Paula Wilcox

Mary Paula Wilcox (born 13 December 1949) is an English actress. She is best known for her role as Chrissy Plummer in the British comedy Man About the House (1973–1976) and later as Hilary Potts in Emmerdale.

Acting career

Wilcox first came to public attention whilst a member of the National Youth Theatre, which she joined aged seventeen. She appeared in Coronation Street in 1969 as Ray Langton's sister Janice. She was offered her first starring television role in The Lovers, a Granada sitcom produced for the ITV network largely written by Jack Rosenthal and co-starring Richard Beckinsale. There were two series of The Lovers, plus a feature film. She appeared in an episode of The Benny Hill Show (Thames) broadcast on 23 February 1972.

In 1973, Wilcox starred in Man About the House (Thames) as Chrissy Plummer, regularly in a flirtatious battle of wits with her male flatmate Robin, played by Richard O'Sullivan. The series ran for three years and she also starred in the feature film of the same show. Her follow up role was as the eponymous single mother in Miss Jones and Son (1977).

In 1991, Wilcox returned to situation comedy as Ros West in a Yorkshire Television sitcom called Fiddlers Three opposite Peter Davison before playing the character of Ivy Sandford in the pilot of Frank Skinner's Blue Heaven on Channel 4 in 1992 - the show then went on to become a series. She appeared in several series of The Queen's Nose (1995–2001), and also played small roles in the films The Higher Mortals (1993) and the Woody Allen movie Scoop (2006).

On 27 October 2006, Wilcox appeared in the Only Fools and Horses spin-off The Green Green Grass as Marlene's sister. She has also played another character in the Only Fools and Horses universe, appearing in 2 episodes of Rock and Chips, playing Edward "Grandad" Trotter's estranged wife Violet. In 2007 Wilcox joined the cast of Emmerdale as Hilary Potts, mother of the vicar's wife, Laurel Thomas (Charlotte Bellamy).

In 2008, Wilcox portrayed Bette Davis in a theatrical play, Whatever Happened to the Cotton Dress Girl?. In 2010, she portrayed a mother of a gay son in a theatrical play, Canary.

In November 2010 Wilcox took the leading role as a Liverpudlian private eye in Following from the Front, a BBC radio play first broadcast in November 2010 and again in January 2015

In addition to her other work, Wilcox has made guest appearances in programmes such as Footballers' Wives, Holby City and Down to Earth. She was cast as Lilian in the BBC Three cult sitcom The Smoking Room.

Personal life

Wilcox was married to actor Derek Seaton from 1970 to 1979 (his death). She later married Nelson Skip Riddle, son of the bandleader and arranger Nelson Riddle.

Television roles

Comedy

Year	Title	Role
1969 to 1970	The Dustbinmen	Naomi
1970 to 1971	The Lovers	Beryl Battersby
1971 to 1972	The Liver Birds	Gloria Titlark
1973 to 1976	Man About the House	Chrissy Plummer
1977 to 1978	Miss Jones and Son	Elizabeth Jones
1985	The Bright Side	Cynthia Bright
1991	Fiddlers Three	Ros West
1992 to 1994	Blue Heaven	Ivy Sandford
2004 to 2005	The Smoking Room	Lillian
2010 to 2011	Rock & Chips	Violet Trotter
2011-	Mount Pleasant	Pauline
2014	Boomers	Carol
2015	Still Open All Hours	Linda
2016	Upstart Crow	Mary Shakespeare

Drama

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1969	Coronation Street	Janice Langton
1995-2001	The Queen's Nose	Mrs Parker
2007–2008	Emmerdale	Hilary Potts	Regular role; 40 episodes
2008	A Touch of Frost	Gloria Collingham
2014	Jonathan Creek	Hazel Prosser

External links

• Paula Wilcox at the Internet Movie Database