slice O' Cake - Worzel Gummidge Christmas Special
Character: Mrs Braithwaite
Christmas is coming to Ten Acre Field and Worzel Gummidge (Jon Pertwee) is determined to enjoy it in style. He goes searching for Aunt Sally (Una Stubbs), hoping to invite her to the Scarecrow Ball, but before he can find her he runs into his old friend Saucy Nancy (Barbara Windsor), herself heading for a spell in panto. Then, before he gets much further, our multi-headed hero gets sidetracked again when he runs into angry Scots scarecrow Bogle McNeep (Billy Connolly) and his anti-Christmas brig...
The Lamp Still Burns
Character: Nurse (uncredited)
A tribute to the important work of female nurses during World War II....
The Smashing Bird I Used to Know
Character: Matron
A traumatized and troubled teenager is sent to an all-girls detention home where she strikes up an unlikely friendship with a fellow inmate....
The Daedalus Equations
Character: Eileen Gray
Hans Daedalus has defected from East Germany to the West. Is it possible that his opacity equations live on after his death?...
White Corridors
Character: Mrs. Briggs
White Corridors was based on Yeoman Hospital, a novel by Helen Ashton. Told episodically, the story concentrates on the day-to-day activities in a busy hospital, where research pathologist Neil Marriner (James Donald) conducts experiments in the hopes of curing diseases impervious to penicillin. Marriner is aided in this endeavor by lady surgeon Dr. Sophie Dean (Googie Withers), who happens to be in love with him. After a tragedy occurs for which Marriner holds himself responsible, the film buil...
Ivanhoe
Character: Servant to Isaac
Sir Walter Scott's classic story of the chivalrous Ivanhoe who joins with Robin of Locksley in the fight against Prince John and for the return of King Richard the Lionheart....
The Brothers
Character: Angustina
An orphan wreaks havoc on a remote Scottish island when she causes an age-old feud to be reignited....
The Monkey's Paw
Character: Mrs. White
An old army sergeant, back in England after long service in India, shows some old friends a strange possession he's acquired - a monkey's paw which can make wishes come true....