Shirley Jaffe (actress)

Shirley Jaffe
Born1934 (1934)
Hendon, England
Died12 October 2022(2022-10-12) (aged 87–88)
NationalityBritish
OccupationActress
Years active1954–2023
TelevisionLittle Britain
The First Lady
Emergency-Ward 10

Shirley Matilda Jaffe (born Shirley Matilda Jacobs; 1934 – 12 October 2022) was a British actress. She trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama, before embarking on a career on stage and screen, most famously appearing in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange. After a lengthy break raising a family, she returned to professional acting in 2002.

Life and career

Shirley Matilda Jacobs was born in Hendon in 1934.[1][2] She trained at the Central School of Speech & Drama in 1954, and among other jobs was in the first British Theatre in the Round Company at Scarborough with Stephen Joseph and later Alan Ayckbourn, and in the last year of long running TV serial Emergency Ward 10 as Nurse Angela Foster.

Her film career began in 1970 as a maid in Peter Sasdy's Taste the Blood of Dracula. In 1971 she made a brief appearance in Stanley Kubrick's film A Clockwork Orange. Some sources erroneously identify her as the Billy Boy's gang victim, but she played a nurse who helps administer the first round of Ludovico's treatment to Alex (Malcolm McDowell). Skybreak, the home she then shared with her husband Tony, was also featured in the film, as the interior location for the scene in which Alex's gang attacks a writer and his wife (played by Patrick Magee and Adrienne Corri) in A Clockwork Orange was Shirley's last film appearance for close to 35 years.[why?]

Jaffe appeared on television in Michael Jackson's Earth Song music video, and as a Greek nun in Little Britain Abroad. She directed and acted in plays in Brighton, Edinburgh, The West End and Helsinki festivals and most recently played Irene in award-winning British feature Ambleton Delight. She was nominated for a Star award in the Brighton Fringe for her performance as "Nana" in the new musical, Here Comes the Bride.[3]

Jaffe died on 12 October 2022.[4][5][6]

Filmography

Films
Year Title Role Note
2020 A Safe Place Margaret
2018 Nurse Shirley Foster Shirley Foster Short
2017 Autumn Patrol Church Woman Short
2014 Home for Christmas Mrs. Blackstick
2014 Bloom Old Woman Short
2009 Ambleton Delight Irene Phillips
1971 A Clockwork Orange Nurse
1970 Taste the Blood of Dracula Hargood's Maid
1956 The Secret Tent Girl in remand home Uncredited
1954 The Passing Stranger Uncredited
Television
Year Title Role Note
2017 Safeguarding of Vulnerable Adults Margarert Episode: SOVA 1
2006 Little Britain Episodes: Little Britain Aboard: Part 1, Little Britain Abroad: Part 2
1977 Secret Army Mrs. Schliemann Episode: Radishes with Butter
1973 Softly Softly: Task Force Miss Daniels Episode: Interrogation
1969 The First Lady Miss Sims Episode: I'm Talking About Us
1966–1967 Emergency–Ward 10 Nurse Foster Episodes: Heaven Is a Little Farther, A Family Likeness, Second Sight, Hide Me Hide Me,

A Step in the Right Direction, Go West Young Man

References

  1. ^ "Shirley Jaffe". Aveleyman. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  2. ^ "Shirley M. Jacobs". FreeBMD. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  3. ^ "Shirley Jaffe: Actor, Model and TV Presenter - Brighton, UK". StarNow. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  4. ^ "I am so sad to hear that Shirley Jaffe a friend and English actress has passed". Nurse Shirley Foster on Facebook. 26 October 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  5. ^ "Equity Magazine Spring / Summer 23". issuu. 25 May 2023. p. 45. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  6. ^ "Shirley Matilda Jaffe". Probate Search. Retrieved 25 August 2024.