Jamila Massey

2021-05-06T20:32:18Z

2A02:C7F:683E:1000:B941:C299:960E:3217:

{{short description|British actress and writer (born 1934)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2017}}
{{Infobox person
|image =
| name = Jamila Massey
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1934|01|07}}
| birth_place = [[Shimla|Simla]], [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab]], [[British India]]
| height =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| birth_name =
| othername =
| occupation = Actor, writer
| website =
}}
'''Jamila Massey''' (born 7 January 1934) is a British [[actress]] and [[writer]]. Massey has had a long career on [[British television|UK television]] and radio. She is known for playing Auntie Satya in the long-running radio soap ''[[The Archers]]'', Jamila Ranjha in ''[[Mind Your Language]]'', and [[Sanjay Kapoor (EastEnders)|Sanjay Kapoor]]'s mother [[Neelam Kapoor|Neelam]] in ''[[EastEnders]]''.

==Early life==
Massey came to [[United Kingdom|Britain]] with her parents in 1946 at the age of 12. Her father fought in the [[World War II|Second World War]], but remained in the UK and became a producer for the [[BBC]].<ref name="Jamila">"[http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/mid/sites/llanidloes/pages/jamila_massey.shtml Archer's Actor - Jamila Massey]", BBC. URL last accessed on 2007-03-31.</ref>

As a child, Massey acted for the BBC in radio children's programmes. She attended [[King's College London]] and graduated in [[Latin]], [[Urdu]] and [[English studies|English]]. She had aspirations to train as an actress; however, her mother frowned upon such a career. Massey's mother refused to allow her to attend drama school after the death of her father, so she was forced to use subterfuge to fulfil her acting ambitions.<ref name="Jamila"/>

==Career==
She began her career as an [[extra (actor)|extra]]. Her first film role was in ''[[Sink the Bismarck!]]'' (1960), where she was used to translate and report a news section from the film into Urdu — announcing the sinking of the British battleship {{HMS|Hood|51|6}}.<ref name="Jamila"/>

She continued to work extensively on radio in English, Urdu, [[Hindi]] and [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] as well as for the [[Germany|German]] service of the BBC. Years later she acted in ''Tribunal'', a [[ZDF]] television serial in German, with leading [[Europe]]an actors. She joined the Afro-Asian Committee of [[Equity (trade union)|Equity]] and continued to work in film and television.<ref name="Jamila"/> Roles for Asian actors were scarce during her early career, but she was given parts in series such as ''[[Crossroads (UK TV series)|Crossroads]]'' (1964); ''[[Within These Walls]]'' (1976); ''[[The Next Man]]'' (1976); ''[[Z-Cars]]'' (1976–1977); ''[[Target (UK TV series)|Target]]'' (1977); ''[[Mind Your Language]]'' (1977–79); ''[[Play for Today]]'' (1977, 1978); ''[[Empire Road]]'' (1979); ''[[Angels (TV series)|Angels]]'' (1981); ''[[Minder (TV series)|Minder]]'' (1982); ''[[The Jewel in the Crown (TV series)|The Jewel in the Crown]]'' (1984); ''[[The Bill]]'' (1984); ''[[Albion Market]]'' (1985); ''[[Chance in a Million]]'' (1986); ''[[Madame Sousatzka]]'' (1988); ''[[Great Balls of Fire! (film)|Great Balls of Fire!]]'' (1989); ''[[Brookside]]'' (1989) playing Manju Batra and ''[[Pie in the Sky (TV series)|Pie in the Sky]]'' (1994).

In the mid-1990s she was cast as the recurring character Auntie Satya in [[BBC Radio 4|Radio 4]]'s daily agricultural [[soap opera]], ''[[The Archers]]'', fulfilling one of her life's ambitions.<ref name="Jamila"/> Massey was the second actress to play the role. She had initially been asked to audition for the part, but was forced to turn it down due to work commitments. A year later she was offered the same part when the role was recast. Her character makes occasional appearances to visit her niece, Usha Gupta ([[Souad Faress]]).<ref name="Jamila"/>

In 1997 she was cast in the popular BBC soap opera ''[[EastEnders]]''. She played [[Neelam Kapoor]], the domineering mother of market-trader [[Sanjay Kapoor (EastEnders)|Sanjay]] ([[Deepak Verma]]) until 1998.

Other acting credits include ''[[Arabian Nights (TV miniseries)|Arabian Nights]]'' (2000); ''[[Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years]]'' (2001); ''Perfect World'' (2001); ''[[Doctors (2000 TV series)|Doctors]]'' (2002); ''[[All About Me]]'' (2003); ''Chicken Tikka Masala'' (2005).

Massey's theatre work includes ''The Great Celestial Cow'' ([[Royal Court Theatre|Royal Court]]), ''[[Conduct Unbecoming (play)|Conduct Unbecoming]]'' which toured [[Canada]] as well as the UK, ''Song for a Sanctuary'' ([[Lyric Theatre (Hammersmith)|Lyric Hammersmith]]) and ''Women of the Dust'' ([[Tamasha Theatre Company|Tamasha Theatre]] and [[Bristol Old Vic]]). She also played Kasturba in ''Mahatma versus Gandhi'' in the BBC Home and World Services and Harvey Virdi in ''Calcutta Kosher'', a play on the Indian [[Jewish Community of Kolkata]].<ref name="hindu">"[https://web.archive.org/web/20140601012406/http://hindu.com/thehindu/mp/2005/02/03/stories/2005020301380400.htm Metro Plus Delhi]", ''The Hindu Archive''. URL last accessed on 2019-06-31.</ref>

As well as acting, Massey has also co-authored several books with her husband, writer Reginald Massey. One was a novel, ''The Immigrants'', based on field research among first-generation [[Asians in Britain]]. The other books were ''The Music of India'', for which [[Ravi Shankar]] provided a foreword, and ''The Dances of India''. Massey is deeply interested and involved in music; she has introduced several Indian musicians and dancers to audiences in the West.<ref name="reg">"[http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/mid/sites/bookshelf/pages/reginald_massey.shtml From India to Llani]", BBC. URL last accessed on 2007-03-31.</ref>

Massey appeared in ''[[Coronation Street]]'' in February 2010 as one of Sunita's aunts.

==Personal life==
Massey and her husband, the author and poet Reginald Massey, live in [[Llanidloes]], [[Wales]].<ref name="Jamila"/>

==Writings==

* {{cite book| title = The Music of India
| year = 1993
| location = London
| publisher = Kahn & Averill
| isbn = 1-871-08250-1
| oclc =
}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name|id=0557316|name=Jamila Massey}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Massey, Jamila}}
[[Category:1934 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Alumni of King's College London]]
[[Category:Indian emigrants to England]]
[[Category:British actresses of Indian descent]]
[[Category:English soap opera actresses]]
[[Category:People from Shimla]]
[[Category:Actresses from Himachal Pradesh]]
[[Category:British writers of Indian descent]]
[[Category:Women writers from Himachal Pradesh]]
[[Category:Women writers of Indian descent]]
[[Category:English radio actresses]]
[[Category:English television actresses]]
[[Category:Indian emigrants to Wales]]
[[Category:English writers]]

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Jamila Massey