{{Short description|British actress (1928–2021)}} {{more citations needed|date=August 2010}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}} {{Infobox person | name = Denise Bryer | image = Denise Bryer.jpg | caption = Bryer in 2014 | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1928|1|5|df=y}} | birth_place = London, England | years_active = 1946–2021 | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2021|10|16|1928|1|5}} | occupation = Actress | spouse = {{Marriage|Nicholas Parsons|1954|1989|reason=divorced}} | children = 2 | website = | footnotes = }}
'''Denise Bryer''' (5 January 1928 – 16 October 2021) was an English actress, known for her voice roles on television and radio.
==Career== Bryer was born 5 January 1928<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=lz%2FtOLmS6N%2BVLKm6fip5EQ&scan=1|title=Index entry|accessdate=19 July 2021|work=FreeBMD|publisher=ONS}}</ref><ref name=hayward>{{cite news|last=Hayward|first=Anthony|title=Denise Bryer obituary|work=The Guardian|date=8 November 2021|accessdate=5 January 2024|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/nov/08/denise-bryer-obituary}}</ref> in Kensington, London to Claude and Susie ({{nee}} Mott) Bryer. Her father was a jeweller and her mother a former actress.<ref name=hayward /> She was the youngest of seven children. Her eldest sister, Vera, was also an actor and dancer.<ref name=hayward />
Denise Bryer made her motion picture debut in 1937 in ''A Romance in Flanders''.<ref name=hayward />
Evacuated to Buckinghamshire during World War II, she attended school there before returning to London after the war. She subsequently studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.<ref name=hayward />
Bryer resumed her acting career on the radio in 1947.<ref name=hayward />
Best remembered in her UK homeland for her work on the Gerry Anderson series, ''Terrahawks'', where she voiced both the main villain Zelda and the heroic Capt. Mary Falconer, Bryer became well known in the United States when she voiced Billina in Disney's 1985 film ''Return to Oz'', as well as The Junk Lady in the 1986 movie ''Labyrinth'', and many other films.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/filmosearch|title=Latest Titles With Denise Bryer|website=IMDb.com|accessdate=15 November 2017}}</ref> In addition to her work voice acting in film and television, she worked extensively on UK radio and children's recordings.
Bryer first came to public attention when she voiced Footso in ''The Adventures of Twizzle'' and would go on to voice in Anderson's later series ''Four Feather Falls'' as Ma Jones and Little Jake. She also voiced Kiki The Frog in ''Hector's House'' and Noddy on the eponymous television show between 1955 till 1969 alongside commercials for Kellogg's Ricicles and audio adaptations. She dubbed the voice of Commander Makara in the Japanese puppet series ''Star Fleet'' around the same time as ''Terrahawks''. In Big Finish's Doctor Who audio dramas ''The Reaping'' and ''The Gathering'', she provided the voice of Dominique Van Gyseghem.
===Radio=== Bryer featured in ''Eurydice'', a 1951 BBC Radio adaptation of a play by Jean Anouilh. The cast included Paul Scofield and Sebastian Cabot.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scofieldsperformances.com|title=Paul Scofield's Performances|website=Scofieldsperformances.com|accessdate=15 November 2017}}</ref>
In 1954, she appeared in ''Zuleika Dobson'' by Max Beerbohm, aired on the BBC Third Programme, with Michael Hordern.
===Recordings=== Bryer also starred in or narrated several of the stories in the ''Tale Spinners for Children'' series of record albums released beginning in 1960.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.artsreformation.com/talespinners/|title=Tale Spinners for Children|website=Artsreformation.com|accessdate=15 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130813045512/http://www.artsreformation.com/talespinners/|archive-date=13 August 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> She also was a narrator of the Marshall Cavendish partwork Storyteller I and II as well as the little StoryTeller series.
==Personal life== Bryer married actor/presenter Nicholas Parsons in 1954; together they had two children, interior designer son Justin and daughter Suzy.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=LEWIS|first=ROZ|date=29 July 2016|title=Nicholas Parsons: Celebrity traveller|url=https://www.express.co.uk/travel/articles/694866/Nicholas-Parsons-Celebrity-traveller|access-date=10 October 2020|website=Express.co.uk|language=en}}</ref> Bryer and Parsons divorced in 1989 after thirty five years of marriage<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2017/dec/03/nicholas-parsons-i-irritated-my-family-because-they-didnt-like-showoffs|title=Nicholas Parsons: 'I irritated my family because they didn't like showoffs'|first=Simon|last=Hattenstone|newspaper=The Guardian |date=3 December 2017|via=www.theguardian.com}}</ref> but remained on friendly terms.<ref name=":0" />
Bryer died on 16 October 2021, at the age of 93.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Jeffery|first1=Morgan|title=Denise Bryer – actress who played Zelda in Terrahawks – dies, aged 93 |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/denise-bryer-dead-newsupdate/|work=Radio Times|date=18 October 2021}}</ref>
==Filmography== ===Film and television=== *''Junior Miss'' (1946) - Lois Graves *''Noddy'' (1955–1969) - Noddy (voice) *''Here Comes Kandy'' (1956) - Additional voices *''The Adventures of Twizzle'' (1957–1958) - Footso, Additional voices *''Four Feather Falls'' (1960) - Martha Jones, Makooya the Little India Boy, Additional voices *''Maigret'' (1963) - Child's Voice *''Hector's House'' (1968–1970) - Kiki the Frog, a.k.a. Mrs. Frog (voice) *''Gulliver's Travels'' (1977) - Additional voices *''Star Fleet'' (1980–1982) - Commander Makara (voice) *''Hercules'' (1983) - Circe (voice; uncredited) *''Terrahawks'' (1983–1986) - Mary Falconer, Zelda *''Return to Oz'' (1985) - Billina (voice) *''Labyrinth'' (1986) - The Junk Lady (voice) *''G-Force Intergalactic'' (1993) - Dr. Julie Sigmund * ''Reflections in the Mirror'' (2018) - Billina (voice)
===Radio=== *''Eurydice'' (1951) *''Zuleika Dobson'' (1954) *''Wimsey - Unnatural Death'' (1975)
===Narrator=== *''Tale Spinners for Children'' series (1960s)
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|117350}} * {{Discogs artist|Denise Bryer}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bryer, Denise}} Category:1928 births Category:2021 deaths Category:20th-century English actresses Category:Actors from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Category:Actresses from London Category:English radio actresses Category:English voice actresses Category:People from Kensington