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There’s something about small screen fame, that sense of familiarity for actors which comes from appearing weekly in the nation’s front room. It can sustain a career for years and then, when it’s all over, it hardly seems possible that they’re gone. Importuned by a certain generation of fans for autographs and photos together, they remain a product of their time, fondly remembered by some yet distinctly unknown to successive generations. Such is fame.

As a child of the 60’s, I used to watch re-runs of the ITC series “The adventures of William Tell,” and each week, there was Jennifer Jayne portraying the role of Hedda Tell, the hero’s wife. A striking looking woman – more so with auburn hair than the blonde locks she sported in this long running series – she had a very attractive lower lip that hinted at a semi permanent pout.

I remember her well from several films and television appearances, especially her role opposite Norman Wisdom in “On The Beat.” (1962.) Yorkshire born, she died at the age of 74, yet another regrettable piece of information I came across during my research. Married to Peter Mullins for nearly fifty years – the art director and production designer on Where Eagles Dare (1968), Alfie (1966) and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955) – she’d have happily taken another decade of life. I’m sorry she missed out.