Janet Henfrey

Janet Ethne Anne Henfrey, born on 16 August 1935 in Aldershot, England, is a British stage and television actress whose career has extended across more than five decades. Before pursuing formal actor training, she read English at St Anne's College, Oxford, then completed a graduate year at Smith College studying History. She subsequently trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Henfrey made her Broadway appearance in 1994, performing in Medea. Her stage work has run alongside a substantial television career that began in the 1960s. She is widely recognized for her recurring role as Mrs. Bale on the British sitcom As Time Goes By, and for appearing in two Dennis Potter productions in the role of a schoolteacher: the 1965 television play Stand Up, Nigel Barton and the 1986 serial The Singing Detective.

Her television credits span a broad range of British productions, including The Jewel in the Crown, Reilly Ace of Spies, Jeeves and Wooster, Casualty, Lovejoy, One Foot in the Grave, My Uncle Silas, Simon and the Witch, and Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV. She appeared in two serials of Doctor Who, The Curse of Fenric and the episode "Mummy on the Orient Express," and portrayed Mistress Hecate Broomhead in the episodes "The Inspector Calls" and "Just Like Clockwork" of The Worst Witch. In 1996 she took a role in the Famous Five episode "Five Get into Trouble." Her later television work includes the 2002 miniseries Tipping the Velvet, adapted from Sarah Waters's novel, in which she played Mrs. Jex, and the 2015 miniseries Wolf Hall.

Henfrey resides in Islington, north London. She is a member of the Labour Party and serves as a trustee of the International Performers Aid Trust.