Diana Vida Jean Fairfax (19 December 1927 – 28 January 2019) was an Australian-born British actress.
Born in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia,[1][better source needed] in 1945 she sailed on the SS Stratheden from Sydney to Southampton, arriving there on 3 December 1945, aged 17.[2] She made her career in England.[1]
In 1950, Fairfax played Daisy Harding in a touring stage production of School for Spinsters by Roland Pertwee, with The Stage noting her "excellent performance".[3]
An early lead role on television came in January 1958, in an Armchair Theatre production of The Shining Hour, opposite Peter Wyngarde.[4] That same year she also played Lady Castlemaine/Barbara Palmer in eleven episodes of the BBC serial The Diary of Samuel Pepys.[5] She went on to star as Esther Summerson in Bleak House (1959).[6]
In 1960, Fairfax played the title role in Emma, a live BBC television serial in six parts, based on Jane Austen's Emma, directed by Campbell Logan.[7]
She played Lady Verney in Moll Flanders (1975), Mrs Brown in Just William (1977), and Emily Warbeck in Love in a Cold Climate (1980).
In August and September 1987, Fairfax played Lucetta in The Two Gentlemen of Verona at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre.[8]
Personal life
editIn 1958, at Marylebone, Fairfax married the actor Derek Godfrey.[1][9] They had two daughters,[1] born in 1962[10] and 1966.[11]
Notes
edit- 1 2 3 4 "Diana Fairfax", the Movie Database, accessed 3 October 2025
- ↑ "Diana Fairfax in the UK and Ireland, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960": Name Diana Fairfax / Arrival Age 17 / Port of Departure Sydney, Australia / Arrival Date 3 Dec 1945 / Port of Arrival Southampton, England / Ports of Voyage Sydney; Brisbane; Fremantle; Bombay and Suez / Ship Name Stratheden / Shipping Line Peninsula and Orient Steam Navigation Company Ltd / Official Number 165614"
- ↑ "IN THE PROVINCES", The Stage, Thursday 16 March 1950, p. 13
- ↑ "Studio Talk", The Stage, Thursday 19 December 1957, p. 6
- ↑ "The Diary of Samuel Pepys: Episode 3". BBC Genome Project. 21 March 1958. Retrieved 14 April 2026.
- ↑ Dvd review, "Bleak House (1959)", Archive TV Musings, accessed 3 October 2025
- ↑ "Emma Adaptations", strangegirl.com, accessed 3 October 2025
- ↑ "The Two Gentlemen of Verona", theatricalia.com, accessed 3 October 2025
- ↑ "FAIRFAX Diana V / GODFREY / Marylebone 5d 691", FreeBMD, accessed 3 October 2025
- ↑ "GODFREY Julia J. FAIRFAX Westminster 5c 411, FreeBMD, accessed 3 October 2025
- ↑ "GODFREY PHILIPPA ANNE FAIRFAX ST.MARYLEBNE 5D 1488", FreeBMD, accessed 3 October 2025