Diane Keen: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
 
(23 intermediate revisions by 17 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|English actress}}
{{Short description|English actress (born 1946)}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
Line 8: Line 8:
| caption = Diane Keen
| caption = Diane Keen
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1946|07|29|df=yes}}
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1946|07|29|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[London]], England
| birth_place = London, England
| occupation = Actress
| occupation = Actress
| years_active = 1967–present
| years_active = 1967–present
| spouse = {{marriage|[[Paul Greenwood]]|1969|1979|reason=divorce}} <br> {{marriage|Neil Zeiger|1981|1993|reason=divorce}}
| spouse = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|[[Paul Greenwood]]|1969|1979|reason=divorce}}
* {{marriage|Neil Zeiger|1981|1993|reason=divorce}}
}}
| children = 1
| children = 1
}}
}}
'''Diane Keen''' (born 29 July 1946)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba0bab766|title=Diane Keen|work=[[British Film Institute]]|access-date=22 April 2020}}</ref> is an English actress, known for her portrayal of Fliss Hawthorne in the [[Granada TV|Granada]] sitcom ''[[The Cuckoo Waltz]]'' and [[Julia Parsons]] on the [[BBC One|BBC]] soap opera ''[[Doctors (2000 TV series)|Doctors]]''. She also appeared in [[Nescafé]] advertisements from 1980 to 1989.<ref name="Nescafe">{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/fame-and-fortune-a-racehorse-two-cars-it-got-a-bit-silly-gs2ljk8cbzl|title=Fame and Fortune: A racehorse, two cars — it got a bit silly|work=[[The Times]]|access-date=22 April 2020}}</ref>
'''Diane Keen''' (born 29 July 1946)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba0bab766|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612171334/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba0bab766|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 June 2018|title=Diane Keen|work=[[British Film Institute]]|access-date=22 April 2020}}</ref> is an English actress, known for her portrayal of Fliss Hawthorne in the [[Granada TV|Granada]] sitcom ''[[The Cuckoo Waltz]]'' (1975-1980), [[Rings On Their Fingers]] (1978-1980) and [[Julia Parsons]] on the [[BBC One|BBC]] soap opera ''[[Doctors (2000 TV series)|Doctors]]'' (2003-2012). She also appeared in [[Nescafé]] advertisements from 1980 to 1989.<ref name="Nescafe">{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/fame-and-fortune-a-racehorse-two-cars-it-got-a-bit-silly-gs2ljk8cbzl|title=Fame and Fortune: A racehorse, two cars — it got a bit silly|work=[[The Times]]|access-date=22 April 2020}}</ref>


==Personal life==
==Early life and education==
Born in London, Keen grew up in [[East Africa Protectorate|East Africa]], principally [[Tanganyika (territory)|Tanganyika]] and later [[Kenya Colony|Kenya]], where her father was a civil engineer.<ref name="Webber">{{Cite news|last=Webber|first=Richard|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/fameandfortune/10468130/Diane-Keen-Get-a-job-my-parents-said.-I-was-appalled.html|title=Diane Keen: 'Get a job, my parents said. I was appalled'|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=24 November 2013}}</ref> She attended boarding school and returned to Britain at the age of 19,<ref name="Webber" /> where she became a secretary for [[The Ivy League (band)|The Ivy League]]'s fan club; this led to her releasing a 45 r.p.m. single of "[[Sally Go 'Round the Roses]]" (credited as Dee King) on the [[Piccadilly Records|Piccadilly]] label in 1966.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/2667634-Dee-King|title=Dee King|website=Discogs|access-date=12 July 2017}}</ref> She has one daughter, Melissa, by her marriage to [[Paul Greenwood]], which ended in divorce in 1979. Her granddaughter, Siena Pugsley, played the role of her on-screen granddaughter in ''[[Doctors (2000 TV series)|Doctors]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/theatre/86418/sexy-monologues-are-not-just-for-the-girls.html|title=Sexy monologues are not just for the girls|access-date=12 July 2017}}</ref>
Born in London, Keen grew up in [[East Africa Protectorate|East Africa]], principally [[Tanganyika (territory)|Tanganyika]] and later [[Kenya Colony|Kenya]], where her father was a civil engineer.<ref name="Webber">{{Cite news|last=Webber|first=Richard|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/fameandfortune/10468130/Diane-Keen-Get-a-job-my-parents-said.-I-was-appalled.html|title=Diane Keen: 'Get a job, my parents said. I was appalled'|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=24 November 2013}}</ref> She attended boarding school and returned to Britain at the age of 19,<ref name="Webber" /> where she became a secretary for [[The Ivy League (band)|The Ivy League]]'s fan club; this led to her releasing a 45 r.p.m. single of "[[Sally Go 'Round the Roses]]" (credited as Dee King) on the [[Piccadilly Records|Piccadilly]] label in 1966.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/2667634-Dee-King|title=Dee King|website=Discogs|access-date=12 July 2017}}</ref>


