Margaret John

A BAFTA-winning Welsh actress, Margaret John worked in stage, radio, and television for more than fifty years. Born in Swansea, she trained at London's Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and graduated in 1950. Her earliest public performances were small parts at Swansea's Grand Theatre, and her first television appearance came in a 1956 Welsh-language drama. She had roles in series including Coronation Street, Z-Cars, Doctor Who, Emmerdale, and Casualty, and played Marian Owen, a doctors' receptionist, during a long stint on Crossroads. For Radio 4, her role as Mrs Stone in King Street Junior ran from 1985 to 1998. Later comic roles brought her recognition, including Doris O'Neill for Gavin & Stacey and Elsie Mam Hepplewhite for High Hopes. In 2009 she received a BAFTA Cymru Lifetime Achievement Award. She also appeared in the film A Bit of Tom Jones? and the short Cow, and her final screen role was Old Nan in Game of Thrones.