Haydn Gwynne, who has died aged 66, was often privately described by admiring co-stars and directors as “Britain’s Bette Davis”. That would have thrilled her, as she admitted to seeking out modern equivalents of the independent, sardonic, cynical, seductive characters pioneered by the American star.
Whether as TV news editor Alex in Drop the Dead Donkey from 1990-91; a joyously parodic, chain-smoking, Charles-baiting Camilla in The Windsors (2016-23); or the dance teacher Mrs Wilkinson in stage versions of the musical Billy Elliot (London in 2005 and Broadway in 2008), Gwynne was notable for flash-glances, paying homage to that quality in her acting heroine which was immortalised in Kim Carnes’ 1981 hit Bette Davis Eyes.
