Megs Jenkins

Acting

Born April 21, 1917, Birkenhead, Cheshire, England, UK

An engineer's daughter, she had first planned on becoming a ballerina, using her original Christian name Muguette, but abandoned those plans by the age of 17 when she realized that her physique was more in keeping with her other first name, Megs. She trained in Liverpool at the School of Dancing and Dramatic Art and then joined the Liverpool Repertory Company in 1933 before moving to London to appear at the Player's Theatre four years later. During the 1950's, Megs was busy acting on stage and had considerable critical success in two plays by Emlyn Williams, 'Light of Heart' (1940) and 'The Wind of Heaven' (1945). Against character, she also played the vicious, unstable Alma Winemiller in 'Summer and Smoke' (1951) by Tennessee Williams. In 1956, she was awarded the Clarence Derwent Award as Best Supporting Actress for her role as the stoic wife of a longshoreman harbouring incestuous feelings for his niece in 'A View from the Bridge' by Arthur Miller. The previous year, she had made her Broadway debut in Chekhov's 'A Day by the Sea' as a supportive governess to an alcoholic physician.

Filmography

• A Woman of Substance — Mrs Turner
• 1980A Cup O' Tea An' A Slice O' Cake - Worzel Gummidge Christmas Special — Mrs Braithwaite
• Young at Heart — Ethel Collyer
• Worzel Gummidge — Mrs. Braithwaite
• 1978Kay — Iris
• The Sound of Laughter — Emily Lloyd
• 1976The Daedalus Equations — Eileen Gray
• 1975The Amorous Milkman — Iris Peters
• Father Brown — Mrs Banks
• 1974If You Could See What I Can See — Mrs. Palmer
• Oh No, It's Selwyn Froggitt! — Mum
• Playhouse — Eileen Gray
• 1974The Turn of the Screw — Mrs. Grose
• 1974Weekend Guest — Beryl Steele
• Orson Welles' Great Mysteries — Mrs. White
• 1973The Monkey's Paw — Mrs. White
• 1972Asylum — Nurse Higgins
• The Befrienders — Janet
• Ben Travers Farces — Mrs. Hewlett
• Menace — Mrs. Pepper
• 1969David Copperfield — Clara Peggotty
• 1969The Smashing Bird I Used to Know — Matron
• W. Somerset Maugham — Mrs. Bulfinch
• 1968Oliver! — Mrs. Bedwin
• ITV Playhouse — Beryl Steele
• 1967Stranger in the House — Mrs. Christoforides
• Mystery and Imagination — Mrs Bunch, Mrs Smedhurst
• 1966Where the Buffalo Roam
• 1965Bunny Lake Is Missing — Sister
• Gideon's Way — Liz Rikker
• Thirty-Minute Theatre — Miss Wellcome
• 1964Macbeth — Gentlewoman
• 1964Murder Most Foul — Gladys Thomas
• The Wednesday Play — Mrs. Turner, Molly Wilderness
• 1963The Barber of Stamford Hill
• The Human Jungle — Dr. Murphy
• 1962Heart to Heart — Lady Johnson
• 1962Life for Ruth — Mrs Gordon
• The Old Curiosity Shop — Mrs Nubbles
• Drama 61-67 — Amy
• 1961The Green Helmet — Kitty Launder
• 1961The Innocents — Mrs. Grose
• 1959Friends and Neighbours — Lily Grimshaw
• 1959Jet Storm — Rose Brock
• 1959Tiger Bay — Mrs. Phillips
• 1958Indiscreet — Doris Banks
• 1957The Man in the Sky — Mrs. Snowden
• 1957The Passionate Stranger — Millie
• 1957The Story of Esther Costello — Nurse Evans
• Armchair Theatre — Ma Waite
• Nathaniel Titlark
• 1955John and Julie — Mrs. Pritchett
• 1955Out of the Clouds — Mrs. Jones, the Landlady
• 1954The Gay Dog — Maggie Gay
• 1953Personal Affair — Vi Vining
• 1953Rough Shoot — Mrs. Powell
• 1953The Cruel Sea — Tallow's Sister
• 1953Trouble in Store — Miss Gibson
• 1952Ivanhoe — Servant to Isaac
• 1952Secret People — Penny
• Hallmark Hall of Fame — Gentlewoman
• 1951White Corridors — Mrs. Briggs
• 1950No Place for Jennifer — Mrs. Marshall
• 1949A Boy, a Girl and a Bike — Nan Ritchie
• 1949The History of Mr. Polly — The Innkeeper
• 1948Saraband for Dead Lovers — Frau Busche
• 1948The Monkey's Paw — Mrs. Alice Trelawne
• 1947The Brothers — Angustina
• 1946Green for Danger — Nurse Woods
• 194529 Acacia Avenue — Shirley
• 1945Painted Boats — Barmaid
• 1945The Ten Year Plan — Housewife
• 1944It's in the Bag — Peach St. Clair
• 1943Millions Like Us — Gwen Price
• 1943The Lamp Still Burns — Nurse (uncredited)
• 1939Poison Pen — Barmaid
• 1939Secret Journey — Berta Von Reimer