Actress. She is best remembered as Ruby, the dimwitted and accident prone kitchen maid of the hit British television series "Upstairs, Downstairs". Raised in Leeds, little is recorded of her early years save that she had early theatrical ambitions which she persued against her family's wishes in a string of stage productions. Jenny made her silver screen bow in 1972's "The Adventures of Barry McKenzie" and that same year landed the role of Ruby during the second season of "Upstairs, Downstairs". Her character proved popular and the cook's frequent cry of "Oh, Ruby!" at one of her frequent mishaps provided the show's catch phrase, but after the series ended in 1975 Jenny's career stalled; while people liked Ruby, Jenny found herself typecast as a maid, and a dull and unattractive one at that. She did land more or less steady work onstage and earned a number of small screen credits including "Midnight is a Place" in 1977 and 1978, Naomi Tolly in the long running "Emmerdale Farm" (1981), Tasmabecker in the 1985 "Revelation of the Daleks" segments of "Doctor Who", and the 1994 "Martin Chuzzlewit". During the 1990s she was praised as a pantomist and in 2005 returned to "Emmerdale Farm" as Noreen Bell. After Noreen was killed-off in 2006 little more was heard of her. At her death much of her television legacy was preserved on DVD.
Actress. She is best remembered as Ruby, the dimwitted and accident prone kitchen maid of the hit British television series "Upstairs, Downstairs". Raised in Leeds, little is recorded of her early years save that she had early theatrical ambitions which she persued against her family's wishes in a string of stage productions. Jenny made her silver screen bow in 1972's "The Adventures of Barry McKenzie" and that same year landed the role of Ruby during the second season of "Upstairs, Downstairs". Her character proved popular and the cook's frequent cry of "Oh, Ruby!" at one of her frequent mishaps provided the show's catch phrase, but after the series ended in 1975 Jenny's career stalled; while people liked Ruby, Jenny found herself typecast as a maid, and a dull and unattractive one at that. She did land more or less steady work onstage and earned a number of small screen credits including "Midnight is a Place" in 1977 and 1978, Naomi Tolly in the long running "Emmerdale Farm" (1981), Tasmabecker in the 1985 "Revelation of the Daleks" segments of "Doctor Who", and the 1994 "Martin Chuzzlewit". During the 1990s she was praised as a pantomist and in 2005 returned to "Emmerdale Farm" as Noreen Bell. After Noreen was killed-off in 2006 little more was heard of her. At her death much of her television legacy was preserved on DVD.
Bio by: Bob Hufford
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