Ann Coleman (née Beach; 7 June 1938 – 9 March 2017) was a British actress whose career across stage, screen, and radio spanned more than five decades. She was best known for her role as Sonia Barrett in the ITV sitcom Fresh Fields (1984–1986).
Early life and education Ann Beach was born on 7 June 1938 in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, the elder daughter of Claude Ripley Beach, a grocer, and his wife, Rebecca (née Startup). She had a younger sister. Her paternal grandfather, Albert Beach, served as the mayor of Wolverhampton. The family later relocated to Cardiff, Wales, where they opened an ice-cream parlour.
Showing early musical talent as a vocalist, Beach joined the renowned Snowflakes children's choir, which won the inaugural competition at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod in 1947. While attending Cardiff High School for Girls, her teachers noted her immense promise as a singer. She received significant personal encouragement from Rae Jenkins, the principal conductor of the BBC Welsh Orchestra, who believed she possessed the talent to pursue a professional career as an opera singer.
Career
Training and early theatre (1954–1959) Choosing drama over opera, Beach won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and moved to London alone aged 16, taking up lodgings in Shepherds Hill, Highgate. She graduated in 1957, winning the prestigious Anmer Hall Memorial Prize.
Beach made her professional stage debut in 1957 at the Streatham Hill Theatre, appearing as Paquerette in a touring production of Georges Feydeau's farce L'Hôtel du libre échange alongside Frankie Howerd. The following year, she made her West End debut at the Apollo Theatre playing the title role in Emlyn Williams's Beth, portraying a 16-year-old with a mental age of eight. Her performance earned critical praise from The Stage, which labelled her "an outstandingly good actress with a promise for the future."
Theatrical breakthrough and Left-Bank collaborations (1959–1969) In 1959, Beach joined Joan Littlewood's nascent Theatre Workshop company at the Theatre Royal Stratford East. She quickly became a stalwart of the company, mixing creative chaos with sharp comedic timing. Her early roles with Littlewood included Young Cratchit in A Christmas Carol, Rosey in the premiere of Lionel Bart's musical Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be, and Miss Gilchrist in Brendan Behan's play The Hostage, the latter of which successfully transferred to the West End's Wyndham's Theatre. In 1960, she starred at the Cambridge Theatre as the orange-eating Barbara opposite Albert Finney in Billy Liar.
Beach balanced her time at Stratford East with work at the Royal Court Theatre, relishing the high-minded rigour of the latter. Her Royal Court appearances included Max Frisch's play The Fire Raisers with Colin Blakely and James Booth, and John Osborne's double-bill of plays, Plays for England (1961), directed by Lindsay Anderson. In 1962, she performed in Osborne's Under Plain Cover, directed by Jonathan Miller.
She returned to Stratford East in 1963 to join the ensemble of the seminal satirical musical Oh! What a Lovely War. That same year, she made her debut with the Royal Shakespeare Company, appearing as Hermione in Peter Hall's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. In 1964, she returned to the Royal Court to play Shirley, the pregnant secretary and mistress to Nicol Williamson's loathsome lawyer Bill Maitland, in Osborne's Inadmissible Evidence, directed by Anthony Page. The production subsequently transferred to the Wyndham's Theatre. In 1966, she shared the stage with Alastair Sim and Margaret Rutherford at the Chichester Festival Theatre in a revival of The Clandestine Marriage.
Musical theatre and West End "glamour" shows Though sometimes considered underused in musical theatre, her powerful singing voice secured her several notable West End musical roles. She played Hortense in a 1967 revival of Sandy Wilson's musical The Boy Friend at the Comedy Theatre, directed by Wilson himself. In 1969, she starred opposite Hollywood icon Ginger Rogers at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in the musical Mame. Playing the role of Agnes Gooch, another pregnant secretary, Beach stopped the show nightly with her rendition of "Gooch's Song," showcasing her operatic high notes.
In 1975, she returned to Stratford East for the musical Nickleby and Me. In 1980, she played the eccentric Broadway zany Letitia Primrose alongside Keith Michell and Julia McKenzie in On the Twentieth Century at Her Majesty's Theatre. Later stage roles included Peter Gibbs's Selling the Sizzle (Hampstead Theatre, 1986) and the pantomime Cinderella (Cliffs Pavilion in Southend, 1987).
