Eleanor Bron
Encyclopedia
Eleanor Bron is an English
stage, film and television actress and author
.
, Middlesex
, to a Jewish family of Eastern European origin. Before her birth, her father Sidney had legally shortened the surname from Bronstein to Bron as an effort to enhance his newly-founded commercial enterprise, Bron's Orchestral Service. Her brother Gerry explained the change simply: "Bronstein's Orchestral Service was a bit of a mouthful."
She attended North London Collegiate School
and Newnham College, Cambridge
: the latter she would later characterize as "three years of unparalleled pampering and privilege."
Bron was the longtime partner of noted architect
Cedric Price
until his death in 2003; they had no children. Her elder brother is record producer
Gerry Bron
.
also appeared. The addition of a female performer to the Footlights was a departure, having been until that point all-male, with female characters portrayed in drag.
film, Help!
(her given name inspired Paul McCartney
while composing "Eleanor Rigby
"). Other roles included the doctor who grounds the Lothario played by Michael Caine
in Alfie, the unattainable Margaret Spencer in Peter Cook
and Dudley Moore
's film Bedazzled
, and Hermione Roddice in Ken Russell
's Women in Love
.
She appeared in the film Two for the Road alongside Albert Finney
, Audrey Hepburn
and William Daniels
. More recently she has appeared in the film adaptations of A Little Princess
, The House of Mirth
, Black Beauty
and in Wimbledon
.
's Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life
, My Father Knew Lloyd George and BBC-3
, where she performed in sketches with John Fortune
; they had already worked together at Peter Cook
's Establishment Club
. Later, her work included such programmes as Where Was Spring?
(1969) and After That, This (1975) – the one with the "egg" timer in the opening credits.
She collaborated with novelist and playwright Michael Frayn
on the BBC
programmes Beyond a Joke (1972) and Making Faces (1975).)
She appeared in a 1982 episode ("Equal Opportunities") of the BBC series Yes Minister
, playing a senior civil servant in Jim Hacker's Department. Hacker plans to promote her — ostensibly to strike a blow for women's rights — only to be sorely disappointed.
Bron appeared in a brief scene in the BBC science fiction
television series Doctor Who
serial City of Death
(1979) alongside John Cleese
as art critics in Denise Rene
's art gallery in Paris
. The pair are admiring the TARDIS
, thinking it to be a piece of art, when the Doctor
(Tom Baker
), Romana
(Lalla Ward
) and Duggan (Tom Chadbon
) rush into it and it dematerialises. Bron's character, believing this to be part of the work, states that it is "Exquisite, absolutely exquisite!" Later, she had a more substantial guest role in another Doctor Who television serial, Revelation of the Daleks
(1985). Bron also appeared in a Doctor Who radio drama
, Loups-Garoux
(2001), in which she played the wealthy heiress Ileana de Santos.
Bron played an art critic again in 1990, appearing on the BBC sketch comedy show French and Saunders
in a parody of an Andy Warhol
documentary. Later she made frequent appearances on Jennifer Saunders
' television series Absolutely Fabulous
(1992–1996). Bron played, via flashback, the recurring character of Patsy's mother, an exuberantly horrible woman who "scattered bastard babies across Europe like a garden sprinkler". After giving birth, she would always say "Now take it away! And bring me another lover."
musical The Card
. Throughout the 1980s she appeared in Amnesty International
's Secret Policeman's Balls
live benefit shows, working alongside Peter Cook
and Rowan Atkinson
. In 2005 she appeared in the Liverpool Empire Theatre
in the musical play Twopence To Cross The Mersey. She appeared in the role of an abbess in Howard Brenton
's play In Extremis
, staged in Shakespeare's Globe
in 2007. She also appeared in the dramatized version of Pedro Almodovar
's film All About My Mother
which opened at the Old Vic
theatre in the late summer of 2007.
Bron also gave the premiere performance of The Yellow Cake Revue
(1980), a series of pieces for voice and piano written by Peter Maxwell Davies
in protest against uranium
mining in the Orkney Islands
.
In 2001 and 2002 she has appeared in the BBC
radio comedy sketch show, The Right Time, along with Graeme Garden
, Paula Wilcox
, Clive Swift
and Neil Innes
. Another notable radio appearance was in The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
in the 2002 episode "The Madness of Colonel Warburton". In 2001 she played the great-grandmother in the seven-part ITV series Gypsy Girl
, based on books by Elizabeth Arnold
.
