Yvonne Gilan obit

Obituary - Yvonne Gilan, Scottish actress known as the flirtatious Frenchwoman in Fawlty Towers

 

She was not on the list.

Yvonne Gilan, Scottish actress known as the flirtatious Frenchwoman in Fawlty Towers. An appreciation

YVONNE Gilan, who has died aged 86, was a Scottish actress well known on television and the stage. One role has secured her a place in the hall of sitcom fame – that of the flirtatious French antique dealer in a classic episode (The Wedding Party) of Fawlty Towers. She was also the mother of the acclaimed Sunday Times journalist AA Gill and her husband Michael Gill produced both the BBC’s Civilisation fronted by Kenneth Clark and America with Alistair Cooke.

Gilan followed a versatile career as an actress, appearing in several episodes of Dr Finlay’s Casebook (she admitted, “I don’t know how many I was in. The show was a joy to be part of”) and was a founding member of the adventurous Half Moon Theatre in London’s East End. She remained a proud Scot. In a recent interview about her schooldays in Edinburgh she recalled, “I always think of Edinburgh as home and it is still such a beautiful city.”

Yvonne Janette Gilan was born in Edinburgh in 1931 where her father was a dentist. She attended George Watson’s Ladies College and Edinburgh College of Speech and Drama. She showed a keen interest in theatre at school and has told of a production there of Shaw’s You Never Can Tell. “It was a great experience” and with a broad smile and an enchanting Scottish lilt in her voice added, “and some of the guys from the boys’ played the male roles.”

On graduating Gilan worked at both the Royal Lyceum in Edinburgh and toured throughout Scotland with the Wilson Barrett Company. While still at college she met Michael Gill who was then a sub-editor on The Scotsman. They married in 1951 in the capital and had their first son (AA Gill) in the Royal Infirmary.

The family moved to London when Michael Gill got a job with the BBC. When her sons went to school Gilan returned to acting and was seen in various episodes of Z Cars, Crossroads, Alan Bennett’s On the Margin and played Eric Liddell’s stern and unsmiling mother in the movie Chariots of Fire.

But she will be fondly remembered for her appearance as Mme Peignoir the flighty French guest in Fawlty Towers. In the classic episode from 1975 Mme Peignoir books in while the fearsome Sybil is away. With eyes rolling and a mighty sexy French accent Gilan flirts with Basil (John Cleese) and asks, “Are you a romantic, Mr Fawlty? Well, I think you are. I think beneath that English exterior throbs a passion that would make Lord Byron look like a tobacconist.” Then she tells a startled Basil, because it was so hot, “Tonight I sleep au naturel.”

Latterly Gilan also pursued a career advising businessmen how to project their voice and control their breathing while being interviewed. Her largest clients numbered The Bank of Scotland and British Airways and several politicians including the former Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

One last gem from that episode Fawlty Towers. At breakfast Mme Peignoir asks Basil in a very saucy voice for “un café noir”. A bemused Basil simply says, “Ole” and clicks his fingers like a matador. Gilan raises her eyebrows in horror. That says it all.

Her younger son Nick left the family home in 1988 without explanation and AA Gill died in 2016. She is survived by her six grandchildren.

Writer

The Peaches (1964)

The Peaches

6.3

Short

Writer

1964

 

Actress

Stella Gonet and Louise Lombard in The House of Eliott (1991)

The House of Eliott

8.1

TV Series

Faith Bannister

1994

1 episode

 

French Fields (1989)

French Fields

6.4

TV Series

Old Woman

Madame Nadal

1989–1991

2 episodes

 

Theatre Night (1985)

Theatre Night

6.8

TV Series

Mrs. Dunning

1989

1 episode

 

Empire of the Sun (1987)

Empire of the Sun

7.7

Mrs. Lockwood

1987

 

Eve Matheson and Rebecca Saire in Vanity Fair (1987)

Vanity Fair

7.8

TV Series

Mrs. Blackbrook

1987

1 episode

 

EastEnders (1985)

EastEnders

4.8

TV Series

Mrs. McCabe

1986

1 episode

 