Television, film, and radio Beach compiled an expansive television portfolio. Her screen breakthrough came in 1961 as Brenda, part of the feisty all-female garment factory workforce in the BBC sitcom The Rag Trade, starring alongside Barbara Windsor, Toni Palmer, Sheila Hancock, and Miriam Karlin.
Her most enduring television fame arrived in 1984 when she was cast as the nosy, eccentric neighbour Sonia Barrett in the ITV sitcom Fresh Fields, written by John Chapman and starring Julia McKenzie and Anton Rodgers. Characterised by her comedic catchphrase "It's only Sonia!", Beach played the role across the show's run until 1986, and later reprised the character as a guest star in the 1991 final episode of the expat-themed sequel, French Fields.
Her other television credits included playing Mrs Sowerberry in the 1982 adaptation of Oliver Twist (starring George C. Scott), as well as guest appearances in Foyle's War, Midsomer Murders, and the medical drama Monroe.
Though she appeared in fewer feature films, Beach reprised her role as the pert maid in the 1966 cinematic adaptation of Hotel Paradiso, starring Alec Guinness and Gina Lollobrigida. She also appeared in the star-studded 1972 film adaptation of Dylan Thomas's radio drama Under Milk Wood. In 1999, she made a brief but memorable appearance as William Thacker's (Hugh Grant) mother in the romantic comedy Notting Hill.
Beach was a prolific radio actress, praising the medium for a team spirit that reminded her of her early repertory theatre days. She performed in countless BBC radio dramas over decades, including William Trevor's Solitude (2002). In 2012, she enjoyed a brief tenure on the BBC Radio 4 soap opera The Archers, playing Joyce Walters, a tenant of Lilian Bellamy.
Later years As theatre opportunities grew scarcer in her later career, Beach successfully transitioned into voice coaching and worked as a drama teacher at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. In private life, friends and colleagues frequently recalled her party trick: playing Frédéric Chopin's piece Minute Waltz on the piano while singing frantic, breathless self-penned lyrics.
Personal life On 30 July 1966, Beach married the Canadian television producer Francis Coleman at the Hampstead Register Office. The couple had two daughters, Charlotte Coleman and Lisa Coleman, both of whom entered the acting profession. Charlotte, who achieved mainstream recognition for her role in Four Weddings and a Funeral, died from an asthma attack in November 2001. Her husband died in 2008.
Beach died on 9 March 2017 in Haringey, Greater London. She was 78.
Filmography YearTitleRoleNotes1957Play of the WeekMaud RiordanEpisode: "The Grass Harp"1958, 1960, 1971, 1973Armchair TheatreElaine Morris, Penelope, Mrs. Drayton4 episodes1960The City of the DeadLottie1960Theatre NightBarbaraEpisode: "Billy Liar"1961On the FiddleIris1961Nothing BarredGirlfriend Who Drops Through Open ManholeUncredited1961The Rag TradeBrenda9 episodes1961–1962BBC Sunday-Night PlayMiss Chatham, Thelma2 episodes1962The Fast LadyMiss Timpkins1963TempoHerselfEpisode: "Lions Led by Donkeys"1963–1964FestivalSaunders, Maria2 episodes1965Off Beat...Actress2 episodes1966The World of WoosterParlourmaidEpisode: "Jeeves and the Clustering Round Young Bingo"1966Hotel ParadisoVictoire1966, 1971, 1977Play of the MonthGwen, Anna Vyroubova, Violet, Mrs. Dainty Fidget4 episodes1967Half Hour StoryJenniferEpisode: "The 45th Unmarried Mother"1968SebastianPamela1969JackanoryStoryteller5 episodes1969–1970The Wednesday PlayBlodwen Wilderness, Music Hall Artiste2 episodes1970Steptoe and SonDaphneEpisode: "Steptoe