Jill Balcon
| Jill Balcon | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jill Angela Henriette Balcon 3 January 1925 London, England, UK |
| Died | 18 July 2009 (aged 84) London, England |
| Spouse | Cecil Day-Lewis (1951–1972; his death; 2 children) |
Jill Angela Henriette Balcon (3 January 1925 – 18 July 2009)[1] was an English film and radio actress. She made her film debut in Nicholas Nickleby (1947), though she was best known for her stage, television, and radio work.
Balcon was born in Westminster, London, the daughter of Aileen Freda Leatherman (1904–1988) and Michael Balcon.[2] Her family was Jewish, and originated in Lithuania on her father's side and Poland on her mother's.[3][4] Balcon attended Roedean.[5]
In 1951, Balcon married Irish poet Cecil Day-Lewis, who was 21 years her senior and was married when they began their relationship. He was dividing his time between his mistress Rosamond Lehmann in Oxfordshire, his wife, Mary Day-Lewis, and their two teenage sons, in Devon.
Cecil Day-Lewis broke with both his wife and his mistress to be with Balcon for the remainder of his life (although reputedly he was no more faithful to Balcon than he had been to his first wife and to Lehmann). Balcon was cut off by her father when she married Day-Lewis in 1951.[6] Cecil Day-Lewis and Jill Balcon had two children: actor Daniel Day-Lewis and documentary filmmaker/television chef Tamasin Day-Lewis.
[edit] Death
Jill Balcon died of a brain tumour on 18 July 2009, aged 84.[7]
[edit] References
- ^ Peter Stanford Obituary: Jill Balcon, The Guardian, 20 July 2009
- ^ Deaths England and Wales 1984-2006
- ^ Daniel Day-Lewis Unofficial Home Page
- ^ Jackson, Laura (2005). Daniel Day-Lewis: the biography. Blake. pp. 3. ISBN1857825578. "Michael Balcon's family were Latvian refugees from Riga who had come to England around the turn of the century. The family of his wife, Aileen Leatherman, whom he married in 1924, came from Poland."
- ^ Tom Vallance "Jill Balcon: Actress of stage, screen and radio who married the former Poet Laureate Cecil Day-Lewis", The Independent, 30 July 2009
- ^ The Guardian obituary: Jill Balcon, op cit
- ^ The Stage obit for Jill Balcon
[edit] External links
- Jill Balcon biography and credits at BFI Screenonline
- Interview with Jill Balcon, The Observer (2007)
- Jill Balcon at the Internet Movie Database
  |
This article about an English film actor or actress is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- 1925 births
- 2009 deaths
- Actors from London
- Alumni of the Central School of Speech and Drama
- Cancer deaths in England
- Deaths from brain cancer
- English film actors
- English Jews
- English radio actors
- English stage actors
- English television actors
- Jewish actors
- Old Roedeanians
- People from Westminster
- English film actor stubs