In 2006 she narrated the BBC Radio 4
adaptation
of the Craig Brown
book 1966 and All That
. Other work includes a recorded tour of Sir John Soane's Museum in London, England.
In April 2010, Bron, along with Ian McKellen
and Brian Cox, appeared in a series of TV advertisements to support Age UK, the charity recently formed from the merger of Age Concern
and Help the Aged
. All three actors gave their time free of charge.
bicycle; and Cedric Price Retriever, an inventory of the contents of the bookshelves of her partner, the architect Cedric Price
.
song "Tom Courtenay", in the line "dreaming 'bout Eleanor Bron, in my room with the curtains drawn...".
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
stage, film and television actress and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
.
Early life and family
Bron was born in 1938 in StanmoreStanmore
Stanmore is a suburban area of the London Borough of Harrow, in northwest London. It is situated northwest of Charing Cross. The area is home to Stanmore Hill, one of the highest points of London, high.-Toponymy:...
, Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
, to a Jewish family of Eastern European origin. Before her birth, her father Sidney had legally shortened the surname from Bronstein to Bron as an effort to enhance his newly-founded commercial enterprise, Bron's Orchestral Service. Her brother Gerry explained the change simply: "Bronstein's Orchestral Service was a bit of a mouthful."
She attended North London Collegiate School
North London Collegiate School
North London Collegiate School is an independent day school for girls founded in 1850 in Camden Town, and now in the London Borough of Harrow.The Good Schools Guide called the school an "Academically stunning outer London school in a glorious setting which, in 2003, demonstrated its refusal to rest...
and Newnham College, Cambridge
Newnham College, Cambridge
Newnham College is a women-only constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1871 by Henry Sidgwick, and was the second Cambridge college to admit women after Girton College...
: the latter she would later characterize as "three years of unparalleled pampering and privilege."
Bron was the longtime partner of noted architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Cedric Price
Cedric Price
Cedric Price was an English architect and influential teacher and writer on architecture.The son of an architect, Price was born in Stone, Staffordshire and studied architecture at Cambridge University Cedric Price (11 September 1934 – 10 August 2003) was an English architect and influential...
until his death in 2003; they had no children. Her elder brother is record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Gerry Bron
Gerry Bron
Gerald L. Bron is an English record producer and band manager. In his early days, he managed the Bonzo Dog Band.Bron is the brother of actress Eleanor Bron. His family is Jewish. He is also of Eastern European origin...
.
Early work
Bron began her career in the Cambridge Footlights revue of 1959, entitled The Last Laugh, in which Peter CookPeter Cook
Peter Edward Cook was an English satirist, writer and comedian. An extremely influential figure in modern British comedy, he is regarded as the leading light of the British satire boom of the 1960s. He has been described by Stephen Fry as "the funniest man who ever drew breath," although Cook's...
also appeared. The addition of a female performer to the Footlights was a departure, having been until that point all-male, with female characters portrayed in drag.
Film appearances
Her film appearances include the role of Ahme in the BeatlesThe Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
film, Help!
Help! (film)
Help! is a 1965 film directed by Richard Lester, starring The Beatles—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr—and featuring Leo McKern, Eleanor Bron, Victor Spinetti, John Bluthal, Roy Kinnear and Patrick Cargill. Help! was the second feature film made by the Beatles and is a...
(her given name inspired Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
while composing "Eleanor Rigby
Eleanor Rigby
"Eleanor Rigby" is a song by The Beatles, simultaneously released on the 1966 album Revolver and on a 45 rpm single. The song was written primarily by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney...
"). Other roles included the doctor who grounds the Lothario played by Michael Caine
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
in Alfie, the unattainable Margaret Spencer in Peter Cook
Peter Cook
Peter Edward Cook was an English satirist, writer and comedian. An extremely influential figure in modern British comedy, he is regarded as the leading light of the British satire boom of the 1960s. He has been described by Stephen Fry as "the funniest man who ever drew breath," although Cook's...
and Dudley Moore
Dudley Moore
Dudley Stuart John Moore, CBE was an English actor, comedian, composer and musician.Moore first came to prominence as one of the four writer-performers in the ground-breaking comedy revue Beyond the Fringe in the early 1960s, and then became famous as half of the highly popular television...
