Ysanne Churchman

Who is Ysanne Churchman?

Ysanne Churchman worked as an actress and narrator on British radio, TV and film for over 50 years. She achieved national fame as 'Grace Archer' in the long-running BBC drama series, when Grace died in a fire on the night when ITV launched in 1955.

Ysanne Churchman was born on 14 May 1925 in Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire, to Andrew Churchman and Gladys Dale, well-known stage and radio performers in London.

In 1938 Churchman appeared on both BBC Radio Children's Hour and in a BBC TV play Gallows Glorious. She trained as a dancer at Cone-Ripman College. After learning repertory and theatre she specialised in radio and voice work for film and television. This led to national fame as Grace in the long-running radio series The Archers when Grace suffered grievous injuries in a fire on the night of the ITV launch in 1955; the character died in the following day's episode.. She went on to voice five other Archers characters over the years, most recently Mary Pound in 1983.