Peggy Evans obit

Peggy Evans, actress - obituary

Actress trained at Rank’s 'charm school’ who made her mark as the gangster’s moll in The Blue Lamp 

She was not on the list.

Peggy Evans, who has died aged 94, was best known for playing the girlfriend of the criminal delinquent Dirk Bogarde in The Blue Lamp (1950); an early example of a “social realism” film, it starred Jack Warner as PC Dixon, and became the inspiration for the television series Dixon of Dock Green (1955–1976).

One of four children, Evans was born in Sheffield but grew up in Ealing, west London. As a teenager, her winning a creative writing contest earned her a screen test with the Rank Organization.

After having bit parts in Lightning Conductor (1938) and Charley's (Big-Hearted) Aunt (1940), Evans entered the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art for training. Her work in Penny and the Pownall Case (1948) was praised in Monthly Film Review: "Peggy Evans ... is a sparkling heroine, who not only looks extremely attractive but acts with naturalness and charm as well." She had a prominent role in The Blue Lamp, playing the girlfriend of Dirk Bogarde's young mobster. On stage she appeared in the 1953 West End play Four Winds.

Evans was married twice: to actor Michael Howard from 1949 to 1956; the union produced two children but ended in divorce. She married, secondly, to Peter Stevens in 1990; the couple remained together until his death in 1997. In later years, she learned Portuguese and lived in the Algarve for part of each year.

She acted in Alex Atkinson's play, "Four Winds", at the Phoenix Theatre in London, England with William Kendall, Frank Lawton, Roderick Lovell and Nancy Roberts in the cast.

 

Actress

Wendy Richard in Harpers West One (1961)

Harpers West One

TV Series

Jane Speer

1961

1 episode

 

Theatre 70

TV Series

Operator

1961

1 episode

 

Murder at 3am (1953)

Murder at 3am

5.2

Joan Lawton

1953

 

Calling Bulldog Drummond (1951)

Calling Bulldog Drummond

6.2

Molly

1951

 

Dirk Bogarde, Jimmy Hanley, and Jack Warner in The Blue Lamp (1950)

The Blue Lamp

6.8

Diana Lewis

1950

 

Look Before You Love (1948)

Look Before You Love

4.8

Typist

1948

 

Love in Waiting (1948)

Love in Waiting

5.8

Gloria 'Golly' Raine

1948

 

Penny and the Pownall Case (1948)

Penny and the Pownall Case

5.5

Penny Justin

1948

 

Ralph Richardson in Secret Flight (1946)

Secret Flight

6.4

Daphne Adams

1946

 

Charley's (Big-Hearted) Aunt (1940)

Charley's (Big-Hearted) Aunt

5.8

Girl (uncredited)

1940

 

Sally Gray, Gordon Harker, and John Lodge in Lightning Conductor (1938)

Lightning Conductor

Girl on bus (uncredited)

1938

 

Colonel Blood (1934)

Colonel Blood

Nancy

1934

 

Self

Tuesday's Documentary (1968)

Tuesday's Documentary

6.4

TV Series

Self

1982

1 episode

 

Here's Howard

TV Series

Self

1951

8 episodes