Margaret Stallard

Margaret Florence Stallard, born on 30 April 1929, is a British actress whose career has spanned stage, television, and writing. She is perhaps most widely recognized for her television roles as Mrs Babbitt in Crossroads and Grace Tolly in Emmerdale. The youngest child of Florence and Norman Stallard, she grew up in Warwickshire with a family connection to the entertainment world: her mother's cousin was G. H. Elliott, the variety hall performer known as "The Chocolate Coloured Coon" and regarded as Britain's counterpart to Al Jolson.

Stallard began her performing life at an early age, taking ballet and tap lessons as a child. During the Second World War she entertained troops as a contortionist, demonstrating exceptional physical flexibility. At fifteen she secured a role in a pantomime production of Sleeping Beauty in Nottingham, which marked her departure from the family home. She subsequently trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, where her contemporaries included Diana Dors and Pat Coombs; Coombs remained a close friend throughout Stallard's life.

Following her studies at LAMDA, Stallard worked in the chorus for Mae West in Diamond Lil. She then joined Donald Wolfit's theatre company, touring Canada with the troupe and taking on a range of roles that included Ophelia. Upon returning to England, she was accepted into the Rapier Players, a repertory company based at the West of England Little Theatre in Bristol.

Her Broadway career brought her to New York in 1947, where she appeared in The Merchant of Venice. Back in Britain, Stallard continued working extensively in repertory theatre at venues including Frinton, York, Hornchurch, and Bromley, taking starring roles in productions such as Steaming, A Taste of Honey, and Once a Catholic. In 1955 she appeared on television in The Farmer's Wife, playing Sibley Sweetland. In 1990 she took the role of the Aunt in Sir Courtly Nice at the Young Vic Studio.

While based in Bristol, Stallard met musician John Davis, who played with the West of England Light Orchestra; the two married in 1951. The couple had two daughters before relocating to Birmingham and later to London. In 1965 Stallard gave birth to twins, a daughter named Miranda and a son, Ben Davis, who became a cellist. The demands of raising twins curtailed her touring work, and she shifted her focus toward television and commercial engagements.

In the later period of her career, Stallard turned to playwriting. She authored a one-woman play centered on Hester Thrale, a diarist active during the era of Samuel Johnson, and performed the piece at Garrick's Temple in Hampton as well as at Dr Johnson's House in the City of London.