Paula Jacobs

Paula Elsa Jacobs (1932 – 26 June 2021) was a British actress whose television and film career spanned four decades.

Early life Born in Liverpool in 1932 into a Jewish family, her father was J.P. Jacobs, whose company supplied all the elastic to Marks & Spencer.

Career Jacobs made her first television appearance in Z-Cars in 1962, going on to play roles in Softly, Softly: Task Force (1972–1975), Shoestring (1979), Hammer House of Horror (1980), Mapp & Lucia (1985), Peggy Sagar in Albion Market (1985), Mrs Biggs in Porterhouse Blue (1987), The New Statesman (1989), Bergerac (1990), Maud Wilberforce in Jeeves and Wooster (1990), Brookside (1992), French and Saunders (1993), Coronation Street (1994), Casualty (1989–1995), Drop the Dead Donkey (1994–1998), Dalziel and Pascoe (2000), Midsomer Murders (2002), Agatha Christie's Poirot (2004) and Doctors (2008).

Her film appearances include Birth of the Beatles (1979), An American Werewolf in London (1981), She'll Be Wearing Pink Pyjamas (1985), We Think the World of You (1988), Duel of Hearts (1991), The Remains of the Day (1993) and Tea with Mussolini (1999).

Personal life In 1953 she married the actor David Swift who on graduating from Cambridge worked for her father's company. She and her late husband were trustees of the J P Jacobs Charitable Trust, set up in memory of her father.

Death Grave of David Swift and Paula Jacobs in Highgate CemeteryJacobs died on 26 June 2021 and she is buried with her husband David on the eastern side of Highgate Cemetery.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes1979 Birth of the Beatles Mrs. Flemming 1981 An American Werewolf in London Mrs. Kessler 1985 The Assam Garden Carol 1985 She'll Be Wearing Pink Pyjamas Doreen 1988 We Think the World of You Deidre 1991 Duel of Hearts Landlady TV film1993 The Remains of the Day Mrs. Mortimer, the Cook 1999 Tea with Mussolini Molly