Janet Key

Janet Key (10 July 1945 – 26 July 1992) was an English actress with a varied career in theatre, film and television from the late 1960s until her death.

Career Key was born in Bath, Somerset, and trained at the nearby Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Between 1970 and 1975 Key appeared in four horror films, as well as the sex comedy Percy and the historical drama Lady Caroline Lamb. Her only other cinema appearance came later in Nineteen Eighty-Four, although she also featured in several made-for-TV dramas, including the role of Charmian in the Jonathan Miller production of Antony and Cleopatra for the ambitious BBC Television Shakespeare project. Key became a familiar face on British television through many guest appearances in a wide variety of popular series ranging from crime and espionage through to comedy.

Personal life Key married actor Gawn Grainger in 1970. The couple had two children. Key died of cancer on 26 July 1992, aged 47. In 1994, Grainger married actress Zoë Wanamaker, who had been an acquaintance of Key's.

An obituary by Sebastian Graham-Jones in The Independent said: "Janet Key was an actress of particular versatility. She was a high-spirited beauty with an acerbic style and talent that were entirely her own."

Filmography 1970: The Vampire Lovers – Gretchin 1971: Percy – Hazel Anthony 1972: Dracula A.D. 1972 – Anna 1972: Lady Caroline Lamb – Miss Fairfax 1973: And Now the Screaming Starts! – Bridget 1975: I Don't Want to Be Born – Jill Fletcher 1984: Nineteen Eighty-Four – The Instructress

Television appearances 1967–1968: The Wednesday Play – Honeymoon wife / Rosalind 1968: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall – Millicent Hargrave 1969: Department S – Jean 1970: Paul Temple – Christi 1971: Trial - Barbara Crawford 1972: The Adventurer – Virginia 1972: Jason King – Elaine 1972: Man at the Top – Dr. Helen Reid 1973: New Scotland Yard – Jean Rossen 1973: Thriller – Lisa 1973: Murder Must Advertise - Ethel Vavasour 1973: The Donati Conspiracy - Jane Frederick 1974: Napoleon and Love – Louise Compoint 1974: Special Branch – Carla 1974: Sutherland's Law – Julie McKenna 1975: State of Emergency – Jane Frederick 1975: The Sweeney – Kate Regan 1976: The Crezz – Brenda Pitman 1979: Shoestring – Val Colefax 1980: The Enigma Files – Pam Knowland 1980: Minder – Gloria Brompton 1981: BBC Television Shakespeare – Charmian 1983: No Problem! – Kay Angel 1986: Never the Twain – Charlotte 1986: Taggart – Joyce Meacher 1988: Worlds Beyond – Lady Lucinda 1990: Making News – Rowena Lyle