Anne Gwendolyn "Wendy" Craig is an English actress best known for her roles in British sitcoms such as Not in Front of the Children (1967), And Mother Makes Three (1971), Butterflies (1978) and the film The Nanny (1965). She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to drama and charity.
Here is everything you need to know about the great grandmother best known for her role as Ria Parkinson in Butterflies.
Where is Wendy Craig from?
Born June 20, 1934, in the Sacriston area of County Durham, Wendy made her first stage appearance at just three years old.
While performing in a play at Yarm Grammar School she was spotted by the aunt of director Anthony Asquith who recommended her to the Central School of Speech and Drama which she joined when she was 17.
“We lived for a while in Darlington before moving to Picton, where my dad George had a farm. There was a great view of the Cleveland Hills there, very beautiful - sometimes hazy and sometimes crystal clear.” Wendy tells Tesside Live.
Wendy’s sights were set on acting ever since she was young, “I always knew I would grow up to be an actress. Acting was my passion and everything else took a back seat,”
After her acting training, she made her theatre debut with the Ipswich Repertory Company and eventually her film debut in Mr Kettle and Mr Moon in 1955. In the same year, Wendy was married to Jack Bentley, a trombonist, scriptwriter and journalist. The couple were together until his passing in 1994.
Wendy Craig's career highlights
Wendy began her acting career at the end of the 1950s and appeared in many British films such as The Servant (1963) and The Nanny (1965) with Hollywood legend Bette Davis. She has also been in various television series and stage productions. She has appeared in numerous shows including the ITV soap Emmerdale, BBC’S Doctors, Unforgotten (2017), Girlfriends (2018) and recently The Worst Witch (2017-2019).
“For years and years, I never had to audition, many roles were written for me and some of the other things, they thought, 'she would be right for that',” Wendy says in an interview with Spotlight. “I do have to audition now, times have changed.”
In this video, Wendy talks about her career favourites, how the industry has changed and how she got into acting.
Wendy’s career took off in the late 1960s and 1970s where she made a name for herself. Wendy was frequently cast as an eccentric loveable housewife in British sitcoms such Not in Front of the Children (BBC, 1967-70), And Mother Makes Three (ITV, 1971-76), and And Mother Makes Five (ITV, 1974-76). However, it was BBC 2’s Butterflies in 1978, which became her most definitive role.
Wendy Craig as Ria in Butterflies (1978)
Wendy is known for her iconic role as Ria Parkinson in Carla Lane's BBC sitcom Butterflies (1978-80; 1983). Her character Ria’s constant cooking disasters and outbursts against the boredom of housework represented the lives of many frustrated housewives during the time.
“Carla’s writing was magical and had a very special quality that shows.” She declares in an interview. “Yes, it was a great favourite, I loved doing that show.”
Ria is "happily married but not excitingly married" to Ben, played by Geoffrey Palmer. Ben, a dentist who collects butterflies, and housewife Ria have two teenage sons - Adam (Nicolas Lyndhurst, later Rodney in Only Fools and Horses) and Russell (Andrew Hall). However, Ria is facing a mid-life crisis and tempted to have an affair with affluent businessman Leonard (Bruce Montague). Butterflies was one of the first domestic sitcoms to portray serious themes.
In this clip below see Ria starting to go mad with the tediums of being a housewife.
When speaking of her character, Ria, Wendy states that “women today have far more options than the character was portrayed as having in the 70s. It is a completely different scene. I stayed overnight at my son’s house and his wife goes out to work, and she was getting ready to go to work, and getting the children off to school.
“The women are wonderful the way they manage to do everything and are so accomplished, making sure there is food, cooking the meals and going out to work."
Wendy Craig's CBE award
In 2020 Wendy was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the Queen's New Year’s Honours List for her services to Drama and Charity in Berkshire, England. Wendy said it was “so exciting, so rewarding and so unexpected” to be made a CBE.
“The Queen said to me ‘oh, you’ve been working in drama for quite a long time', and we had a little chat.”
Wendy, despite being 85, says she wants to “keep on working for as long as I can! I’d like to play a nice cuddly grandma next.”
Wendy Craig’s family
Wendy has two sons, Alistair and Ross Bentley. When reminiscing about her husband, Wendy tells the Daily Mail, “Jack was trained in the Army as a musician and when I met him, he was a professional trombonist playing with Ted Heath’s band. He later worked as a journalist and scriptwriter. He passed on his musical talent to our son Alistair, who is a professional oboist with The Royal Ballet Sinfonia.”
Her second son Ross Bentley was later revealed to be the son of Sir John Mortimer after the two had a whirlwind affair. However, Ross was brought up as Jack Bentley’s son, although it is believed that he was told who his biological father was when old enough to understand.
In 2004, Wendy and Sir John Mortimer’s secret was outed. Wendy visited John to disclose formally that they had a son together in the affair.
Their relationship started in 1960 when she starred in his play, The Wrong Side of the Park at the Cambridge Theatre in London despite both being married at that time. Wendy and Jack made a promise to never discuss who Ross's father was.
"I am not ashamed of this and I don't think that my son Ross is either," John said. "I met him earlier this year and got along very well with him."
Ross and Jack Bentley still had a strong father-son bond and co-wrote the BBC comedy series Laura and Disorder which also starred his mother in the 1980s.
Since the 1990s, Wendy has lived in her Victorian cottage in Berkshire.
Wendy is now a grandma of six and a great-grandmother.