Gwendoline Margaret Berryman MBE LRAM (22 November 1906 – 20 December 1983) was an English singer, actress and businesswoman. She was best known as the voice of Doris Archer in the BBC Radio 4 soap opera The Archers.

Early life

Gwendoline Margaret Berryman was born in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England on 22 November 1906, as the elder child to Richard Edward Berryman (1881–1955), a boot and shoe retailer, and his wife, Louisa Elizabeth (née Clark; 1884–1952). She had a younger brother, Richard Trevor Berryman (1915–2002). Berryman attended Wolverhampton Girls' High School. She left at the age of 16 having just managed to pass the School Certificate.

Career

Berryman began her professional career in radio on 8 July 1925. She made her debut as a singer in 1926, at the age of 19, when she appeared in a BBC broadcast from the Birmingham School of Music, where she was training. She performed in several operas, and played the piano and the cello in the orchestra. She later studied at the Royal Academy of Music, where she gained many awards, including the Westmorland Scholarship, the Isabel Jay Gold Medal and the Acton Bond Diction Prize. She also gained her Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Music (LRAM) and the Certificate of Merit with Distinction. Berryman made her acting debut in Derby Day at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith, London in 1932, before returning to the Midlands to run a dress shop. She joined the Wolverhampton Repetory Theatre in 1937. She returned to performing during the Second World War, appearing in concert parties to entertain the forces stationed in the Midlands. Berryman took over the role of Doris Evelyn Rebecca Archer (née Forrest; born 1 December 1897) in the BBC Light Programme radio soap opera The Archers on 1 January 1951. Doris was voiced by Nan Marriott-Watson for the pilot episode on 29 May 1950. She voiced Doris for 29 years until her character was killed off on 27 October 1980. Doris died at the age of 82, from a heart attack at Glebe Cottage. On 14 July 2011, an 11-page script—which belonged to Berryman—from the first episode was put up for sale at a Sotheby's auction, having been valued at £3,500. It sold for £6,875. Berryman authored a cookbook, Doris Archer's Farm Cookery Book (ISBN 9780392053815), which was published by Museum Press in 1958. Berryman was the castaway on 1 January 1972 episode of the BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs. She was interviewed by Roy Plomley. Her chosen music included the Horn Concerto No. 1 in D major by Mozart, with her favourite being the Trumpet Voluntry by Jeremiah Clarke; her chosen book was a cookery book, and her luxury writing materials. Berryman was the subject of the ITV biographical television documentary This Is Your Life. She was surprised by Eamonn Andrews during a specially arranged rehearsal of The Archers at the BBC Broadcasting House, which she believed was being filmed for Canadian television. The episode was broadcast on 25 February 1976. Berryman retired in 1980, due to ill health. Her her autobiography, The Life and Death of Doris Archer (ISBN 9780413486400), was published by Methuen Publishing in 1981.

Personal life

Berryman did not cope well with fame. According to William Smethurst, she "started to slip over the edge" in the late 1950s. She had her personal writing paper printed with the fictional address of "Brookfield Farm, Ambridge", when, in reality, she lived in a large detached house in Wolverhampton. She also stopped calling fellow actors by their real names. According to June Spencer, "Gwen Berryman believed implicitly that she was Doris Archer". Berryman had been engaged to a doctor, who died tragically, in her youth. She enjoyed embroidery. Berryman moved to Torquay, Devon to be closer to her family upon her retirement. She lived at 12 Seaway Court, before moving to Seven Hill Nursing Home. Her younger brother, Richard, married Joan Kathleen Bundy (born Jean Kathleen Bundy; 1917–2006) in Wednesbury, Staffordshire in 1940; her brother and sister-in-law had a son together, Christopher John Berryman (born 1943). Berryman suffered from a range of health issues throughout her life, including rheumatoid arthritis. She had a special chair in The Archers green room because of her arthritis, which she said started when she was chased by a rhinoceros on safari in South Africa. She suffered two strokes, the first in 1980, which left her without her voice and partially paralysed, and the second in 1983, weeks before her death. She was too ill to listen to Doris's death on The Archers. Berryman was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in the 1981 New Year Honours on 30 December 1980 for her services to radio drama. She collected her honour, in a wheelchair, on 18 February 1981, at Buckingham Palace.

Death

Berryman died at Torbay Hospital in Torbay on 20 December 1983. She was 77. She had been admitted to hospital a week prior after suffering with gangrene in her leg. Her funeral service took place at Torquay Crematorium on 30 December 1983, at 2:00 pm. She left an estate valued at £103,702 gross (£103,103 net). She left £5,000 equally between the grandchildren of her late friend, Nancy A Marriott, £100 to "my hairdresser", Ester Horswill, and the remainder of her property mostly to relatives.

Credits

Theatre

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Radio

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