Tributes to Doreen

Derek Granger
Doreen was both a warm and lovely friend and a wonderful colleague and working with her on Brideshead was sheer joy. Her honesty, her straightforwardness, her bluff, no-nonsense attitude and her rippling good humour made our working together a huge and constant pleasure.

But it didn’t preclude a fastidious sensibility when it came to understanding what intelligent casting can properly achieve especially in creating that subtle chemistry where one player acting with another can not only strike sparks but also offer a whole range of unexpected and surprising grace notes.

Early on in the casting of Brideshead I told her that I’d seen a superb young actor in an Irish comedy Wild Oats in an RSC production, that he had to be either Sebastian Flyte or Charles Ryder and that his name was Jeremy Irons.

“Don't worry” she answered “he’s already top of my list.”

There was also another young actor at the time, Anthony Andrews, then playing a courageous four-square young hero in a TV series danger UXB in which with typical stiff upper lip he bravely dismantled unexploded bombs with his bare hands.

One evening at a party a young woman button-holed me to ask, “Have you cast Anthony Andrews yet ?”

I explained that it was a bit tricky because both he and Jeremy were really in contention for the same part.

“No, no, not for Ryder she answered, “I mean for Sebastian.”

"But Anthony’s a rugged young hero!", I said.

“Not always” she said. He’s just been playing a gay, blind, male prostitute operating on the Riviera".

"He’s been playing a what …..!” I answered.

But true enough Anthony he had indeed been playing that very role. It was in an ATV Play of the Week which we quickly got hold of, and duly viewed in Granada’s London offices - and the rest, as they say is history.

After the disruption of the ITV strike Doreen then delivered what was almost a Royal Flush, securing at a stroke the services of Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, Mona Washbourne and Stephane Audran.

Doreen was hugely prolific and over the years something close to 400 different TV dramas but looking at her credits I’m struck by the fact of how so much of her work was truly distinguished.

Recognising Olivier’s immense versatility she cast him not only as the suavely patrician Lord Marchmain but also as the lecherous old artist in John Fowles’s Ebony Tower and again as the broken-down old music-hall performer Harry Burrard in JB Priestley’s Lost Empires.

Casting Helen Mirren as the brooding DCI Tennison in Prime Suspect was a brilliant stroke which also helped to rocket Mirren to super stardom. Again her exemplary casting of Ford Maddox Ford’s The Good Soldier in Harold Pinter’s adaptation was an integral part of that drama’s great distinction, as was the casting of Kenneth Branagh as Wallender in that typically moody scandi-noir.

Her last and one of the very best casting achievements was the subtle but spiralling thriller, “The Honourable woman”, starring the American actress, Maggie Gyllenhall.

Doreen’s fine work was acknowledged when, for her casting of Elizabeth I with Helen Mirren as the Queen, she became one of the only two casting directors ever to be awarded with an International Emmy.

In 1995 Doreen had founded the Casting Directors’ Guild. A measure of her enormous popularity was shown when after the news of her death the Guild put a notice on Twitter, by the next day there were over 28,000 tweets in response. She was not only a great professional, for many of us she was also a true friend.

Barbara Ewing
Dear Dor,
As some of your other friends know, soon after you had left for the Great Ladies Club in the Sky, your mobile phone rang me, in the middle of the night, in New Zealand. Quite bloody right too – you knew of course how mad I was at you, for leaving while I was 12,000 miles away.

So now I am an “Absent Friend” at your funeral. And you are now an Absent Friend in my life.
Who am I going to go with to our favourite restaurant? Who is going to go with me to the Guardian Members meetings, listening to politicians and columnists in strange churches and huge old halls all over London? Who am I going to shout with about the political situation (together on the same side!) while drinking a sometimes copious amount of red wine?

You gave me first big television lead as an actress. And you became a supportive and generous friend. You knew red was my favourite colour and at Christmas you gave me a red fountain pen which I am using to finish the draft of my tenth book at this very moment as you knew – and you’re not here to read the draft, as you often did so honestly. Come back!!!

No. Go well at last dear Dor. Like your family and your other old friends I will miss you terribly. I loved you very much.

Barbara x

Andy Harries
I am devastated by Doreen’s passing – she was such a special lady and i loved knowing and working with her. A brilliant casting director with great taste … forthright, honest ... always “on it” – and so well dressed!!

Many of our shows – Wallander in particular – were elevated because of her commitment to finding not just the right actors – but the perfect balance of cast. She was also very persuasive in the final discussions - ensuring we always made the right decisions !!!

Working with her was a pleasure. She had a wicked sense of humour, loved a gossip and her throaty laugh would echo round the office as we both cheered ourselves up in the face of the madness of the business.

Life will be poorer without her and I will miss her spirit. She was loyal and wise and it was a privilege to have known her for so long.

I so remember those wonderful days when Granada casting would have their weekly drinks every Friday afternoon. It was a mad, delicious way to start the weekend and Doreen would always be at the centre of the fun.

