Bridget Turner (born February 22, 1939, Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, died 27 Dec 2014, Dorchester, Dorset).
Michael Coveney described her as, " small and dark-haired, compact, possessing great timing, a voice of bell-like clarity and an open-faced integrity. An ideal team player in any company."
The daughter of fish trader Eric Turner, she took speech and drama lessons at the Deansgate School of Drama in Grimsby, and appeared with local groups such as Old Winghams and the Kendal Players. She was educated at Havelock and later Wintringham Grammar Schools. Despite being offered a place at RADA in June 1957, she took her GCE A Levels to ensure the option of a university place was open, telling the Grimsby Telegraph that, "Only a few make the grade. I shall not be satisfied with second best." Ten years later, she explained that,"Living in Grimsby,I didn't know much about the theatre. It was fortunate that I got into RADA, otherwise I might have given up the idea."
In fact, at RADA, Bridget won the Gilbert prize for the most promising girl in comedy. On graduation, she toured schools in Wales, before joining the Belgrade Theatre Company in Coventry.Her first TV appearance was on 29 January 1961 in a COMEDY MATINEE broadcast from the Belgrade Theatre, of the Ben Travers farce 'Thark'. In 1967 she won acclaim for the part of Beattie in Arnold Wesker's Roots at the Royal Court. She starred as Juliet opposite Tom Courteney's Romeo for the 69 Theatre Company in Manchester, and became particularly well known for her 1970's work in the plays of Alan Ayckbourne. She was reputedly offered the part of Sybil in 'Fawlty Towers' but turned it down. In 1981 she starred as English teacher Judy Threadgold with Alun Armstrong in Alan Plater's Get Lost (YTV), the predecessor of The Beiderbecke Affair
Having appeared in the 1967 Prospect Theatre Company production of The Cherry Orchard she later starred as Madame Ranevsky in Trevor Griffith's 1977 adaptation of the play at Nottingham.Playhouse.
On TV she starred opposite Alan Dobie in a BBC2 adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's last novel, Resurrection (shown in America 1971 as part of PBS Masterpiece Theatre strand). She played Maslova, who is made pregnant by Dobie's character and forced to become a prostitute. Years later, Dobie is on the jury that convicts her of murdering an abusive client. Guilt-ridden at having ruined her life, Dobie's character accompanies her to exile in Siberia.