{{Short description|British actress (1922–1977)}} {{EngvarB|date=February 2018}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}} {{Infobox person | name = Maureen Pryor | image = Actor_Maureen_Pryor.jpg | caption = in ''Orders Are Orders'' (1954) | birth_name = Maureen Arabella St John Pook | birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1922|05|23}} | birth_place = Limerick, Ireland | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1977|05|05|1922|05|23}} | death_place = London, England | restingplace = | othername = | occupation = Actress | yearsactive = | spouse = Stephen Lushington (m.1941 – ?; divorced) <br>Thomas S. Barry (1961 – ?; separated) | children = One son | website = | awards = }} '''Maureen St John Pook''' (23 May 1922 – 5 May 1977), known professionally as '''Maureen Pryor''', was an Irish-born English character actress who made stage, film, and television appearances.<ref name=IBDB/><ref name=bfi/> ''The Encyclopaedia of British Film'' noted, "she never played leads, but, with long rep and TV experience (from 1949), she was noticeable in all she did."<ref name=mcfarlane/>
==Early life== Pryor was born in Limerick, Ireland, to a British father and an Irish mother.<ref name=mcfarlane>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V7vPDQAAQBAJ&dq=Maureen+Pryor+The+Encyclopedia+of+British+Film%3A+Fourth+edition&pg=PA1990-IA102|title=The Encyclopedia of British Film: Fourth edition|first=Brian|last=McFarlane|date=16 May 2016|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9781526111968|via=Google Books}}</ref> She began acting with Manchester Repertory in 1938, and studied with Michel Saint-Denis at the London Theatre Studio in 1939.
==Career== She appeared in the West End in Michael Clayton Hutton's ''Power Without Glory'', Seán O'Casey's ''Red Roses for Me'', Noël Coward's ''Peace in Our Time'', John Griffith Bowen's ''After the Rain'' (also on Broadway),<ref name=IBDB/> Doris Lessing's ''Play with a Tiger''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dorislessing.org/play.html|title=Play with a Tiger by Doris Lessing|website=dorislessing.org}}</ref> and plays such as ''Little Boxes'' and ''Where's Tedd''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.doollee.com/PlaywrightsP/PryorMaureen.htm|title=doollee.com|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080528064909/http://www.doollee.com/PlaywrightsP/PryorMaureen.htm|archivedate=28 May 2008}}</ref> She was a member of the Stables Theatre Company. She also appeared on Broadway in the premiere season of ''Boeing-Boeing'' (1965).<ref name=IBDB>{{cite web|url=http://www.ibdb.com/person.php?id=56653|title=Maureen Pryor – Broadway Cast & Staff – IBDB|first=The Broadway|last=League|website=ibdb.com}}</ref> In Manchester, she appeared in Eugene O'Neill's one-act play ''Before Breakfast'', directed by Bill Gilmour. She also directed the play herself, for the RSC at the Old Red Lion, Stratford, in 1975.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://theatricalia.com/play/9v/before-breakfast/production/1dj|title=Production of Before Breakfast – Theatricalia|website=theatricalia.com}}</ref> She played Mistress Quickly in Terry Hand's 1975/76 production of ''Henry IV, Part 2'' and ''Henry V'' also for the Royal Shakespeare Company.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://theatricalia.com/person/4a2/maureen-pryor|title=Maureen Pryor – Theatricalia|website=theatricalia.com}}</ref>
She made over 500 television appearances, including a ''Play for Today'', "O Fat White Woman" (1971),<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090114171332/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/42544 ''Play for Today: O Fat White Woman''], BFI Film and TV Database</ref> adapted by William Trevor from his own short story, and Ken Russell's television film ''Song of Summer'' (1968), in which she played Jelka Delius, the long-suffering wife of the composer Frederick Delius.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6bfe8d0f|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180110071654/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6bfe8d0f|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 January 2018|title=Song of Summer (1968)}}</ref> Russell cast her again in his cinema film ''The Music Lovers'' (1970) as Tchaikovsky's mother-in-law.<ref name=bfi>{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f10bb70|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180110054446/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f10bb70|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 January 2018|title=Maureen Pryor}}</ref> In the 1974 BBC television series ''Shoulder to Shoulder'', she played the composer Dame Ethel Smyth.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/1253044/credits.html|title=BFI Screenonline: Shoulder To Shoulder (1974) Credits|website=screenonline.org.uk}}</ref>
In the 1970s British police drama ''The Sweeney,'' episode ''Big Spender,'' she appeared as Edith Wardle the wife of a dishonest employee of a car park company who becomes involved in an elaborate fraud.
==Personal life== Her first marriage ended in divorce, her second in separation. She had one son, Mark. She died in 1977 from a heart ailment.
==Selected filmography== * ''Room for Two'' (1940) * ''The Lady with a Lamp'' (1951) – Sister Wheeler * ''The Weak and the Wicked'' (1954) – Prison Matron * ''Doctor in the House'' (1954) – Mrs. Cooper * ''Orders Are Orders'' (1954) – Miss Marigold * ''Angel Pavement'' (1957–1958, TV series) – Mrs. Smeeth * ''The Secret Place'' (1957) – Mrs. Haywood * ''Doctor at Large'' (1957) – Mrs. Dalton * ''Heart of a Child'' (1958) – Frau Spiel * ''Conspiracy of Hearts'' (1960) – Sister Consuela * ''The Secret Kingdom'' (1960, TV series) – Paula Byron * ''No Love for Johnnie'' (1961) – Labour Party Member * ''Life for Ruth'' (1962) – Teddy's mother * ''Madhouse on Castle Street'' (TV, 1963; Mrs Griggs; this was Bob Dylan's acting debut) * ''Modesty Blaise'' (1966) – (scenes deleted) * ''The Sandwich Man'' (1966) * ''Three Bites of the Apple'' (1967) – Birdie Guffy * ''Omnibus: Song of Summer'' (TV, 1968) * ''The Music Lovers'' (1970) – Nina's Mother * ''Lady Caroline Lamb'' (1972) – Mrs. Buller * ''The National Health'' (1973) – The Matron * ''Shoulder to Shoulder'' (1974, BBC TV; as ) – Dame Ethel Smyth * ''The Black Windmill'' (1974) – Jane Harper * ''The Sweeney'' (1975) – Enid Wardle
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links == * {{IMDb name|0699419}} * {{IBDB name|56653}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pryor, Maureen}} Category:1922 births Category:1977 deaths Category:Alumni of the London Theatre Studio Category:English film actresses Category:English television actresses Category:English stage actresses Category:Irish film actresses Category:Irish stage actresses Category:Irish television actresses Category:Actresses from Limerick (city) Category:20th-century Irish actresses Category:20th-century English actresses Category:Irish people of English descent Category:Irish emigrants to the United Kingdom