Yvonne Gilan

Who is Yvonne Gilan?

Yvonne Gilan is an English actress who is best remembered for her portrayal of Mrs. Peignoir in Fawlty Towers.

In 1964 she wrote a short fantasy film, The Peaches, starring Juliet Harmer, with a small cameo role for her son, Adrian as a bespectacled chess player. The film became the British choice for the Cannes Film Festival, and won several international awards.

Her Fawlty Towers appearance in "The Wedding Party", first transmitted on 3 October 1975, was as a French antiques dealer who seems to have a soft spot for Basil Fawlty. She had an unusual take on his character: "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."

Her comic skills were displayed earlier in Alan Bennett's comedy series On the Margin. Gilan's acting career has also included roles in Z-Cars as Vera Cowley, Dixon of Dock Green, Crossroads as Eileen Blythe, a few episodes of Dr. Finlay's Casebook in several roles and The House of Elliot as Ruth Bannister. Her film credits include Agatha as Mrs. Braithwaite, Chariots of Fire as Mrs. Liddell, and Empire of the Sun as Mrs. Lockwood.