Janet Stephanie Francis (born 5 August 1947) is an English actress. She appeared as Penny Warrender in the 1980s romantic comedy Just Good Friends.

Jan Francis
Born
Janet Stephanie Francis

(1947-08-05) 5 August 1947 (age 77)
Years active1969-present
Spouse
Martin Thurley
(m. 1977)
Children2

Early life

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Francis was born at the former Charing Cross Hospital London. She is the eldest child of Frank Francis, a clerical officer with the Royal Agricultural Society of England,[2] and Marjorie (née Watling), an employment agent, who were married[3] in 1944. She was brought up in Streatham and was educated at the Lady Edridge Grammar School.

After training as a dancer at the Royal Ballet Senior School from which she graduated in 1965, Francis performed with the Royal Ballet Touring Company in Britain, in the rest of Europe and the United States. Francis left the Royal Ballet in September 1969 to pursue an acting career.

Acting

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Francis made the transfer to becoming an actress through choreography, and performed with the Cheltenham Repertory Company between 1969 and 1970. She first appeared on television in 1972 in the mini-series Anne of Green Gables playing the part of Diana Barry, before landing BBC Television drama roles including Kschessinska in Fall of Eagles and Lisa Colbert in Secret Army (1977–78). She appeared in Dracula (1979) as Mina Van Helsing with Laurence Olivier as Abraham Van Helsing.

She played the part of Susie Dean in Alan Plater's adaptation of the J. B. Priestley novel The Good Companions (1980) which was produced by Yorkshire Television. Writer John Sullivan met Francis and later created her best-known part, Penny Warrender, in the 1980s BBC sitcom Just Good Friends.

She later co-starred with Dennis Waterman as Sally Hardcastle in the 1989–1992 ITV drama series Stay Lucky. This was followed by an appearance in Heartbeat in 1993, in which she played Vivienne Keen in the episode Love Hurts. She also played Nick's "old enough to be his mother" girlfriend in the sitcom My Family.

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, she appeared in the Lloyds Bank television commercials alongside Nigel Havers and Leo McKern.

In 2006, she guest starred in ITV prison drama Bad Girls as interior designer Catherine Earlham, who was sent to Larkhall on remand for embezzlement. The character played a key role in the exit storyline for fellow inmate Darlene Cake (Antonia Okonma). She is also a regular performer, and part of the original cast, of the touring play Seven Deadly Sins Four Deadly Sinners.

In 2009, she appeared as Julia in the second series of Mistresses on BBC1. In November 2009, she appeared in the ITV drama Collision. She also played a love interest for Rodney Blackstock in ITV soap opera Emmerdale, in 2010.

In April 2014, she made a guest appearance as a patient in the BBC hospital drama series Casualty.

Personal life

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Francis married the actor-writer Martin Thurley in Newton Abbot on 1 August 1977; he writes using the pseudonym Thomas Ellice. They have two daughters and reside in Woodchurch, Kent.