Screen Two (1984)

Screen Two

6.4

TV Series

Widow Macleay

1986

1 episode

 

By the Sword Divided (1983)

By the Sword Divided

8.0

TV Series

Mrs. Cromwell

1985

1 episode

 

Another Time, Another Place (1983)

Another Time, Another Place

6.4

Jess

1983

 

Brad Davis, Ben Cross, Yves Beneyton, Colin Bruce, Ian Charleson, Dennis Christopher, Patrick Doyle, Nicholas Farrell, Daniel Gerroll, Stephen Mallatratt, Alan Polonsky, Struan Rodger, Edward Wiley, Benny Young, and David John in Chariots of Fire (1981)

Chariots of Fire

7.1

Mrs Liddell

1981

 

Trevor Eve in Shoestring (1979)

Shoestring

7.5

TV Series

Rosemary Mortimer

1980

1 episode

 

Dustin Hoffman and Vanessa Redgrave in Agatha (1979)

Agatha

6.2

Mrs. Braithwaite

1979

 

1990 (1977)

1990

7.4

TV Series

Defence Counsel

1977

1 episode

 

Noele Gordon in Crossroads (1964)

Crossroads

4.4

TV Series

Eileen Blythe

1976

3 episodes

 

The Tiger Lily (1975)

The Tiger Lily

Lotus Blossom

1975

 

Fawlty Towers (1975)

Fawlty Towers

8.8

TV Series

Mrs. Peignoir

1975

1 episode

 

Armchair Theatre (1956)

Armchair Theatre

7.5

TV Series

Lady

1974

1 episode

 

Vanessa Redgrave, Jeremy Brett, and Annette Crosbie in A Picture of Katherine Mansfield (1973)

A Picture of Katherine Mansfield

8.5

TV Series

Mrs. Knight

1973

1 episode

 

Alfred Burke in Public Eye (1965)

Public Eye

8.5

TV Series

Beryl

1973

1 episode

 

General Hospital (1972)

General Hospital

7.4

TV Series

Gynaecology Sister

1972

1 episode

 

Play for Today (1970)

Play for Today

7.8

TV Series

Helen

1971

1 episode

 

Jack Warner in Dixon of Dock Green (1955)

Dixon of Dock Green

6.9

TV Series

Sarah Kendrick

1969

1 episode

 

Ann Bell and Peter Sallis in Plays of Today (1969)

Plays of Today

TV Series

Miss Cox

1969

1 episode

 

Dr. Finlay's Casebook (1962)

Dr. Finlay's Casebook

7.6

TV Series

Annie Hetherington

Kate

Mildred Allison ...

1963–1969

6 episodes

 

The Wednesday Play (1964)

The Wednesday Play

7.2

TV Series

Dr. Hedges

1969

1 episode

 

Journey to the Unknown (1968)

Journey to the Unknown

7.6

TV Series

Mrs. Brown

1968

1 episode

 

Detective (1964)

Detective

7.3

TV Series

Georgia Strangeways

1968

1 episode

 

BBC Play of the Month (1965)

BBC Play of the Month

6.7

TV Series

Sister Marthe

1968

1 episode

 

Ray Barrett, Geoffrey Keen, and Philip Latham in Mogul (1965)

Mogul

7.0

TV Series

Allison MacKenzie

1968

1 episode

 

Z Cars (1962)

Z Cars

7.0

TV Series

Vera Cowley

1967

2 episodes

 

On the Margin

TV Series

1966

6 episodes

 

Television Club

TV Series

Mrs. Simpson

1962

1 episode

 

Ronnie Barker, Jimmy Edwards, and June Whitfield in The Seven Faces of Jim (1961)

The Seven Faces of Jim

6.4

TV Series

Judith Chalmers

1961

1 episode

 

They Made History

TV Mini Series

Stephens

1961

1 episode

 

Self

Fawlty Exclusive: Basil's Best Bits (2009)

Fawlty Exclusive: Basil's Best Bits

7.1

TV Movie

Self

Mrs. Peignoir

2009