Jill Townsend
Townsend in 1967
Born (1945-01-25) January 25, 1945
Santa Monica, California, U.S.
OccupationActress
Years active1967–1985
Spouse(s)Tom Sutton
(m. 1968; div. 1969)
​
​
(m. 1971; div. 1977)​

Bob Sorel
(m. 1993)
Children1

Jill Townsend (born January 25, 1945) is an Anglo-American actress best known for her roles as Elizabeth Chynoweth in Poldark and Dulcey Coopersmith in the 1967 western television series Cimarron Strip.

Life and career

Townsend was born in Santa Monica, California. Her father, Robert Townsend, a former head of Avis, wrote the bestseller Up the Organization.[1] Her mother was the daughter of Frank Tours, a famous English born musician and conductor whose credits include an association with Irving Berlin.

Jill, who was a debutante, graduated in 1963 from The Master's School in Dobbs Ferry, New York. At that time, she moved to England where she had been accepted into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

After co-starring with Nicol Williamson in John Osborne's 1965 London stageplay Inadmissible Evidence,[2] she became engaged to Williamson and lived with him for 21 months. However, due to his volatile personality she temporarily split with him at which time she married actor Tom Sutton (68-69). After that brief marriage she reunited with Williamson. They were married from 1971 to 1977. Their son Luke Williamson was born in 1973,[3] but in 1976 she and Nicol Williamson parted temporarily[4] after Townsend began a relationship with Alan Price, her co-star in Alfie Darling.[5]

Townsend ended her acting career in 1985. She studied at the London School of Journalism and worked as a journalist for the Daily Mail, contributing a page for the financial section. She moved back to the United States in 1989.

She worked as a council trainer and facilitator at Crossroads School, Santa Monica, California and several other schools from 1989 to 1995.

She was on the Board of Directors at Leadership Directories, Inc. starting in 1993, but is no longer serving.

She is currently married to Bob Sorel whom she wed in 1993.[6]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1967 The Spirit Is Willing Jenny Pruitt / Priscilla Weems / Carol Weems
1972 Sitting Target Maureen
1975 Alfie Darling Abby Summers
1976 The Seven-Per-Cent Solution Mrs. Holmes
1980 The Awakening Anne Corbeck

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1966 Hawk Belinda "The Living End of Sisterbaby"
1967 The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. Sherilee "The Drublegratz Affair"
1967–68 Cimarron Strip Dulcey Coopersmith Main role
1969 The Wild Wild West Sylvia Nolan "The Night of the Sabatini Death"
1969 Bonanza Abigail Hought "Another Windmill to Go"
1969 The Name of the Game Jackie Buchanan "The Perfect Image"
1969 The Virginian Roseanna "Black Jade"
1970 Ironside Betty "Eden Is the Place We Leave"
1970 Family Affair Anne Williams "Angel in the Family"
1972 The Golden Bowl Maggie Verver TV miniseries
1972 The Gangster Show: The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui Mrs. Dulfeet TV film
1973 The Protectors Monica Davies "Wam: Parts 1 & 2"
1975 The Sweeney Jenny Peters "Ringer"
1975–1977 Poldark Elizabeth Main role
1977 Space: 1999 Sahala "Dorzak"
1985 Scarecrow and Mrs. King "Ship of Spies"

References

  1. ↑ "Robert Townsend, 77, Dies - Wrote 'Up the Organization' - NYTimes.com". The New York Times. January 14, 1998. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Jill Townsend". Playbill.
  3. ↑ Hauptfuhrer, Fred (April 5, 1976). "Who's Afraid of Nicol Williamson? Everyone but His Spouse, Jill Townsend". People. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  4. ↑ New York magazine, June 14, 1976, p. 61, "No Split Seen for Williamsons"
  5. ↑ Winston Graham, Memoirs of a Private Man. (Pan Macmillan, 2003). Accessed 7 January 2015
  6. ↑ "Jill Townsend-Sorel". councilofgrandmothers-ojai.org. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved January 18, 2015.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.