and Son - and Son!"1970The Rise and Rise of Michael RimmerReceptionist (Yvonne)1971For the Love of AdaAlice BingleyEpisode: "The Journey"1971Elephant's Eggs in a Rhubarb TreeVarious roles6 episodes1971Under Milk WoodPolly Garter1971The Rivals of Sherlock HolmesMary GrandardEpisode: "The Woman in the Big Hat"1971Shirley's WorldActressEpisode: "The Rally"1972The Man OutsideMaudlinEpisode: "A Persistent Coffin"1972, 1980Play for TodayValerie, Shirley Ritchie, Morag3 episodes1973Never Mind the Quality Feel the WidthBridie1973Song at TwilightShirley Ritchie1973Seven of OneDorisEpisode: "My Old Man"1974Perils of PendragonMaudlin2 episodes1974OmnibusQueen VictoriaEpisode: "Crystal Palace-The Great Glass Hive"1974MasqueradeFredaEpisode: "Service Not Included"1974Late Night DramaDianeEpisode: "You Don't Remember!"1975Ten from the TwentiesJehaneEpisode: "The Orsini Emeralds"1975Dawson's WeeklyMrs. FfoulkesEpisode: "The Clerical Error"1975Shades of GreeneMiss SandersonEpisode: "Special Duties"1976Bouquet of Barbed WireMonica2 episodes1976Widowing of Mrs. HolroydClara1976The Government InspectorMayor's wifeEpisode: "Bribery and Corruption"1976James and the Giant PeachAunt Sponge1977Rising DampMrs. BrentEpisode: "1977Fred BassetActressShort film1977The Battle of Billy's PondMrs. BatesonTelevision film1978The Upchat ConnectionUnaEpisode: "Spring in Park Lane"1978BBC2 Play of the WeekMoragEpisode: "The Vanishing Army"1979Brecht and CoMember of Brecht's company, Widow Begbick, Polly Peacham1979Diary of a NobodySarah9 episodes1980The History of Mr. PollyMrs. Johnson2 episodes1980Tales of the UnexpectedMiss UnwinEpisode: "Georgy Porgy"1981Holding the FortMurielEpisode: "Famous First Words"1981Only When I LaughHelen Roper-JonesEpisode: "Postman's Knock"1982Oliver TwistMrs. SowerberryTelevision film1983Salad DaysTimothy's Mother1983NannyMiss Alice CassonEpisode: "The Prodigy"1984–1986Fresh FieldsSonia Barrett26 episodes1985Tandoori NightsNurse PetersEpisode: "Far from the Ganges"1986That Uncertain FeelingMrs. Davies4 episodes1987The Sooty ShowDetective Sergeant Sarah SnoopEpisode: "White Lies"1987SceneMotherEpisode: "This Year's Model"1989–1990BrooksideJane Harper6 episodes1990Home to RoostRita HiggsEpisode: "Return to Clagthorpe"1991King RalphMiranda's Mother1991French FieldsSonia BarrettEpisode: "Hail and Farewell"1991, 1994Screen OneMrs. Chubb, Mrs. Leveller2 episodes1992Land of Hope and GloriaFredaEpisode: "Running Before Walking"1993BookmarkHeadmaster's wifeEpisode: "Selected Exits"1994The LifeboatPhyllis Shore4 episodes1995The BillMrs. ParkerEpisode: "All in the Game"1995Stick with Me, KidLorindaEpisode: "Man of a Couple Faces"1998WycliffeMrs. WimbleEpisode: "Land's End"1999Notting HillWilliam's Mother1999People Like UsActressEpisode: "The Photographer"2000Home Farm TwinsDotty MillerEpisode: "Sam and AJ Save the Day"2001Peak PracticeEunice GouldEpisode: "Flesh and Blood"2001–2002TreasureActress13 episodes2002Double ActGranTelevision film2005Midsomer MurdersSonia HardwickEpisode: "Sauce for the Goose"2005Cold BloodLynnEpisode: "Cold Blood"2006Doctor Who: The Monthly AdventuresThe DeaconEpisode: "Night Thoughts"2007Foyle's WarHilda GreenwoodEpisode: "Bleak Midwinter"2007I Am BobFriendly Old Lady2007The History of Mr PollyMrs. Rumbold2008HolbyBlueAnnieEpisode: "Episode #2.3"2010Bad Night for the BluesMadgeShort film2011The Afternoon PlayAliceEpisode: "Small Acts of Kindness"2011Pandora's TowerMavda2011Fast Freddie, The Widow and MeFreddie's Grandma2011Lovers & Other ProblemsActress2012MonroeJune DaggertEpisode: "Episode #2.5"2012The ArchersJoyce Walters6 episodes2013One ChanceElderly Woman