The other late pass for an obituary belongs to character actress Freda Dowie. A theatre actress from a working class background, she found a niche in her 60s and 70s playing downtrodden matriarchs of northern families. Her most famous role was probably as Mother in Terence Davies’ semi-autobiographical Distant Voices, Still Alives alongside Pete Postlethwaite, but I’m gonna give her a shoutout for playing the mother torn between her husband (Peter Vaughan) and son (Christopher Eccleston) in 90s classic Our Friends In The North. Her character’s funeral provides the dramatic conclusion to the show, so let’s play her out with an evocative pop music track relevant to that year.
Freda Dowie
22 July 1928 – 10 August 2019
Died aged 91 (unique hit)