It is with sadness that the EES notes the passing of the actor Margaret Tyzack, at the age of 79. Some of our older members may recall her portrayal of the Society’s founder, Amelia Edwards, in the dramatized documentary For the Love of Egypt (BBC, Anna Benson Gyles, 1982).
Throughout her career, Tyzack brought an intelligence and warmth to her portrayals, and in so doing, created a number of fondly remembered television characters: Winifred Dartie in The Forsyte Saga (BBC, David Giles and James Cellan Jones, 1967), Queen Anne in The First Churchills (BBC, David Giles, 1969) for which she received a BAFTA, and Annie Morgan in Nigel Kneale’s Quatermass (Euston Films, Piers Haggard, 1979). It is probably, however, as the Emperor Claudius’ patrician mother, Antonia, in Jack Pullman’s ground-breaking serial, I, Claudius (BBC, Herbert Wise, 1976) that she will be best remembered— skilfully portraying the character’s journey from idealistic youth to stoic old age.
It is a pity, therefore, that Tyzack’s similarly effective interpretation of Amelia Edwards, founder of the EES, did not reach a larger audience. The play was shown only once, on 10 February 1982, as part of BBC2’s archaeological documentary series, Chronicle, which ran from 1966-1991. Sadly, it has not been repeated, subsequently, in the UK and certainly warrants further viewing.
Filmed with the BBC’s usual impeccable attention to period detail, a strong script was provided by Elaine Morgan, coming directly from writing the acclaimed dramas, Testament of Youth (BBC, Moira Armstrong, 1979), and The Life and Times of David Lloyd George (BBC, John Hefin, 1981). The play, something of a departure for Chronicle, more used to producing straightforward documentary films, was commissioned to commemorate the Centenary in 1982 of the Society’s founding and traces Amelia’s efforts to establish and develop the Society, (then, the Egypt Exploration Fund) following the publication of A Thousand Miles up the Nile in 1876 until the time of her death in 1892. It is certainly a diverting production, although very much of its time and it is entertaining to see a young Jeremy Clyde as W M Flinders Petrie, just a very few years after his portrayal of the similarly cerebral Sexton Blake in the Egyptologically themed, Sexton Blake and the Demon God (BBC, Roger Tucker, 1978)!
Although physically far more striking than our extant portraits of Amelia, Tyzack exhibits her customary commitment to her art and ensures that the character is both believable and dramatically compelling. Her interpretation of Amelia provides viewers with a nuanced and rounded performance, which suggests a good deal of preparatory research. The scenes, in which Tyzack vainly endeavours to convince Tony Steadman’s curmudgeonly Samuel Birch of the fledgling Fund’s efficacy, crackle with her frustration, masked beneath a veneer of Victorian civility.
It is interesting to note that Tyzack’s subsequent role in episodes of the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (Amblin, 1992-3), as Miss Helen Seymour, formidable Oxford tutor to Drs Jones, père et fils, is clearly informed by her 1982 role as the doyenne of British Egyptology and may, indeed, have provided the inspiration for the character.
Of course, in addition to television work, Tyzack was an experienced film actor—appearing twice for Stanley Kubrick in 2001: A Space Odyssey (UK, 1968) and A Clockwork Orange (UK, 1971)—and an internationally renowned stage actor of great versatility, essaying the works of Peter Schaffer, Alan Bennett, Racine, and Enid Bagnold to great critical and popular acclaim.
Margaret Maud Tyzack OBE, CBE 9 September 1931 - 25 June 2011, actor
John J Johnston, Vice-Chair of the EES