==Career==
==Career==
Keen was a regular on television during the 1970s and early 1980s, starring in long-running sitcoms such as ''[[The Cuckoo Waltz]]'', ''[[Rings on Their Fingers]]'', ''[[Shillingbury Tales]]'' and ''[[You Must Be the Husband]]'', and in two runs of the [[Thames Television]] children's historical costume drama ''[[The Feathered Serpent (UK TV Series)|The Feathered Serpent]]''. She also guest-starred in many shows, including ''[[The Morecambe & Wise Show (1968–1977)|The Morecambe and Wise Show]]'', and featured as Laura Dickens in the spy drama ''[[The Sandbaggers]]''.
Keen was a regular on television during the 1970s and early 1980s, starring in long-running sitcoms such as ''[[The Cuckoo Waltz]]'', ''[[Rings on Their Fingers]]'', ''[[Shillingbury Tales]]'' and ''[[You Must Be the Husband]]'', and in two runs of the [[Thames Television]] children's historical costume drama ''[[The Feathered Serpent (TV series)|The Feathered Serpent]]''. She also guest-starred in many shows, including ''[[The Morecambe & Wise Show (1968–1977)|The Morecambe and Wise Show]]'', and featured as Laura Dickens in the spy drama ''[[The Sandbaggers]]''.


Keen had a part in the film ''[[Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (film)|Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush]]'' (1968) as Claire, [[Judy Geeson]]'s university student friend, and appeared in an episode of "[[Budgie (TV series)|Budgie]]" as Barbara, a friend of Budgies girlfriend. She appeared in the 1977 [[Sweeney!|spin-off film]] of 1970s TV detective series ''[[The Sweeney]]''. Keen starred as [[Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary]] ("Sissi") in episode one of the 13-part series ''[[Fall of Eagles]]'' (1974), and played Hilda in ''[[The Professionals (TV series)|The Professionals]]'' series 1 episode ''[[List of The Professionals episodes|Killer With a Long Arm]]'' in 1978. In 1980, she appeared as widowed restaurant owner Christina in Series 1 episode ''[[The Dessert Song]]'' of ''[[Minder (TV series)|Minder]]''. She went on to star with David Jason in ''[[A Touch of Frost]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tv.com/people/diane-keen/|title=Diane Keen|last=TV.com|website=TV.com|access-date=12 July 2017}}</ref>
Keen had a part in the film ''[[Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (film)|Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush]]'' (1968) as Claire, [[Judy Geeson]]'s university student friend, and appeared in an episode of ''[[Budgie (TV series)|Budgie]]'' as Barbara, a friend of Budgie's girlfriend. She appeared in the 1977 [[Sweeney!|spin-off film]] of 1970s TV detective series ''[[The Sweeney]]''. Keen starred as [[Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary]] ("Sissi") in episode one of the 13-part series ''[[Fall of Eagles]]'' (1974), and played Hilda in ''[[The Professionals (TV series)|The Professionals]]'' series 1 episode ''[[List of The Professionals episodes|Killer With a Long Arm]]'' in 1978. In 1980, she appeared as widowed restaurant owner Christina in Series 1 episode ''[[The Dessert Song]]'' of ''[[Minder (TV series)|Minder]]''. She went on to star with David Jason in ''[[A Touch of Frost]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tv.com/people/diane-keen/|title=Diane Keen|last=TV.com|website=TV.com|access-date=12 July 2017}}</ref>


