Jill Townsend

Jill Townsend
Townsend in 1967
OccupationActress
Years active1967–1985
Spouse(s)Tom Sutton
(m. 1968; div. 1969)
​
​
(m. 1971; div. 1977)​

Bob Sorel
(m. 1993)
Children1

Jill Townsend is an American actress best known for her roles as Maggie Verver in the BBC series The Golden Bowl (1972), Elizabeth Chynoweth in the series Poldark (BBC, 1975-1977), and Dulcey Coopersmith in the American western television series Cimarron Strip (1967).

Life and career

Townsend grew up on Long Island. Her father, Robert Townsend, a former head of Avis, wrote the bestseller Up the Organization (1970). Her mother is Joan Tour. Townsend had two sisters and two brothers. Townsend studed acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

Townsend co-starred with Nicol Williamson in John Osborne's 1965 stageplay Inadmissible Evidence when it played on Broadway. They married two weeks after she won the role, but "she bailed out after 21 tempestuous months into a quickie marriage with a Hollywood horse trainer and stuntman".

She later reunited with Williamson with a marriage in London. They were married from 1971 to 1977. Their son Luke Williamson was born in 1973.

In 1976, Townsend and Nicol Williamson parted temporarily. She had begun a relationship with Alan Price, her co-star in Alfie Darling. She and Williamson later divorced.

Townsend has been married to Bob Sorel since 1993.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1967 The Spirit Is Willing Jenny Pruitt / Priscilla Weems / Carol Weems
1972 Sitting Target Maureen
1975 Alfie Darling Abby Summers
1976 The Seven-Per-Cent Solution Mrs. Holmes
1980 The Awakening Anne Corbeck

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1966 Hawk Belinda "The Living End of Sisterbaby"
1967 The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. Sherilee "The Drublegratz Affair"
1967–68 Cimarron Strip Dulcey Coopersmith Main role
1969 The Wild Wild West Sylvia Nolan "The Night of the Sabatini Death"
1969 Bonanza Abigail Hought "Another Windmill to Go"
1969 The Name of the Game Jackie Buchanan "The Perfect Image"
1969 The Virginian Roseanna "Black Jade"
1970 Ironside Betty "Eden Is the Place We Leave"
1970 Family Affair Anne Williams "Angel in the Family"
1972 The Golden Bowl Maggie Verver TV miniseries
1972 The Gangster Show: The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui Mrs. Dulfeet TV film
1973 The Protectors Monica Davies "Wam: Parts 1 & 2"
1975 The Sweeney Jenny Peters "Ringer"
1975–1977 Poldark Elizabeth Chynoweth Main role
1977 Space: 1999 Sahala "Dorzak"
1985 Scarecrow and Mrs. King "Ship of Spies"

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Hauptfuhrer, Fred (April 5, 1976). "Who's Afraid of Nicol Williamson? Everyone but His Spouse, Jill Townsend". People. Archived from the original on December 9, 2024. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  2. ↑ Pace, Eric (January 14, 1998). "Robert Townsend, 77, Dies - Wrote 'Up the Organization'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 8, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Jill Townsend". Playbill.
  4. ↑ New York magazine, June 14, 1976, p. 61, "No Split Seen for Williamsons"
  5. ↑ Winston Graham, Memoirs of a Private Man. (Pan Macmillan, 2003). Accessed 7 January 2015
  6. ↑ "Jill Townsend-Sorel". councilofgrandmothers-ojai.org. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved January 18, 2015.