's film Bedazzled
Bedazzled (1967 film)
Bedazzled is a 1967 British comedy film directed and produced by Stanley Donen. It was written by and stars Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. It is a comic retelling of the Faust legend, set in the Swinging London of the 1960s...
, and Hermione Roddice in Ken Russell
Ken Russell
Henry Kenneth Alfred "Ken" Russell was an English film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. He attracted criticism as being obsessed with sexuality and the church...
's Women in Love
Women in Love (film)
Women in Love is a 1969 British film directed by Ken Russell. It stars Alan Bates , Oliver Reed, Glenda Jackson and Jennie Linden. The film was adapted by Larry Kramer from the novel of the same name by D. H. Lawrence....
.
She appeared in the film Two for the Road alongside Albert Finney
Albert Finney
Albert Finney is an English actor. He achieved prominence in films in the early 1960s, and has maintained a successful career in theatre, film and television....
, Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn was a British actress and humanitarian. Although modest about her acting ability, Hepburn remains one of the world's most famous actresses of all time, remembered as a film and fashion icon of the twentieth century...
and William Daniels
William Daniels
William David Daniels is an American actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild . He is known for his performance as Dustin Hoffman's father in The Graduate , as John Adams in 1776, as Carter Nash in Captain Nice, as Mr. George Feeny in ABC's Boy Meets World, as the voice of KITT in...
. More recently she has appeared in the film adaptations of A Little Princess
A Little Princess
A Little Princess is a 1905 children's novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It is a revised and expanded version of Burnett's 1888 serialized novel entitled Sara Crewe: or, What Happened at Miss Minchin's Boarding School, which was published in St. Nicholas Magazine.According to Burnett, she...
, The House of Mirth
The House of Mirth
The House of Mirth , is a novel by Edith Wharton. First published in 1905, the novel is Wharton's first important work of fiction, sold 140,000 copies between October and the end of December, and added to Wharton's existing fortune....
, Black Beauty
Black Beauty
Black Beauty is an 1877 novel by English author Anna Sewell. It was composed in the last years of her life, during which she remained in her house as an invalid. The novel became an immediate bestseller, with Sewell dying just five months after its publication, long enough to see her first and only...
and in Wimbledon
Wimbledon (film)
Wimbledon is a 2004 romantic comedy film directed by Richard Loncraine. The film centers on a washed-up tennis pro named Peter Colt and an up-and-coming tennis star named Lizzie Bradbury during the Wimbledon Championships.The film was dedicated to Mark McCormack, who died on 16 May 2003 after...
.
Television work
Eleanor Bron's earliest work for television included appearances on David FrostDavid Frost
Sir David Frost is a British broadcaster.David Frost may also refer to:*David Frost , South African golfer*David Frost , classical record producer*David Frost *Dave Frost, baseball pitcher...
's Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life
Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life
Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life is a BBC-TV satire programme produced by Ned Sherrin, which aired during the winter of 1964-1965, in an attempt to continue and improve on the successful formula of his That Was The Week That Was , which had been taken off by the BBC because of the coming...
, My Father Knew Lloyd George and BBC-3
BBC-3 (TV series)
BBC-3 was a BBC television programme, devised and produced by Ned Sherrin and hosted by Robert Robinson, which aired for twenty-four hour-long editions during the winter of 1965-1966....
, where she performed in sketches with John Fortune
John Fortune
John Fortune is a British satirist, comedian writer and actor, best known for his work with John Bird and Rory Bremner on the TV series Bremner, Bird and Fortune. He was educated at Bristol Cathedral School and King's College, Cambridge, where he was to meet and form a lasting friendship with John...
; they had already worked together at Peter Cook
Peter Cook
Peter Edward Cook was an English satirist, writer and comedian. An extremely influential figure in modern British comedy, he is regarded as the leading light of the British satire boom of the 1960s. He has been described by Stephen Fry as "the funniest man who ever drew breath," although Cook's...
's Establishment Club
The Establishment (club)
The Establishment was a London nightclub which opened in October 1961, at 18 Greek Street, Soho and was famous in retrospect for satire although actually more notable at the time for jazz and other events. It was founded by Peter Cook and Nicholas Luard, both of whom were also important in the...
. Later, her work included such programmes as Where Was Spring?
