Ann Beach

Who is Ann Beach?

Ann Beach is a British actress.

She is the mother of Charlotte Coleman and Lisa Coleman. She is perhaps best remembered for her supporting role as Sonia Barrett, the quirky next-door neighbour on the British comedy Fresh Fields, starring Julia McKenzie and Anton Rodgers. She was married to Francis Coleman. She won a scholarship to RADA at the age of 16. After leaving, she went on tour with Frankie Howerd in Hotel Paradiso, and then came to London in the title role of Emlyn Williams's "Beth". This was not a success, but she was soon busily engaged in television work, until she went back to the stage in the Theatre Workshop company at the Theatre Royal Stratford East. Among the parts she created there were Rosie in Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be, and Miss Gilchrist in The Hostage. She then created the role of Barbara in Billy Liar at the Cambridge Theatre in September 1960.