Selected filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1969 The Ken Dodd Show Various 1 episode
1971 The Fenn Street Gang Shirley Matthews Episode: "Who Was That Lady?"
1972 Anne of Green Gables Diana Barry 4 episodes
BBC Play of the Month Popham The Magistrate
The Long Chase Susan Fraser 13 episodes
Thirty Minute Theatre Stephanie Swiss Cottage
1973 Country Matters Sophie Davenport Episode: "The Four Beauties"
Doctor in Charge Diana Episode: "The Pool"
Hawkeye The Pathfinder Mabel Dunham (Magnet) 5 episodes
Thriller Gille Randall File Under Fear
1974 Fall of Eagles Kschessinska Episode: "The Last Tsar"
Play for Today Lizzie The Lonely Man's Lover
Rooms Jan Jan & Tony (Parts 1 & 2)
1975 Anne of Avonlea Diana Barry 6 episodes
BBC Play of the Month Maria Love's Labour's Lost
Softly Softly: Taskforce Karen Episode: "Dorothy's Birthday"
Village Hall Milly The Rough and the Smooth
1976 Couples Emily Rowland 6 episodes
BBC Play of the Month Grace Harkaway The London Assurance
Sutherland's Law Lesley Galbraith Episode: Blind Jump
The Duchess of Duke Street Irene Baker 2 episodes
1977 Premiere Christabel Give Us a Kiss Christabel
Raffles Netje Episode: A Bad Night
1977-8 Secret Army Lisa 'Yvette' Colbert 17 episodes
1978 Target Jenny Episode: "Rogue's Gallery"
1979 Dracula Mina Van Helsing Film
ITV Playhouse Prudence Casting the Runes
Ripping Yarns Miranda Roger of the Raj
1980-1 The Good Companions Susie Dean 9 episodes
1981 Love Story: A Chance to Sit Down Barbara Livesey 4 episodes
1982 Tales of the Unexpected Leila Graham Death Can Add
1983-6 Just Good Friends Penny Warrender 22 episodes
1984 Champions Jo Beswick Film
Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense Eva Baler Corvini Inheritance
1985 Minder Sarah Bates Episode: "Life in the Fast Food Lane"
1989-91 Stay Lucky Sally Hardcastle 16 episodes
1994 Under the Hammer Maggie Perowne 7 episodes
1995 Jeremy Hardy Gives Good Sex Various Video
The Ghostbusters of East Finchley Grace 6 episodes
1997 Spark Colette 6 episodes
2000 Sunburn Rachel Dearbon 1 episode
2001 My Family Amanda Episode: "Age of Romance"
2002 Heartbeat Vivenne Keen Episode: "Love Hurts"
Micawber Lady Charlotte Episode: "Micawber and the Aristocracy"
2005 According to Bex Sally Atwell Episode: The Time Warp
Twisted Tales Penny Marchant Fruitcake of the Living Dead
2006 Bad Girls Catherine Earlham 1 episode
2007 Diamond Geezer Kate Episode: "Old Gold"
New Tricks June Parker Episode: "Power House"
2008 The Invisibles Janet Rigby 1 episode
2009 Collision Christine Edwards 4 episodes
Mistresses Julia 2 episodes
2010 Emmerdale Sue Hastings 3 episodes
2013 Law and Order UK Caroline Moran Episode: "Mortal"
2014 Casualty Ginny Roxburgh-Berrow Episode: "Carrot Not Stick"
2016 I Want My Wife Back Paula 5 episodes
2018 Next of Kin Elspeth 2 episodes

Theatre

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  • The Sleeping Beauty (1969) ... Royal Ballet (1969)
  • The Farmer's Wife (1969) ... Cheltenham Repertory Company, as Susan Maine
  • Sleeping Beauty (1969–1970) ... Pantomime, as Fairy Dreamawhile
  • The Boyfriend (1970) ... as Maisie (& Lolita)
  • When Did You Last See My Mother (1970) ... at The Theatre Upstairs at the Royal Court, as Linda
  • Cinderella (1970) ... at the Manchester Opera House
  • Play It Again Sam (1971) ... at the New Theatre, Bromley as one of Barbara and the Dream Girls
  • The Heiress (1971) ... as Marian Almond
  • Romance! (1971) ... at the Duke of York's Theatre, London as Lotte
  • Out of Bounds (1973) ... Bristol Old Vic Company as Ermyntrude Johnson
  • Lend Me A Tenor (1986) ... at the Globe Theatre, London as Maggie
  • Hay Fever (1988) ... at the Chichester Festival Theatre as Myra Arundel
  • 'Dear Ralph' A Valentine's Day Gala (1993) ... at the London Palladium as a Host for the Evening
  • Seven Deadly Sins Four Deadly Sinners (2004–2008) ... at various theatres on tour
  • An Evening at Le Candide (2006) ... at the King's Head Theatre, London

References

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  1. ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 14 March 2011.
  2. ^ "Just Good friends".
  3. ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 14 March 2011.



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