Where Was Spring?
Where Was Spring? is a British television sketch comedy programme, which was first aired by the BBC in 1969-70.The cast consisted of Eleanor Bron and John Fortune, two lesser known stalwarts of theBritish Satire scene in the 1960s...
(1969) and After That, This (1975) – the one with the "egg" timer in the opening credits.
She collaborated with novelist and playwright Michael Frayn
Michael Frayn
Michael J. Frayn is an English playwright and novelist. He is best known as the author of the farce Noises Off and the dramas Copenhagen and Democracy...
on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
programmes Beyond a Joke (1972) and Making Faces (1975).)
She appeared in a 1982 episode ("Equal Opportunities") of the BBC series Yes Minister
Yes Minister
Yes Minister is a satirical British sitcom written by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn that was first transmitted by BBC Television between 1980–1982 and 1984, split over three seven-episode series. The sequel, Yes, Prime Minister, ran from 1986 to 1988. In total there were 38 episodes—of which all but...
, playing a senior civil servant in Jim Hacker's Department. Hacker plans to promote her — ostensibly to strike a blow for women's rights — only to be sorely disappointed.
Bron appeared in a brief scene in the BBC science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
television series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
serial City of Death
City of Death
-Pre-production:Writer David Fisher had contributed two scripts to Doctor Whos sixteenth season – The Stones of Blood and The Androids of Tara – and was asked by producer Graham Williams for further story ideas...
(1979) alongside John Cleese
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
as art critics in Denise Rene
Denise René
Denise René is a French gallerist.In 1955 she organized the exhibition Le Mouvement, which helped to popularize kinetic art.In 2001, the Centre Georges Pompidou paid homage to her with an exhibition titled "Denise René, une galerie dans l'aventure de l'art abstrait. 1944-1978".- External links :*...
's art gallery in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. The pair are admiring the TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
, thinking it to be a piece of art, when the Doctor
Doctor (Doctor Who)
The Doctor is the central character in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who, and has also featured in two cinema feature films, a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips connected to the series....
(Tom Baker
Tom Baker
Thomas Stewart "Tom" Baker is a British actor. He is best known for playing the fourth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction television series Doctor Who, a role he played from 1974 to 1981.-Early life:...
), Romana
Romana
Romana, short for Romanadvoratrelundar, is a fictional character in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
(Lalla Ward
Lalla Ward
Sarah Ward known as Lalla Ward, is an English actor, author and illustrator. As an actor, she is known for playing the part of Romana in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. She is married to evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins.-Early career:Ward's stage name, "Lalla", comes...
) and Duggan (Tom Chadbon
Tom Chadbon
Tom Chadbon is an English actor, who has spent the larger part of his career appearing on British television. While principally a character actor, he has occasionally had leading or recurring roles....
) rush into it and it dematerialises. Bron's character, believing this to be part of the work, states that it is "Exquisite, absolutely exquisite!" Later, she had a more substantial guest role in another Doctor Who television serial, Revelation of the Daleks
Revelation of the Daleks
Revelation of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in two weekly parts on 23 March and 30 March 1985...
(1985). Bron also appeared in a Doctor Who radio drama
Radio drama
Radio drama is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance, broadcast on radio or published on audio media, such as tape or CD. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine the characters and story...
, Loups-Garoux
Loups-Garoux
Loups-Garoux is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Plot:...
(2001), in which she played the wealthy heiress Ileana de Santos.
Bron played an art critic again in 1990, appearing on the BBC sketch comedy show French and Saunders
French and Saunders
French and Saunders is a British sketch comedy television show written by and starring comic duo Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. It is also the name by which the performers are known on the occasions when they appear elsewhere as a double act....
in a parody of an Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
documentary. Later she made frequent appearances on Jennifer Saunders
Jennifer Saunders
Jennifer Jane Saunders is an English comedienne, screenwriter, singer and actress. She has won two BAFTAs, an International Emmy Award, a British Comedy Award, a Rose d'Or Light Entertainment Festival Award, two Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards, and a Peoples Choice Award.She first came into...
' television series Absolutely Fabulous
Absolutely Fabulous
Absolutely Fabulous, also known as Ab Fab, is a British sitcom created by Jennifer Saunders, based on an original idea by her and Dawn French, and written by Saunders, who plays the leading character. It also stars Joanna Lumley and Julia Sawalha, along with June Whitfield and Jane Horrocks...