It’s incredibly sad to lose such a wonderful character and such a committed professional ... I will always remember her and always be grateful for her support of me personally and the shows we worked on together.

Kenneth Branagh
I met Doreen when I was 19. I was a student and she gave me 2 days’ work as an extra. I queued up to meet her at the end of the day and collect my £10 cash. She was very nice and when I asked if I could write to her for possible further work she said yes. I wrote – she answered. Nothing came up but the encouragement was nice.

Doreen was straightforward, kind and professional. About 30 years later we met to work on a TV programme. She was exactly the same and our relationship continued – respectful and simple.
I saw her encourage other inexperienced young professionals, as I had been, and they were part of “her work”. She had excellent judgement, a great sense of humour and was dedicated – being around her was uncomplicated and fun.

She was constant – I enjoyed her company when I was 19, when I was 49, and all the bits in between.

Here’s to you Doreen – and thank you.

Helen Mirren
Doreen was simply the best. In my years of working with her on Prime Suspect, the actors I worked with, found by Doreen, were mostly unknown and at the very beginning of their careers.
Her understanding and instinct for finding and encouraging young actors, and then casting them in the roles that fit their individuality was so very very good. I would turn up onset so often to be blown away by the brilliance of the men and women that Doreen had found. The list of actors who began their careers by being cast by Doreen is astounding.

She worked without ego, without self-aggrandisement, but with generosity and a love of actors and acting, and an understanding of that art that gave directors the perfect person for a role. I have always felt that much of the success of Prime Suspect was thanks to Doreen giving the work onscreen a depth and complexity with her casting. Thank you, Doreen. Our professional will miss you very much.

Taylor Hackford
Before I knew Doreen Jones, I had the pleasure of seeing her work on various seasons of my wife’s series, Prime Suspect. From the very first episode, I marvelled at the remarkable performances from the supporting actors, and that stream of quality continued with each successive season. When I complimented Helen, she simply said: Doreen Jones.

In Hollywood, I have worked with some wonderful casting professionals starting with Lynn Stallmaster, who won the first ever lifetime Achievement Oscar this year for Casting. Doreen Jones belongs on that same tier.

I made it my business to meet Doreen and was immediately impressed with her style – a meticulous professional with amazing taste and a salty candor that made every casting session both exhaustive and exhilarating. We collaborated on two films together, and my respect for Doreen never stopped growing.

She truly loved what she did, working tirelessly all day with me and then going out to theatre at night – always searching for new actors with character and talent. Making films is not the glamorous process the public believes it to be. It’s fighting it out every day in the trenches, under huge pressure, trying to put something worthwhile on the screen. No filmmaker does it alone – you need scores of dedicated collaborators next to you contributing their talent to every frame.

Doreen Jones was one of the best of those consummately talented, unsung collaborators.

Lynda la Plante
I will be forever indebted to Doreen Jones for her brilliant casting on the TV series, Prime Suspect.
Doreen had an intuitive ability to find actors and will have given many the break of their lives. She was always a pleasure to work with, with a great personality and so deserved the Emmy award for Elizabeth 1 starring Helen Mirren.

Doreen’s contribution to televison drama since 1961 is quite astonishing.

There will be no replacement for her talent as the casting system has changed drastically. Doreen’s joy was finding fresh talent and bringing them to the productions. I always remember her telling me that she had found a very young talented actor who would play the small part of the boyfriend of a victim in prime suspect – the young actor was Ralph Fiennes.

May she rest with a gin and tonic in heaven ... We have lost a very special person.

Jeremy Conway
I have known Doreen ever since I started out as an agent many many years ago. I think I even met her when I was an actor and I went to ATV for an interview with Barry Ford and Joan Brown. As a casting director Doreen was one of the very best. She had an instinctive intuition as to what the director required - and her choices were always spot on. Doreen had a remarkable memory for actors and was dedicated to her job.

I will personally miss her a lot... and her lethal gin & tonics!!

Jeremy Irons
Thirty five years ago, Doreen helped me on my way – and while doing so we had some fun.
I’m sorry not to be here to continue the fun she wanted - and to help her on her way ...

Dallas Smith
I met Doreen when I was a very new agent at Peters Fraser & Dunlop. We later served on the LAMDA board – training and talent were her bywords. We saw Eddie Redmayne at the Globe. I immediately took him on and soon Doreen cast him in Elizabeth I. When I swore blind her to her that he could ride – he couldn’t – she “reprimanded” me, since which time I’ve insisted on actual skills being on CV’s.
I feel privileged to have known her personally and professionally and will miss her hugely not to mention her healing gin and tonics!!

Tim Piggot Smith
Pam and I are really sorry that we cannot be with you today to honour Doreen’s memory. We are with you in spirit – saddened by her loss, and moved to remember what a vital, enjoyable woman she was, and how good she was at her job – how pleasant she made the awful business - the dark business of meeting a director.

