Actress Angela Thorne, best known for her starring role in To The Manor Born and the mother of Rupert Penry-Jones, has passed away at the age of 84.
She played Marjory Frobisher in the BBC sitcom opposite Penelope Keith and Richard DeVere from 1979 to 1981 and also appeared in a series of long-running shows including Midsomer Murders.
Thorne, who is also the mother of actor Laurence Penry-Jones, was nominated for an Olivier Award for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in Everyone for Denis? as she turned her hand to the stage.
A statement from her son Rupert said: ‘Actress Angela Thorne passed away peacefully at her home on June 16. She turned 84 years old.
She was the beloved wife of Peter Penry Jones, and is survived by her two sons Rupert and Laurie Penry Jones and her grandchildren, Florence, Peter, Giorgio and Delilah.
Actress Angela Thorne (right), best known for her starring role in To The Manor Born and the mother of Rupert Penry-Jones (left), has died aged 84.
Angela (right) played Marjory Frobisher in the BBC sitcom opposite Penelope Keith (left) from 1979 to 1981
“We will all miss her very much.”
She trained at the Guildhall School of Music And Drama on a scholarship and later performed in repertory seasons.
Her on-screen credits also include BBC One sitcom Three Up, Two Down, police drama series Heartbeat and drama series Elizabeth R, starring the late Glenda Jackson.
In 1989, she played the role of the Queen of England in The BFG, the animated film adaptation of the Roald Dahl book, working alongside David Jason.
In To the Manor Born, her character Marjory was Audrey’s loyal boyfriend, who had a love-hate relationship with Richard until they married at the end of the show’s three series in 1981.
Angela reprized her role as Marjory for both a 10-episode radio series in 1997 and the 2007 one-off television Christmas special.
In 2013, she appeared in a stage adaptation of Alexander Mackendrick’s 1955 black comedy The Ladykillers alongside Death In Paradise’s Ralf Little, Grass actor Simon Day and Gregory’s Girl actor John Gordon Sinclair.
Angela appeared alongside Simon Day, Ralf Little, John Gordon Sinclair, Con O’Nell and Chris McCalphy as part of the cast of The Ladykillers
In the late 1980s, she emerged as a voice actor and worked on The BFG, the film adaptation of the Roald Dahl book. Pictured is the BFG in 1989
She married her husband Peter Penry-Jones, himself a successful TV star from Cardiff, in 1967, and they had two boys together, Rupert and Laurence.
The husband and wife duo even appeared side by side in a number of episodes of To The Manor Born before Peter passed away in 2009 after a long battle with colon cancer.
In 2010, Angela appeared on BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are? next to her son Rupert.
On the show, the couple discovered that Angela’s father William had served with the IIndian Medical Corps at the Battle of Monte Cassino in Italy in 1944.
Her late husband Peter and two sons Rupert and Laurence also all found their feet in the acting world.
Rupert is best known for his roles as Adam Carter in Spooks, QC Clive Reader in Silk and DI Joseph Chandler in Whitechapel, while Laurence has appeared in Waking The Dead and Doctors.
Since then, tributes have been poured following news of Angela’s death, with social media users calling her a “special star.”
One person, who said they had ‘loved her works for many years’, wrote: ‘Miss Thorne was a lovely lady. Always fun to watch.’
While another said, “Another real actor has left the stage.”