Barbara Young (9 February 1931 – 27 April 2023) was an English actress. She is known for her role as the future Emperor Nero's mother, Agrippinilla, in the landmark 1976 BBC serial I, Claudius.

Early life and education

Barbara Young was born on 9 February 1931 in Brighouse to Dora (née Ratcliffe) and Jack Young. While training to be an actor at Bradford Civic Theatre, one of her teachers, Rudolph Laban, recommended her to Joan Littlewood who ran the Theatre Workshop. After joining the company in 1951, Young lodged with fellow Theatre Workshop actor Harry H. Corbett in Wythenshawe.

Career

In 1956, Young made her West End debut in Peter Myers' revue For Amusement Only at the Apollo Theatre. Young also played Miss Scatcherd in the 1970 film of Jane Eyre, Eileen Clancy in the 1975 TV series Looking for Clancy, and Dot Wilmington in the TV series Hazell. She appeared in On Giant's Shoulders for the BBC in 1979. She played the long-running role of gossipy yet lovable Sadie Hargreaves Lloyd in the soap opera Family Affairs. Sadie, a former theatre actress turned barmaid, was a key figure in the show from 1998 until 2005, making her one of the show's longest-serving characters. Young previously acted in the soap opera Coronation Street in the early 1960s, 1980s and 1990s. In February 2007 she rejoined the cast of Coronation Street, this time as Doreen Fenwick, an old friend of Rita Sullivan. She appeared in two episodes of Midsomer Murders: the 1997 pilot episode "The Killings at Badger's Drift" and the 2006 episode "Last Year's Model". In 2008 Young made a guest appearance in "Get Out of That, Then", an episode of the long-running BBC comedy series Last of the Summer Wine, as Bobby Ball's wife Florrie. Following the departure of Kathy Staff from the series in 2008 Young joined the regular cast as Nora Batty's sister, Stella. She appeared in Hollyoaks playing Mags (Nan to Scott Sabeka) from 10 to 13 April 2012. Her final television appearance was in 2016, when she played Connie Templeton in an episode of the BBC soap opera Doctors.

Personal life and death

In 1956, Young married screenwriter Jack Pulman. They had two daughters together, singer Liza Pulman and actress Cory Pulman. Pulman died in 1979 from a heart attack. Young died at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge on 27 April 2023, at the age of 92.

Filmography