SITCOM STAR DIES
Tributes were paid last night to Last Of The Summer Wine star Jean Fergusson, known for playing the flirty Marina, after she died at the age of 74. Fergusson, described as “the life and soul of any gathering”, died at home. She was in the long-running sitcom from 1985 to 2010.
THE ACTRESS Jean Fergusson, best known for her role as the flirtatious Marina in Last Of The Summer Wine, and for her awardwinning portrayal of comedienne Hylda Baker, has died at the age of 74.
Ms Fergusson, whom her agents described as “the life and soul of any gathering”, had a career spanning more than 50 years, which also took in Coronation Street.
Ms Fergusson grew up in the village of Woolley, near Wakefield, and began her theatre career in repertory before graduating to TV.
She appeared in small roles on Coronation Street before returning as Dorothy Hoyle, a character caught up in a kidnap plot.
Her agents, Scott Marshall Partners, said she was “a proud
Yorkshirewoman who never forgot her roots”.
Ms Fergusson joined the Summer Wine cast in 1985 as the peroxide blonde love interest of Howard Sibshaw (Robert Fyfe), the pair conducting their affair behind his wife Pearl’s back.
She first played the character in a stage version of the show in 1984. Her death comes just over a month after that of her co-star
Juliette Kaplan, who played Pearl.
Ms Fergusson appeared in 216 episodes of Summer Wine, the BBC’s longest-running sitcom, which ended in 2010.
In 1998 she was nominated for an Olivier award for her portrayal of Miss Baker, a star of music hall and later television, in a onewoman show. She also wrote a biography of her, named after her catchphrase, “She knows, you know.”
Vicki Michelle, a star of the sitcom ‘Allo ‘Allo!, was among those who paid tributes to Ms Fergusson, calling her a “lovely lady, fabulous actress” whom she had seen only last weekend at the birthday party of another comedy star, Su Pollard.
Ms Fergusson is survived by her sister.