Jean Marsh Dies: ‘Upstairs, Downstairs’ Star & Co-Creator Was 90

Jean Marsh, best known for both starring and co-creating the British drama series Upstairs, Downstairs, died at the age of 90 on Sunday, April 13.

Marsh died from complications of dementia, according to filmmaker Michael Lindsay-Hogg, who was her close friend, via The New York Times. She was in her London home.

Marsh was born on July 1, 1934, in the Stoke Newington district in London, England. She studied acting and mime as a child, with her first involvement in the entertainment business coming as a cabaret singer, model, and dancer. Her first time on a Broadway stage was in a production of Much Ado About Nothing in the 1950s, with British actor, director, and producer John Gielgud.

Her first onscreen role came in the 1952 BBC TV movie The Infinite Shoeblack. Her other early roles included episodes of The Twilight Zone (as a female robot), Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color, and I Spy. She then appeared on Doctor Who in 1965 (as a medical crusader) with guest spots until 1989 as various characters. (She also did podcast episodes through 2016.)

Marsh and Eileen Atkins then created Upstairs, Downstairs in 1971. The series followed a wealthy family living in London and the housemaids who served them, with Marsh playing Rose Buck, the head parlor maid of an aristocratic household. She won the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 1975 (and was nominated for it in 1974 and 1976). She was also nominated for Golden Globes twice (for Best TV Actress – Drama) for the same role (in 1975 and 1977).

She followed up her work on Upstairs, Downstairs with guest spots on shows including The Waltons, Hawaii Five-O, Trapper John, M.D., and The Love Boat. She then landed a supporting role on the 1982 series Nine to Five, which was based on the 1980 movie of the same name and followed three friends (Rachel Dennison, Valerie Curtin and Sally Struthers) as they navigated their careers, friendship, and love lives in the corporate world. Marsh’s feature film roles included playing villains in Return to Oz and Willow. Her reprisal of her role in the latter for the TV series of the same name in 2022 was her last onscreen appearance.

In 1991, Marsh and Atkins worked together again, this time creating The House of Eliott, following two dressmaking sisters living in 1920s London. Neither appeared on the series.

Marsh then stepped back into her Upstairs, Downstairs role as Rose for the 2010 revival, a three-part series. In it, Rose ran her own maid service in London, but returned as head housekeeper to the same house where she previously served, after discovering a new family had moved in. She was once again nominated for an Emmy for her work, in 2011, for Outstanding Leading Actress in a Mini-series or Movie.

Marsh was married to actor Jon Pertwee (who starred as the third Doctor on Doctor Who) from 1955 until 1960. She did not have any children.