Jill Townsend is an Anglo-American actress best known for her roles as Elizabeth Chynoweth in Poldark and Dulcey Coopersmith in the 1967 western television series Cimarron Strip.
Life and career
Townsend was born around 1945 in Santa Monica, California. Her father, Robert Townsend, a former head of Avis, wrote the bestseller Up the Organization.[1] Her mother was the daughter of Frank Tours, a famous English-born musician and conductor whose credits include an association with Irving Berlin.[citation needed]
Townsend, who was a debutante, graduated in 1963 from The Master's School in Dobbs Ferry, New York. At that time, she moved to England where she had been accepted into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.[citation needed]
After co-starring with Nicol Williamson in John Osborne's 1965 London stageplay Inadmissible Evidence,[2] she became engaged to Williamson and lived with him for 21 months. However, due to his volatile personality, she temporarily split with him, at which time, she married actor Tom Sutton (68-69). After that brief marriage, she reunited with Williamson. They were married from 1971 to 1977. Their son Luke Williamson was born in 1973,[3] but in 1976, she and Nicol Williamson parted temporarily[4] after Townsend began a relationship with Alan Price, her co-star in Alfie Darling.[5]
Townsend ended her acting career in 1985. She studied at the London School of Journalism and worked as a journalist for the Daily Mail, contributing a page for the financial section. She moved back to the United States in 1989.[citation needed]