Keen starred for ten years in a series of advertisements for [[Nescafé]] coffee<ref name="Nescafe"/> and made an appearance in an episode of ''[[Taggart (series)|Taggart]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/tv-radio/theres-been-a-murder-taggart-at-25-921715.html|title=There's been a murder: Taggart at 25|date=7 September 2008|work=The Independent|access-date=12 July 2017}}</ref> In the next decade, she became a regular in the ''[[Inspector Wexford]]'' series, playing the wife of Wexford's D.I.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://inspectorwexford.info/archive/articles/having-the-last-laugh/|title=Having the Last Laugh • Archive • Inspector Wexford|last=Road|first=Tabard|website=inspectorwexford.info|access-date=12 July 2017}}</ref> Roles in ''[[Brookside]]'' and several other TV shows followed, including ''[[New Tricks]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.londontheatredirect.com/news/1696/cassidy-janson-diane-keen-join-cast-of-olivier-tony-grammy-award-winning-beautiful-the-carole-king-musical.aspx|title=Cassidy Janson & Diane Keen join cast of Olivier, Tony & Grammy Award-winning Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.|last=Limited|first=London Theatre Direct|access-date=12 July 2017}}</ref>
Keen starred for ten years in a series of advertisements for [[Nescafé]] coffee<ref name="Nescafe"/> and made an appearance in an episode of ''[[Taggart]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/tv-radio/theres-been-a-murder-taggart-at-25-921715.html|title=There's been a murder: Taggart at 25|date=7 September 2008|work=The Independent|access-date=12 July 2017}}</ref> In the next decade, she became a regular in the ''[[Inspector Wexford]]'' series, playing the wife of Wexford's D.I.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://inspectorwexford.info/archive/articles/having-the-last-laugh/|title=Having the Last Laugh • Archive • Inspector Wexford|last=Road|first=Tabard|website=inspectorwexford.info|access-date=12 July 2017}}</ref> Roles in ''[[Brookside (TV series)|Brookside]]'' and several other TV shows followed, including ''[[New Tricks]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.londontheatredirect.com/news/1696/cassidy-janson-diane-keen-join-cast-of-olivier-tony-grammy-award-winning-beautiful-the-carole-king-musical.aspx|title=Cassidy Janson & Diane Keen join cast of Olivier, Tony & Grammy Award-winning Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.|last=Limited|first=London Theatre Direct|access-date=12 July 2017}}</ref>


Keen has appeared onstage, including in the [[Alan Ayckbourn]] play ''[[Absent Friends (play)|Absent Friends]]'' at the [[Bristol Old Vic]], and in two acclaimed tours of ''[[Same Time, Next Year (play)|Same Time, Next Year]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thurrock-today.co.uk/article.cfm?id=502&classIS=blog&headline=Graham%20Cole%20and%20Diane%20Keen%20star%20in%20You're%20Never%20Too%20Old|title=Thurrock|access-date=12 July 2017}}</ref> In 2013, she co-starred in a British tour of ''[[The Vagina Monologues]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/leisure/theatre/10808993.The_Vagina_Monologues__Grand_Opera_House__York__November_15/|title=The Vagina Monologues, Grand Opera House, York, November 15|website=York Press|access-date=12 July 2017}}</ref>
Keen has appeared onstage, including in the [[Alan Ayckbourn]] play ''[[Absent Friends (play)|Absent Friends]]'' at the [[Bristol Old Vic]], and in two acclaimed tours of ''[[Same Time, Next Year (play)|Same Time, Next Year]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thurrock-today.co.uk/article.cfm?id=502&classIS=blog&headline=Graham%20Cole%20and%20Diane%20Keen%20star%20in%20You're%20Never%20Too%20Old|title=Thurrock|access-date=12 July 2017}}</ref> In 2013, she co-starred in a British tour of ''[[The Vagina Monologues]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/leisure/theatre/10808993.The_Vagina_Monologues__Grand_Opera_House__York__November_15/|title=The Vagina Monologues, Grand Opera House, York, November 15|website=York Press|access-date=12 July 2017}}</ref>


