Myra Frances
Actress BORN MARCH 10, 1943 – DIED MARCH 30, 2021, AGED 78
WHEN Myra Frances shared the first lesbian kiss on British television in 1974 with Alison Steadman, the scene was considered so risqué viewers were issued a warning in advance.
The transmission of Girl, the two-part drama aired on BBC2, provoked a flurry of complaints afterwards.
In fact, it would take another 20 years before the next kiss between two women would be screened, this time between Anna Friel and Nicola Stephenson on Channel 4 soap Brookside.
Frances never became the household name that Steadman is today although she delivered an equally powerful performance.
She was best known for her part as the heartless and self-absorbed Anne Tranter in the BBC 1970s post-apocalyptic drama Survivors. Her other notable role was as the power-mad Lady Adrasta in Doctor Who’s The Creature From The Pit in 1979.
Frances was born in Hastings, East Sussex, and attended the Grey Coat Hospital school in Westminster, London.
A secretary by day, she trained at the London Actors Workshop by night.
Starting her career on the stage, she succeeded Deborah Grant as Jean Fenton in Don’t Just Lie There, Say Something! at the Garrick Theatre in 1972.
Later roles included Stella Clisby in series four of Hadleigh and barrister Valerie Scott in the Crown Court ITV series.
An avid animal rights campaigner, she was married twice, the second time for 49 years to actor Peter Egan. Following her death from cancer, he tweeted: “She was the most amazing human being. My heart is broken.”
She is survived by Egan and her daughter from her first marriage, actress Rebecca Egan.