---
name: "Fenella Fielding"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/fenella-fielding"
fi1m_id: "fenella-fielding"
imdb_id: "nm0276134"
tmdb_id: 40950
wikidata_id: "Q5443308"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "17 November 1927"
died: "11 September 2018"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-17T21:35:37.305897+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Fenella Fielding

## Identity

Fenella Fielding

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/fenella-fielding
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** fenella-fielding
- **IMDb ID:** nm0276134
- **TMDB ID:** 40950
- **Wikidata ID:** Q5443308
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenella_Fielding, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5443308, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0276134/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/40950

Actor. Born 17 November 1927 in London, England, UK. Died 11 September 2018.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 17 November 1927, London, England, UK
- **Died:** 11 September 2018
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenella_Fielding, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5443308, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0276134/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/40950

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*The Prisoner*](https://film.one/tv/the-prisoner.md) (84)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Fenella Fielding

> Fenella Fielding could make a husky, breathy voice funny, seductive or quietly intrusive. We value her precise delivery, and regret how often screen roles stopped at the familiar comic vamp.

Fenella Fielding’s voice reaches people who cannot answer it in *The Prisoner* (1967). As the Village’s Loudspeaker Announcer, she makes an announcement feel like another small restriction on ordinary life. We found her unsettling because being addressed without the possibility of a reply makes the control feel so routine. Patrick McGoohan gives the series its stubborn centre, but the people administering the Village have to be credible too. The husky, breathy delivery associated with her comedy is useful here for something less inviting.

Her comic reputation took shape on stage, with Sandy Wilson’s *Valmouth* (1958) and the revue *Pieces of Eight* (1959), in which she appeared alongside Kenneth Williams. Timing and double entendre were central to her appeal, with that plummy voice able to make a line sound suggestive before its meaning had quite registered. British comedy films of the 1960s repeatedly cast her as a seductive vamp. Valeria Watt in *Carry On Screaming* (1966) became her most famous screen role.

That success also restricted the work she was offered. After *Carry On Screaming*, she was typecast in vamp roles, with fewer opportunities for straighter screen acting. Her stage work included *Hedda Gabler* (1969), and her performances in classical and modern drama were praised. The disappointment is that screen roles so often asked for the familiar comic seductress rather than giving her something less predictable to play.

*The Prisoner* suggests how useful that familiar voice could be when given a different job. Colin Gordon’s Number Two makes authority seem reasonable, and Peter Swanwick’s Supervisor makes keeping people under control seem an ordinary occupation. Fielding’s announcements fit that company, giving the Village a human presence without making it feel any safer. The series sometimes labours under its own solemnity, but this use of her is simple and effective. Start there, and listen to how little she needs to do to make an everyday announcement unwelcome.

## Biography

Fenella Fielding was an English actress who appeared in stage, film and television productions from the 1950s onwards. She provided the voice of the Loudspeaker Announcer and Telephone Operator in the 1967 series *The Prisoner*.

Fielding was born Fenella Marion Feldman on 17 November 1927 in Whitechapel, London, and died on 11 September 2018 in Hammersmith, London. She began her career in stage productions and gained prominence in the late 1950s with roles including Lady Parvula de Panzoust in the musical *Valmouth* (1958). She appeared in the films *Carry On Regardless* (1961) and *Carry On Screaming!* (1966), as well as *The Old Dark House* (1963) and *Guest House Paradiso* (1999). She was appointed OBE in 2018 for services to drama and charity. Her brother was Basil Feldman, Baron Feldman.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, theguardian.com, imdb.com, theunmutual.co.uk.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *The Prisoner* (1967), Fi1m 84, as Loudspeaker Announcer — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-prisoner.md)

