Jill Angela Henriette Balcon (3 January 192518 July 2009) was a British actress. She was known for her work in film, television, radio and on stage. She made her film debut in Nicholas Nickleby (1947). She was the second wife of poet Cecil Day-Lewis; the couple had two children: Tamasin Day-Lewis became a food critic and TV chef and Daniel Day-Lewis is an actor.

Life and career

Balcon was born in Westminster, London, the daughter of Aileen Freda Leatherman (1904–1988) and her husband Michael Balcon. Her family was Jewish, with 19th-century Lithuanian Jewish immigrant ancestors from what is now Latvia on her father's side and Poland on her mother's. Balcon attended Roedean School.

She trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama and, over the course of her career, performed on stage and in radio, film, and television. Her debut film was Nicholas Nickleby (1947). On 3 January 1948, she appeared on the BBC radio programme Time for Verse, where she had already become a favourite for her voice: "a rich, expressive, finely modulated instrument."

In 1956 she starred alongside Denise Hurst, Faith Brook, John Van Eyssen, William Mervyn, Peter Sallis, Pauline Winter and Peter Augustine in the BBC television film Kitty Clive.

Cecil Day-Lewis and Jill Balcon shared a great love for poetry and performed together in many public readings. They had two children together: Tamasin Day-Lewis, who became a documentary filmmaker/television chef and author of food books, and noted actor Daniel Day-Lewis. After the children were born, Balcon concentrated on acting in radio and TV productions in order to have more manageable schedules.

References

  • Biography and credits at BFI Screenonline
  • Jill Balcon, The Observer (2007)
  • [https://historyproject.org.uk/interview/jill-balcon-day-lewis] Interview British Entertainment History Project