===Soap opera roles===
===Soap opera roles===
Keen was a series regular in the [[BBC One|BBC]] soap opera ''[[Doctors (2000 TV series)|Doctors]]'', playing practice manager [[Julia Parsons]] from 2003 to 2012.<ref name="Webber" /> She reprised this role as Julia in March 2020 for a short stint.<ref>{{cite tweet|user=BBCDoctors|number=1197566518810284032|date=21 November 2019|title=We started filming on our 20th anniversary episode today, and we're so excited to welcome Diane Keen (@thisisdianekeen) aka Julia Parsons back to Doctors!}}</ref> She also played Sandra Gould in ''[[Crossroads (British TV series)|Crossroads]]'' from 1968 to 1971, and the receptionist at the Feathers Hotel, Connelton in ''[[Emmerdale]]'' in 1972.
Keen was a series regular in the [[BBC One|BBC]] soap opera ''[[Doctors (2000 TV series)|Doctors]]'', playing practice manager [[Julia Parsons]] from 2003 to 2012.<ref name="Webber" /> She reprised this role in March 2020 for a short stint.<ref>{{cite tweet|user=BBCDoctors|number=1197566518810284032|date=21 November 2019|title=We started filming on our 20th anniversary episode today, and we're so excited to welcome Diane Keen (@thisisdianekeen) aka Julia Parsons back to Doctors!}}</ref> She also played Sandra Gould in ''[[Crossroads (British TV series)|Crossroads]]'' from 1968 to 1971, and the receptionist at the Feathers Hotel, Connelton in ''[[Emmerdale]]'' in 1972.

==Personal life==
Keen has one daughter, Melissa, by her marriage to [[Paul Greenwood]], which ended in divorce in 1979. Her granddaughter, Siena Pugsley, played the role of her on-screen granddaughter in ''[[Doctors (2000 TV series)|Doctors]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/theatre/86418/sexy-monologues-are-not-just-for-the-girls.html|title=Sexy monologues are not just for the girls|access-date=12 July 2017}}</ref>

In 2023, Keen announced via her [[Twitter]] (X) account that she had suffered a “Catastrophic Stroke” and that she was lucky to be alive.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://twitter.com/thisisdianekeen/status/1706945348764086492|title=Diane Keen x announcement|access-date=28 September 2023}} </ref>


==Selected filmography==
==Selected filmography==
* ''Popdown'' (1967) – Miss 1970
* ''Popdown'' (1967) – Miss 1970
* ''[[Crossroads (British TV series)|Crossroads]]'' (1968-1971) - Sandra Gould/Stevens
* ''[[Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (film)|Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush]]'' (1968) – Claire
* ''[[Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (film)|Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush]]'' (1968) – Claire
* ''[[Toomorrow (film)|Toomorrow]]'' (1970) – Music Student (uncredited)
* ''[[Toomorrow (film)|Toomorrow]]'' (1970) – Music Student (uncredited)
Line 39: Line 48:
* ''[[The Cuckoo Waltz]]'' (1975–1980) – Fliss Hawthorne
* ''[[The Cuckoo Waltz]]'' (1975–1980) – Fliss Hawthorne
* ''[[Sweeney!]]'' (1977) – Bianca Hamilton
* ''[[Sweeney!]]'' (1977) – Bianca Hamilton
* ''[[The Sandbaggers]]'' Series 1, Episode 4: The Most Suitable Person (1978)
* ''[[The Sandbaggers]]'' Series 1, Episodes 4–7 (1978) - Laura Dickens
* ''[[Rings on Their Fingers]]'' (1978–80) - Sandy Bennett
* ''[[Rings on Their Fingers]]'' (1978–80) - Sandy Bennett
* ''[[Shillingbury Tales|The Shillingbury Blowers]]'' (1980) – Sally Higgins
* ''[[Shillingbury Tales|The Shillingbury Blowers]]'' (1980) – Sally Higgins

Latest revision as of 06:32, 16 January 2024

Diane Keen
Born (1946-07-29) 29 July 1946 (age 77)
London, England
OccupationActress
Years active1967–present
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1969; div. 1979)​
Neil Zeiger
​
​
(m. 1981; div. 1993)​
Children1

