The actor Meg Wynn Owen, who has died aged 82 after suffering from dementia, was at the heart of the action in the TV period drama Upstairs Downstairs when it was at the height of its success. She played Hazel Forrest, the secretary who marries the son of the aristocratic Bellamy household at 165 Eaton Place, Belgravia, London.
Owen joined the series for its third run, in 1973, two years after the programme first captivated viewers with its tales of masters and servants above and below stairs in the first three decades of the 20th century. By then, it had built up an audience of up to 300 million in 50 countries.
