Gwendoline Watford (10 September 1927 – 6 February 1994), professionally known after the mid-1950s as Gwen Watford, was an English actress. Watford's talent was spotted by John Gielgud while she was still a schoolgirl, and with his help she made her professional London debut in 1945. From then until her death she pursued a parallel career on stage and on television. She played a wide range of roles, from Shakespeare and Shaw to new works by playwrights including Willis Hall, David Hare, Hugh Leonard and David Mercer. For the BBC and ITV she appeared frequently from the mid-1950s onwards, and was dubbed one of British television's two leading ladies. She twice won the Society of Film and Television Arts's award (now the BAFTA award) for best television actress. Although she appeared in several cinema films, including Cleopatra, she remained chiefly known as a stage and television performer. In later years Watford appeared in more comedy than in her earlier career, including the television series Don't Forget to Write! and in the West End Noël Coward's Present Laughter, for which she won a Society of West End Theatre Award in 1981. The last years of her career were curtailed by ill health, and she died aged 66. Early years Gwendoline Watford was born in London, the third of three children of Percy Charles Watford and his wife Elizabeth, née Cooper. Percy Watford had been a non-commissioned officer in the First World War, and then became the landlord of a public house at St Leonards-on-Sea, Sussex. Gwendoline was educated at the Orchard School in that town. She had ambitions to become a concert pianist, but after being advised by an expert that a career as a soloist was beyond her talents, she turned to drama, with the encouragement of her headmistress. John Gielgud saw her in a school play in November 1943, and was impressed. When she left school he helped her in the early stages of her theatrical career, took a continued interest in her progress and remained a lifelong friend. Watford made her first professional appearance at the White Rock Theatre, Hastings in March 1944, as Florrie in the comedy Once A Gentleman. Her London debut was the following year: on Gielgud's recommendation Anthony Hawtrey engaged her to play Fenny, the romantic lead, in Dodie Smith's comedy Dear Octopus at the Embassy Theatre. In the West End, she appeared at