Ysanne Churchman starred and narrated on British radio, television and film for over 50 years, from 1938 to 1993.
10 Facts About Ysanne Churchman
1.
2.
Ysanne Churchman was born in Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire, to Andrew Churchman and Gladys Dale, stage and radio performers in London.
3.
In 1938, Ysanne Churchman appeared on both BBC Radio Children's Hour and in a BBC Television play, Gallows Glorious.
4.
Ysanne Churchman played Grace in the long-running radio series The Archers when Grace suffered grievous injuries in a fire on the night of the ITV launch in 1955; the character died in the following day's episode.
5.
Ysanne Churchman strongly suspected the producer was glad to be rid of her at the time as she had discovered that some of her cast members in this regional, Birmingham, production, were not being paid Equity minimum rates and raised the matter.
6.
Ysanne Churchman voiced five other Archers characters over the years, the last being Mary Pound in 1983.
7.
Ysanne Churchman was the first actress employed by Capital Radio, reading a serial book.
8.
Ysanne Churchman married Tony Pilgrim MBE, a senior BBC engineer, in 1951; they celebrated their Diamond Wedding anniversary in 2011.
9.
Ysanne Churchman died in January 2015 after 63 years of marriage.
10.
Ysanne Churchman retired in 1993, but continued to do the occasional voice-over and television appearance, most recently reprising her role as the voice of Delegate Alpha Centauri in the Doctor Who story "Empress of Mars" in 2017, having last voiced the character in 1974.