## Complete filmography (38)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Frankula* (2017), as (voice-over)
- *Worst Fears* (2016), as Her Ladyship (segment 1 "Tincture of Vervain")
- *Over the Edge* (2011), as Mrs. van Eisner
- *Morecambe & Wise: Christmas Specials* (2007), Actor
- *Wishbaby* (2007), as Eve
- *The All Together* (2007), as Mrs Cox
- *Skins* (2007), series, as Miriam Henley — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/tv/skins.md)
- *Bottom Mindless Violence* (2004), as Mrs. Foxfur (archive footage)
- *Beginner's Luck* (2002), as Mark's mum
- *Guest House Paradiso* (1999), as Mrs. Foxfur
- *Carnival of Monsters* (1999), as Narrator
- *The Zany Adventures of Robin Hood* (1984), as Molly
- *Cribb* (1980), series, as Zena Prothero
- *That's Carry On!* (1977), as Valeria Watt (archive footage)
- *Cumbernauld HIT* (1977), as Liana
- *Lock Up Your Daughters* (1969), as Lady Eager
- *Ooh La La!* (1968), series, as Antoinette, Henriette, The Wife, Mandolins
- *The Prisoner* (1967), series, as Loudspeaker Announcer — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-prisoner.md)
- *Arrivederci, Baby!* (1966), as Fenella
- *Carry On Screaming!* (1966), as Valeria Watt
- *Doctor in Clover* (1966), as Miss Tatiana Rubikov
- *Road to St. Tropez* (1966), as Narrator
- *How to Undress in Public Without Undue Embarrassment* (1965), as Narrator (voice)
- *The Importance of Being Earnest* (1964), Actor
- *Theatre 625* (1964), series, as Cleopatra
- *The Old Dark House* (1963), as Morgana Femm
- *Doctor in Distress* (1963), as Passenger on Train
- *In the Doghouse* (1962), as Miss Fordyce
- *Carry On Regardless* (1961), as Penny Panting
- *Drama 61-67* (1961), series, as Mrs. Garfield
- *No Love for Johnnie* (1961), as Sheilah
- *The Strange World of Gurney Slade* (1960), series, as Caroline the cow (voice)
- *Danger Man* (1960), series, as Hostess
- *Doctor in Love* (1960), as Mrs. Tadwich
- *Foxhole in Cairo* (1960), as Yvette
- *Sapphire* (1959), as Lingerie Shop Manageress
- *Follow a Star* (1959), as Lady Arabella Finchington
- *Armchair Theatre* (1956), series, as Hon. Gwendolen Fairfax

## Gallery

- ![Photographed at the opening of Homotopia 2015 at Camp and Furnace on 29th October 2015. Fenella Fielding —"England's first lady of the double entendre"—is an En](https://film.one/media/person/60762/gallery-d033c71e4379.jpg) Photographed at the opening of Homotopia 2015 at Camp and Furnace on 29th October 2015. Fenella Fielding —"England's first lady of the double entendre"—is an En — Bob  Edwards, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Fenella_Fielding_at_Homotopia_2015.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Photographed at the opening of Homotopia 2015 at Camp and Furnace on 29th October 2015. Fenella Fielding —"England's first lady of the double entendre"—is an En](https://film.one/media/person/60762/gallery-ae5a52d0b289.jpg) Photographed at the opening of Homotopia 2015 at Camp and Furnace on 29th October 2015. Fenella Fielding —"England's first lady of the double entendre"—is an En — Bob  Edwards, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Fenella_Fielding_at_Homotopia_2015_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Fenella Fielding on her 90th Birthday (17/11/27) Photograph by Etienne Gilfillan licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (2017)](https://film.one/media/person/60762/gallery-755c12aa838a.jpg) Fenella Fielding on her 90th Birthday (17/11/27) Photograph by Etienne Gilfillan licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (2017) — Etienne Gilfillan, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Fenella_Fielding_on_her_90th_Birthday.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Fenella Fielding](https://film.one/media/person/60762/gallery-063fe9431c62.jpg) Fenella Fielding — Etienne Gilfillan, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Fenella_Fielding_on_her_90th_Birthday_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![British Actress Fenella Fielding reflects on the risks of taking other people's advice in metaFenella by public artist Martin Firrell (2014)](https://film.one/media/person/60762/gallery-31b69a1dc01f.jpg) British Actress Fenella Fielding reflects on the risks of taking other people's advice in metaFenella by public artist Martin Firrell (2014) — Martin Firrell, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Screen_capture_of_metaFenella%2C_a_digital_work_of_public_art_by_Martin_Firrell_2014.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)

## Awards

### Other awards — 1 won

- Officer of the Order of the British Empire 2018: Officer of the Order of the British Empire (won)

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/fenella-fielding