Zena Walker

Zena Walker
Zena Walker in The Marked One (1963)
Born	Zena Cecilia Walker (1934-03-07)7 March 1934 Birmingham, England
Died	24 August 2003(2003-08-24) (aged 69) Brockenhurst, Hampshire, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1950–2003
Spouses	Robert Urquhart ​ (divorced)​ Julian Holloway ​ ​ (m. 1971, divorced)​ John French (?–2003)
Children	2

Zena Cecilia Walker (7 March 1934 – 24 August 2003) was an English actress in film, theatre and television.

Biography

Walker was born in the Selly Oak district of Birmingham, the daughter of George Walker, a grocer, and his wife Elizabeth Louise (née Hammond). She attended St. Martin's School in Solihull, and then went on to train at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

She appeared twice in the TV series The Adventures of Robin Hood, the second time in the 1958 episode "Women's War".

In 1960, she starred in a TV adaptation of A. J. Cronin's novel The Citadel.

Her most memorable performance is considered that of a mother in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (1969), a black comedy by Peter Nichols, adapted from his stage play, about a disabled child. For her performance in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg on Broadway, Walker won the 1968 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play.

She was a memorable Ophelia in Hamlet (opposite Paul Scofield in the title role), and appeared as Her Ladyship in the film version of Ronald Harwood's play The Dresser (1983). Between 1970 and 1972, she appeared in the television series Man at the Top as Susan Lampton. She had a small role in the first series of New Tricks, playing Mrs Dubrovsky.

Walker married three times. Her first two husbands were actors: Robert Urquhart, with whom she had two children, and later Julian Holloway. Her third husband was John French, a theatrical agent, who survived her. She died in 2003 in Brockenhurst, Hampshire, aged 69, from undisclosed causes. Her last role was as the messenger in Oedipus.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1960	Danger Tomorrow	Ginny
1960	Snowball	Mary Donovan
1961	The Hellions	Julie Hargis
1962	Emergency	Joan Bell
1962	The Traitors	Annette Lane
1963	Sammy Going South	Aunt Jane
1963	Girl in the Headlines	Mildred Birkett
1963	The Marked One	Kay Mason
1964	Troubled Waters	Janet Carswell
1964	Daylight Robbery
1965	Change Partners	Anna Arkwright	Edgar Wallace Mysteries
1967	The Prisoner	Janet Portland	Episode: "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling"
1968	Journey to the Unknown	Carrie Clark	Episode: "Girl of My Dreams"
1969	The Last Shot You Hear	Eileen Forbes
1970	The Reckoning	Hilda Greening
1970	Callan	Lady Lewis	Episode: "Suddenly-At Home"
1970	Cromwell	Mrs. Cromwell
1971	One of Those Things	Mrs. Vinther
1971	The Chairman's Wife	Margaret Howe	Short
1976	The Likely Lads	Laura Windsor
1983	The Dresser	Her Ladyship
1993	Poirot	Vanda Chevenix	Episode: "Dead Man's Mirror"

External links

• Zena Walker at IMDb