(1992–1996). Bron played, via flashback, the recurring character of Patsy's mother, an exuberantly horrible woman who "scattered bastard babies across Europe like a garden sprinkler". After giving birth, she would always say "Now take it away! And bring me another lover."
Stage appearances
In 1975 she appeared in the West EndWest End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
musical The Card
The Card (musical)
The Card is a musical with a book by Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall and music and lyrics by Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent.Based on Arnold Bennett's 1911 comedic novel of the same name, it chronicles the rise of Denry Machin from washerwoman's son to Mayor of Bursley through luck, guile, initiative,...
. Throughout the 1980s she appeared in Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
's Secret Policeman's Balls
The Secret Policeman's Balls
The Secret Policeman's Balls is the collective name informally used to describe the long-running series of benefit shows staged in England to raise funds for the human rights organisation Amnesty International...
live benefit shows, working alongside Peter Cook
Peter Cook
Peter Edward Cook was an English satirist, writer and comedian. An extremely influential figure in modern British comedy, he is regarded as the leading light of the British satire boom of the 1960s. He has been described by Stephen Fry as "the funniest man who ever drew breath," although Cook's...
and Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Sebastian Atkinson is a British actor, comedian, and screenwriter. He is most famous for his work on the satirical sketch comedy show Not The Nine O'Clock News, and the sitcoms Blackadder, Mr. Bean and The Thin Blue Line...
. In 2005 she appeared in the Liverpool Empire Theatre
Liverpool Empire Theatre
Liverpool Empire Theatre is located on the corner of Lime Street and London Road in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. The theatre is the second to be built on the site, and was opened in 1925. It has the largest two-tier auditorium in Britain and can seat 2,350 people...
in the musical play Twopence To Cross The Mersey. She appeared in the role of an abbess in Howard Brenton
Howard Brenton
-Early years:Brenton was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, son of Methodist minister Donald Henry Brenton and his wife Rose Lilian . He was educated at Chichester High School For Boys and read English Literature at St Catharine's College, Cambridge. In 1964 he was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal...
's play In Extremis
In Extremis (play)
In Extremis: The Story of Abelard & Heloise is a play by Howard Brenton on the story of Heloise and Abelard, which premiered at the Globe Theatre on 27 August 2006 with a 15 performance run. The play was directed by John Dove with design by Michael Taylor, and music by William Lyons...
, staged in Shakespeare's Globe
Shakespeare's Globe
Shakespeare's Globe is a reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse in the London Borough of Southwark, located on the south bank of the River Thames, but destroyed by fire in 1613, rebuilt 1614 then demolished in 1644. The modern reconstruction is an academic best guess, based...
in 2007. She also appeared in the dramatized version of Pedro Almodovar
Pedro Almodóvar
Pedro Almodóvar Caballero is a Spanish film director, screenwriter and producer.Almodóvar is arguably the most successful and internationally known Spanish filmmaker of his generation. His films, marked by complex narratives, employ the codes of melodrama and use elements of pop culture, popular...
's film All About My Mother
All About My Mother
All About My Mother is a 1999 Spanish drama film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. The film deals with complex issues such as AIDS, transvestitism, faith, and existentialism....
which opened at the Old Vic
Old Vic
The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...
theatre in the late summer of 2007.
Bron also gave the premiere performance of The Yellow Cake Revue
The Yellow Cake Revue
The Yellow Cake Revue is a musical composition for a speaker and pianist by the English composer Peter Maxwell Davies.-Background:...
(1980), a series of pieces for voice and piano written by Peter Maxwell Davies
Peter Maxwell Davies
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, CBE is an English composer and conductor and is currently Master of the Queen's Music.-Biography:...
in protest against uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
mining in the Orkney Islands
Orkney Islands
Orkney also known as the Orkney Islands , is an archipelago in northern Scotland, situated north of the coast of Caithness...
.
Recent work
In 1985, Bron was selected for her authoritative tone to become "the voice of BT" and can still be heard on various error messages such as "Please hang up and try again" and "The number you have dialled has not been recognised".In 2001 and 2002 she has appeared in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
radio comedy sketch show, The Right Time, along with Graeme Garden
Graeme Garden
David Graeme Garden OBE is a Scottish author, actor, comedian, artist and television presenter, who first became known as a member of The Goodies.-Early life and beginnings in comedy:...
