Freeman was born in Brentford, London, in 1935 but raised in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, as a child, following the death of her father in an accident when she was 9 years old and her mother's subsequent remarriage. She graduated from the City Cardiff College of Music and Drama in 1955, and after a stay in London joined the Osiris Repertory Theatre touring company, based in Gloucestershire. She joined the Arena Theatre, Sutton Coldfield, in 1958, followed by Birmingham Rep from 1968 and 1973. Her stage appearances include Margaret More in the Welsh Theatre Company's first production, A Man for All Seasons, at Cardiff's New Theatre in 1962. She was best known for her role as café owner Ivy, one of the main characters in the long-running British TV comedy Last of the Summer Wine. Freeman died in March 2017 at the age of 81 from lung cancer. Her age was often incorrectly reported as being 96 at the time of her death, but official birth records prove that she was born in 1935

Filmography

• 1987Last of the Summer Wine: Big Day at Dream Acres — Ivy
• 1986Last of the Summer Wine: Uncle of the Bride — Ivy
• 1984A Taste of Honey — Helen
• A Taste of Honey — Helen
• 1984Androcles and the Lion — Megaera
• Blackadder — Mrs. Applebottom
• 1983Last of the Summer Wine: Getting Sam Home — Ivy
• 1982Ghost in the Water — Mrs. Willetts
• 1982Scrubbers — Sister
• 1981Marriage — Aunt Arina
• 1980Dark Water — Manager's wife
• Hannah — Lilla Spencer-Smith
• 1980Lindsey — Mrs. Allen
• 1979All Day on the Sands
• 1978Scully's New Year's Eve — Mrs Scully
• 1977Love on a Gunboat — Knitting lady
• 1975Through the Night — Martha Paisley
• Trinity Tales — Cashier
• Zigger Zagger — Mother
• Playhouse — Aunt Arina
• Last of the Summer Wine — Ivy
• 1972The Fishing Party — Audrey
• ITV Playhouse — Mrs. Allen

Appearances as themselves (1)

• The Val Doonican Music Show — Self