Damaris Hayman 1929-2021

The actress Damaris Hayman, famous for playing Olive Hawthorne, the gloriously eccentric white witch of Devils End, has died at the age of 91.

Damaris Hayman had a long career in British Film and Television, playing mostly well to do, slightly eccentric, ladies. She made her TV debut in 1953 as Eliza in The Story of the Treasure Seekers

Her film debut came a year later in The Belles of St Trinian's, the first in the comedy series set in a Girls school. It was a world Hayman knew well having been educated at the exclusive  Cheltenham Ladies' College. Later moves included The Pink Panther Strikes Again

Many supporting roles on TV  included apperances in series such as The Citadel, Citizen James, Somerset Maugham Hour, Crossroads, Steptoe and Son, Z Cars, The Dickie Henderson Show, Beggar My Neighbour, Armchair Theatre, Ours Is a Nice House, The Onedin Line, The Morecambe & Wise Show, The Witches' Brew, The Small World of Samuel Tweet, The Dick Emery Show, The Basil Brush Show and One Foot in the Grave.

It was in 1971 she took on the role that endeared her to Doctor Who fans when she played Miss Hawthorne in the acclaimed Third Doctor story The Daemons. It was a perfectly pitched performance and one she was very proud of.  Her chemistry with Jon Pertwee and the cast helped ensure the story is one of the best-loved in the Doctor Who Universe 

In 2017 she returned to the character to appear in The White Witch of Devil's End, a spin-off story based on the character released by Koch Media.

Damaris Hayman died today, a couple of weeks short of her 92nd birthday.