Diane Keen (born 29 July 1946)[1] is an English actress, known for her portrayal of Fliss Hawthorne in the Granada sitcom The Cuckoo Waltz (1975-1980), Rings On Their Fingers (1978-1980) and Julia Parsons on the BBC soap opera Doctors (2003-2012). She also appeared in Nescafé advertisements from 1980 to 1989.[2]

Early life and education[edit]

Born in London, Keen grew up in East Africa, principally Tanganyika and later Kenya, where her father was a civil engineer.[3] She attended boarding school and returned to Britain at the age of 19,[3] where she became a secretary for The Ivy League's fan club; this led to her releasing a 45 r.p.m. single of "Sally Go 'Round the Roses" (credited as Dee King) on the Piccadilly label in 1966.[4]

Career[edit]

Keen was a regular on television during the 1970s and early 1980s, starring in long-running sitcoms such as The Cuckoo Waltz, Rings on Their Fingers, Shillingbury Tales and You Must Be the Husband, and in two runs of the Thames Television children's historical costume drama The Feathered Serpent. She also guest-starred in many shows, including The Morecambe and Wise Show, and featured as Laura Dickens in the spy drama The Sandbaggers.

Keen had a part in the film Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (1968) as Claire, Judy Geeson's university student friend, and appeared in an episode of Budgie as Barbara, a friend of Budgie's girlfriend. She appeared in the 1977 spin-off film of 1970s TV detective series The Sweeney. Keen starred as Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary ("Sissi") in episode one of the 13-part series Fall of Eagles (1974), and played Hilda in The Professionals series 1 episode Killer With a Long Arm in 1978. In 1980, she appeared as widowed restaurant owner Christina in Series 1 episode The Dessert Song of Minder. She went on to star with David Jason in A Touch of Frost.[5]

Keen starred for ten years in a series of advertisements for Nescafé coffee[2] and made an appearance in an episode of Taggart.[6] In the next decade, she became a regular in the Inspector Wexford series, playing the wife of Wexford's D.I.[7] Roles in Brookside and several other TV shows followed, including New Tricks.[8]

Keen has appeared onstage, including in the Alan Ayckbourn play Absent Friends at the Bristol Old Vic, and in two acclaimed tours of Same Time, Next Year.[9] In 2013, she co-starred in a British tour of The Vagina Monologues.[10]

Soap opera roles[edit]

Keen was a series regular in the BBC soap opera Doctors, playing practice manager Julia Parsons from 2003 to 2012.[3] She reprised this role in March 2020 for a short stint.[11] She also played Sandra Gould in Crossroads from 1968 to 1971, and the receptionist at the Feathers Hotel, Connelton in Emmerdale in 1972.

Personal life[edit]

Keen has one daughter, Melissa, by her marriage to Paul Greenwood, which ended in divorce in 1979. Her granddaughter, Siena Pugsley, played the role of her on-screen granddaughter in Doctors.[12]

In 2023, Keen announced via her Twitter (X) account that she had suffered a “Catastrophic Stroke” and that she was lucky to be alive.[13]

Selected filmography[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Diane Keen". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Fame and Fortune: A racehorse, two cars — it got a bit silly". The Times. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  3. ^ a b c Webber, Richard (24 November 2013). "Diane Keen: 'Get a job, my parents said. I was appalled'". The Daily Telegraph.
  4. ^ "Dee King". Discogs. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  5. ^ TV.com. "Diane Keen". TV.com. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  6. ^ "There's been a murder: Taggart at 25". The Independent. 7 September 2008. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  7. ^ Road, Tabard. "Having the Last Laugh • Archive • Inspector Wexford". inspectorwexford.info. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  8. ^ Limited, London Theatre Direct. "Cassidy Janson & Diane Keen join cast of Olivier, Tony & Grammy Award-winning Beautiful: The Carole King Musical". Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  9. ^ "Thurrock". Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  10. ^ "The Vagina Monologues, Grand Opera House, York, November 15". York Press. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  11. ^ @BBCDoctors (21 November 2019). "We started filming on our 20th anniversary episode today, and we're so excited to welcome Diane Keen (@thisisdianekeen) aka Julia Parsons back to Doctors!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  12. ^ "Sexy monologues are not just for the girls". Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  13. ^ "Diane Keen x announcement". Retrieved 28 September 2023.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Diane_Keen&oldid=1196079034"