Ysanne Churchman (14 May 1925 – 4 July 2024) was an English actress. She starred and narrated on British radio, television and film for over 50 years, from 1938 to 1993. Churchman gained prominence as Grace Archer, wife of Phil, in the long-running BBC radio drama series The Archers;[1] the series attracted publicity when Grace died after a fire on the night that ITV launched in 1955.
Life and career
Ysanne Churchman was born in Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire, to Andrew Churchman and Gladys Dale, stage and radio performers in London.[2]
In 1938, Churchman appeared on both BBC RadioChildren's Hour and in a BBC Television play, Gallows Glorious.[3] She trained as a dancer at Cone-Ripman College. After learning repertory and theatre, she specialised in radio and voice work for film and television. She played Grace in the long-running radio series The Archers when Grace suffered grievous injuries in a fire on the night of the ITV launch in 1955; the character died in the following day's episode.[4] She strongly suspected the producer was glad to be rid of her at the time as she had discovered that some of her cast members in this regional, Birmingham, production, were not being paid Equity minimum rates and raised the matter. She voiced five other Archers characters over the years, the last being Mary Pound in 1983.
She married Tony Pilgrim MBE, a senior BBC engineer, in 1951; they celebrated their Diamond Wedding anniversary in 2011. He died in January 2015 after 63 years of marriage.[7] She retired in 1993, but continued to do the occasional voice-over and television appearance, most recently reprising her role as the voice of Delegate Alpha Centauri in the Doctor Who story "Empress of Mars"[8] in 2017, having last voiced the character in 1974.
Churchman died on 4 July 2024, at the age of 99.[9][10]