, Paula Wilcox
Paula Wilcox
Paula Wilcox is an English actress. She is best known for her role as Chrissy in the British comedy Man About the House .-Early sitcom fame:...
, Clive Swift
Clive Swift
Clive Walter Swift is an English character comedy actor and songwriter. He is best known for his role as character Richard Bucket in the British television series Keeping Up Appearances. He is less known for his role as character Roy in the British television series The Old Guys...
and Neil Innes
Neil Innes
Neil James Innes is an English writer and performer of comic songs, best known for his collaborative work with Monty Python, and for playing in the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and later The Rutles.-Personal life:...
. Another notable radio appearance was in The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
This article is about the BBC Radio 4 series transmitted from 2002 to 2010. There is also a U.S. produced series, which began in 1998, that transmits under the same title....
in the 2002 episode "The Madness of Colonel Warburton". In 2001 she played the great-grandmother in the seven-part ITV series Gypsy Girl
Gypsy Girl
Gypsy Girl was a TV series that ran on CITV in early 2001, based on the books The Parsley Parcel and Gold and Silver Water by Elizabeth Arnold. It centred around a gypsy girl and her family, who lived in a typical gypsy caravan on the corner of a typical suburban street. Her great-grandmother was...
, based on books by Elizabeth Arnold
Elizabeth Arnold (children's writer)
-Folklore:Having worked for many years as a school science technician and a quality control manager, Elizabeth Arnold came to write The Parsley Parcel, her first novel, out of a love of folklore, and originally with adults in mind rather than children...
.
In 2006 she narrated the BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
adaptation
1966 and All That (radio)
1966 and All That is a radio adaptation of the book of the same name in four episodes, broadcast between 8 September and 29 September 2006. The series was narrated by Eleanor Bron, Joss Ackland, Ewan Bailey and Margaret Cabourn-Smith. In 2007, it won a Gold Sony Radio Academy Award...
of the Craig Brown
Craig Brown (satirist)
Craig Edward Moncrieff Brown is a British critic and satirist from England, probably best known for his work in Private Eye.-Biography:...
book 1966 and All That
1966 and All That (book)
1966 and All That is a 2005 book by British satirist Craig Brown, in the same style as 1066 and All That. The book is a humorous look at British history since 1920. It has been adapted for radio, and there is an audio book version of the work which is narrated by Craig Brown, Hugh Massingberd...
. Other work includes a recorded tour of Sir John Soane's Museum in London, England.
In April 2010, Bron, along with Ian McKellen
Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
and Brian Cox, appeared in a series of TV advertisements to support Age UK, the charity recently formed from the merger of Age Concern
Age Concern
Age Concern was the banner title used by a number of charitable organisations specifically concerned with the needs and interests of all older people based chiefly in the four countries of the United Kingdom....
and Help the Aged
Help the Aged
Help the Aged was a United Kingdom based, international charity, founded in 1961 by Cecil Jackson-Cole, to free disadvantaged older people from poverty, isolation and neglect. It merged with Age Concern in 2009 to form Age UK.-Organisation and campaigns:...
. All three actors gave their time free of charge.
Writer
She is the author of several books, including Life and Other Punctures, an account of bicycling in France and Holland on an early MoultonMoulton Bicycle
Moulton is an English bicycle manufacturer. The company was founded in 1962 by Dr Alex Moulton, who designed the "Hydrolastic" and rubber cone suspension systems for the BMC Mini motorcar, and the later "Hydragas" system used by its successor companies....
bicycle; and Cedric Price Retriever, an inventory of the contents of the bookshelves of her partner, the architect Cedric Price
Cedric Price
Cedric Price was an English architect and influential teacher and writer on architecture.The son of an architect, Price was born in Stone, Staffordshire and studied architecture at Cambridge University Cedric Price (11 September 1934 – 10 August 2003) was an English architect and influential...
.
Cultural influences
She is mentioned in the Yo La TengoYo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo, sometimes abbreviated as YLT, is an American alternative rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan , Georgia Hubley , and James McNew .Despite achieving limited mainstream success, Yo La Tengo has been called "the quintessential...
song "Tom Courtenay", in the line "dreaming 'bout Eleanor Bron, in my room with the curtains drawn...".