Doreen was one of the first casting directors I met socially, way back in the early seventies. It was at dinner with Jeremy Conway – then Pam’s agent – and Pam already knew her, but I was slightly in awe of her. I was astonished that she was so open and warm, and I very quickly relaxed in her company: what a delightful, fun, charming companion she was. At that time – if I remember correctly - she was with Granada, and Granada was based in Golden Square: that at any rate is where I remember her, and my favourite memory of her is that when we left Jeremy’s that evening, she said ‘If you’re in town, pop in one day and see me.’

Well not long after that, I was passing, and - although it took a huge amount of courage to do so - I did pop in. I was very nervous – it seemed presumptuous to darken Doreen’s doorway with no other reason than to say ‘Hallo.’ Doreen happened to be in, which was lucky, and free which was luckier, and we sat in her office and had a cup of tea, and talked for ten/fifteen minutes. It could have been embarrassing but it was just fun. Doreen was fun.

Her simple act of kindness made me feel that the profession I had not long joined, could be something more than a harsh competitive world - which it also is – it could be a place of laughter and comradeship, a place in which one of the most difficult things we have to do as actors could be made easier and less troubling. How different that world seems from the world of self-taping that we now inhabit. How much I wish I was still sitting with Doreen, with a cup of tea in my hand, talking about last night’s telly.

That at any rate is how I choose to picture her – in that heavenly casting suite in the sky – being nice to actors. Thank you Doreen. Good night and, thank you and God bless.

Jacky Stoller
I first met Doreen through the telephone. She was a secretary in the ATV Casting department in London and I was a production assistant working at ATV Elstree. It was 1962. We were both working on the same drama series and we spoke nearly every day. I actually met her for the first time at the Casting department’s Christmas party. My first impression was of a beautiful blonde girl with rollers in her hair – this was a sight I was going to get used to over the years.

Although we didn’t work together until a long time later we became very close – she now a fully fledged casting director and me a producer – and within the confines of our work loads we always managed to go on holiday together – with my small daughter Louise .We always threw huge joint parties at my flat in Highgate filled with the great and the good.

I have such fond memories of her – Portugal lying in the shade making sure she didn’t get sunburnt as she had a really hot date on her return – only to fall asleep, the sun moved and she ended up with blisters the size of eggs on her legs and had to be taken to hospital on our return to England.

Driving to Sheffield to see some very long Shakespeare play, she fell asleep I drove back but she still managed to book the best actors by some sort of osmosis. Incredible,

Dancing at a night club one New Years Eve and fell over and only discovered the next day that she had broken her arm.

Was convinced she had gout – she always wore open toed shoes in the middle of winter – only to discover that she had chilblains.

We were very competitive – not in the professional sense because Doreen’s taste and knowledge were far superior to mine – but in things like tennis. We were once asked why we were trying to kill each other on a tennis court in Spain.

For the past 15 years she always spent at least a month with Barrie and me at our house in Italy – which she loved. It was the perfect place for her – she would sit overlooking the pool with her fags diet coke and a good thriller and then amble down for a swim. And in the evening we would go to one of our local restaurants, drink gallons of prosecco and stagger home. I remember one New Years Eve in a local restaurant that without a word of Italian she managed to get the whole place up on their feet singing Auld Lang Syne. Truly amazing.

I was so proud of her when she won her Emmy for Elizabeth but was so self effacing about it. She asked me to accompany her as her partner to LA to collect the award but at the last moment she chickened out – I won’t win she said and if I did I wouldn’t be able to collect it and speak.

She was a one off – she had such generosity of spirit – great humour and a thirst for knowledge – I loved going over to Redmore Road at least once a week – just the two of us where we would discuss everything from politics to the books we were reading and -lets be fair also to gossip.

I am going to miss her terribly she was a wonderful friend and companion – she is going to leave a great big hole in my heart I truly loved her.

POEM FOR DOREEN
by Judith Stewart

So you’ve left us, Dor, buggered off
to somewhere (I hope) with good pubs
and a sun-lounger in dappled shade
where you doze, novel in hand
and a chilled drink nearby.

I don't blame you - things weren't good
and you really needed away.
But I never told you I love you
and am having to do it now
in public so please don't laugh.

It's coming up sixty years
since our Edinburgh days:
girls behaving badly
sharing experiences
laying down a store of memories.

A gang of five, we roamed the town
in kitten heels and swagger coats
taking risks and laughing at the world.
Eyed up guys in pubs and coffee bars
rating them snoggable or not.

I recall how you glowed
when a passing lad told his friends
he fancied the blonde with the nice legs!
You had white stilettos on that day
and a purple streak in your hair.

Drinking, dancing, meeting men
was what life seemed to be about:
your ambitions went unvoiced.
I marvelled at your progress
rejoiced at your success.

Now all I can say is: wherever you are
please be ready, a good red in stock
and the Tanqueray bottle at hand
ready to pour your killer G & Ts
as those you've left behind start drifting in…

We're raising money for the homeless charity, Shelter in memory of Doreen at JustGiving

Doreen Jones (1940-2017) Much missed xxx