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| Daphne Oxenford obituary | Daphne Oxenford obituary |
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| "When the music stops, Daphne Oxenford will be here to speak to you." | "When the music stops, Daphne Oxenford will be here to speak to you." |
| The music was the Berceuse from Fauré's Dolly suite for piano duet; and Daphne Oxenford, who has died aged 93, was the voice of children's stories on Listen With Mother, BBC radio's 1.45pm weekday programme, always preceding Woman's Hour, from 1950 to 1971. | |
| When Oxenford spoke, she made the smoothest, most comforting sound in the world: "Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin." For a generation of postwar children in homes without television, that phrase remains stingingly evocative. | When Oxenford spoke, she made the smoothest, most comforting sound in the world: "Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin." For a generation of postwar children in homes without television, that phrase remains stingingly evocative. |
| She always treasured the quote of the little boy who said: "I like stories on the wireless because the pictures are better." There were other presenters of the programme – Julia Lang, Dorothy Smith and Eileen Browne (who sang the nursery rhymes with George Dixon) – but the euphony of Daphne Oxenford's name, and her mellow, flawless vocal delivery made her the main attraction. | She always treasured the quote of the little boy who said: "I like stories on the wireless because the pictures are better." There were other presenters of the programme – Julia Lang, Dorothy Smith and Eileen Browne (who sang the nursery rhymes with George Dixon) – but the euphony of Daphne Oxenford's name, and her mellow, flawless vocal delivery made her the main attraction. |
| She commuted to London from Manchester to record the programmes on two or three days each week. Otherwise, she raised two daughters while appearing regularly in the theatre and on television – from the second episode of Coronation Street in 1960, she was Esther Hayes, the helpful spinster at number five who looked after her ailing mother and had a criminal brother. | |
| She stayed in Coronation Street for only a year, though returned for guest appearances in 1971-72. From the 1950s to the 80s she was one of the team of unseen readers on Granada Television's What the Papers Say, in which her gifts as a revue performer were exploited in a wide variety of comic and comically sombre intonations. | She stayed in Coronation Street for only a year, though returned for guest appearances in 1971-72. From the 1950s to the 80s she was one of the team of unseen readers on Granada Television's What the Papers Say, in which her gifts as a revue performer were exploited in a wide variety of comic and comically sombre intonations. |
| Oxenford was born and bred in Barnet, north London, the daughter of Dudley Oxenford, a chartered accountant, and his wife, Marie du Grivel, who wrote historical fiction. She was trained at the Embassy School of Acting (now the Central School of Speech and Drama) in Swiss Cottage. After appearing in small theatre revues, she joined Ensa, entertaining the troops at the end of the war, touring in Britain with Sonnie Hale and then in Germany, where she understudied the clownish, ribald music-hall star Nellie Wallace, 50 years her senior. | Oxenford was born and bred in Barnet, north London, the daughter of Dudley Oxenford, a chartered accountant, and his wife, Marie du Grivel, who wrote historical fiction. She was trained at the Embassy School of Acting (now the Central School of Speech and Drama) in Swiss Cottage. After appearing in small theatre revues, she joined Ensa, entertaining the troops at the end of the war, touring in Britain with Sonnie Hale and then in Germany, where she understudied the clownish, ribald music-hall star Nellie Wallace, 50 years her senior. |
| Oxenford made her West End debut in Laurier Lister's Tuppence Coloured at the Globe (now the Gielgud) in 1947 with Joyce Grenfell, Elisabeth Welch and Max Adrian. The show ran for a year and was followed by another Lister revue, Oranges and Lemons (1949), at the Lyric, Hammersmith, in which Oxenford and Diana Churchill sang a song about film critics written by Sandy Wilson. | Oxenford made her West End debut in Laurier Lister's Tuppence Coloured at the Globe (now the Gielgud) in 1947 with Joyce Grenfell, Elisabeth Welch and Max Adrian. The show ran for a year and was followed by another Lister revue, Oranges and Lemons (1949), at the Lyric, Hammersmith, in which Oxenford and Diana Churchill sang a song about film critics written by Sandy Wilson. |
| She married David Marshall, a chartered accountant, in 1951, and the couple made their home in Altrincham, near Manchester, where he worked. | She married David Marshall, a chartered accountant, in 1951, and the couple made their home in Altrincham, near Manchester, where he worked. |
| On radio in the 1970s, she formed a fruitful partnership with Les Dawson, and was prominent in popular television series for more than 30 years, ranging from The Sweeney and Casualty to Doctor Who, To the Manor Born (1979-81) with Penelope Keith and Peter Bowles and Fresh Fields (1984-86), with Julia McKenzie and Anton Rodgers. | |
| In Manchester, she made occasional appearances with the Library theatre, where a favourite role was gawky Miss Gossage in The Happiest Days of Your Life, played in the film by Grenfell, and the Forum theatre, Wythenshawe. In Michael Elliott's sumptuous revival of TS Eliot's The Family Reunion at the Royal Exchange (and the Roundhouse in London) in 1979, she and Constance Chapman played the two chattering aunts of Edward Fox's tortured, haunted Harry Monchensey. | In Manchester, she made occasional appearances with the Library theatre, where a favourite role was gawky Miss Gossage in The Happiest Days of Your Life, played in the film by Grenfell, and the Forum theatre, Wythenshawe. In Michael Elliott's sumptuous revival of TS Eliot's The Family Reunion at the Royal Exchange (and the Roundhouse in London) in 1979, she and Constance Chapman played the two chattering aunts of Edward Fox's tortured, haunted Harry Monchensey. |
| Oxenford returned to the Royal Exchange, where her second daughter, Sophie Marshall, was casting director for two decades, in 1991 as the far "mumsier", kind-hearted housekeeper of Jeremy Clyde's Sir Colenso Ridgeon in Shaw's The Doctor's Dilemma. Her last London appearance was as Pauline Collins's mother in Simon Callow's touching production of Sharman Macdonald's Shades at the Albery (now the Noël Coward) in 1992, but she continued working on radio and television until recently, appearing in Heartbeat in 2005 as a frail centenarian who discovers that she is really only 99. | Oxenford returned to the Royal Exchange, where her second daughter, Sophie Marshall, was casting director for two decades, in 1991 as the far "mumsier", kind-hearted housekeeper of Jeremy Clyde's Sir Colenso Ridgeon in Shaw's The Doctor's Dilemma. Her last London appearance was as Pauline Collins's mother in Simon Callow's touching production of Sharman Macdonald's Shades at the Albery (now the Noël Coward) in 1992, but she continued working on radio and television until recently, appearing in Heartbeat in 2005 as a frail centenarian who discovers that she is really only 99. |
| When David died in 2003 – the couple had moved south to Epping Green in Essex, to be near their elder daughter's family – she settled into the actors' home, Denville Hall, in Northwood, Middlesex. A younger brother, who had emigrated to Canada, predeceased her. She is survived by her daughters, Kate and Sophie, and two grandsons. | When David died in 2003 – the couple had moved south to Epping Green in Essex, to be near their elder daughter's family – she settled into the actors' home, Denville Hall, in Northwood, Middlesex. A younger brother, who had emigrated to Canada, predeceased her. She is survived by her daughters, Kate and Sophie, and two grandsons. |
| • Daphne Margaret du Grivel Oxenford, actor, born 31 October 1919; died 21 December 2012 | • Daphne Margaret du Grivel Oxenford, actor, born 31 October 1919; died 21 December 2012 |