Shirley Teece

Shirley Teece, who has died aged 89 after a long illness, was a well-liked light entertainment casting director in theatre and television in the 1980s and 1990s.

Growing up in Holloway, north London, in the 1930s and 1940s, she attended Parliament Hill Girls’ School. She joined the casting department of ATV in 1969 and worked on programmes such as The Muppet Show, New Faces, The Tom Jones Show and The Golden Shot.

Teece switched to Thames TV as a senior casting director in 1969, working on series such as Never the Twain, with Donald Sinden and Windsor Davies; Shelley, with Hywel Bennett; Fresh Fields, with Julia McKenzie; Chance in a Million, with Simon Callow and Brenda Blethyn; as well as Mr Bean and The Harry Enfield Show.

After Thames TV lost its franchise in 1992, she went freelance, dividing her time between TV and theatre projects. Her first big theatre project was the musical Jolson (1995), starring Brian Conley, followed by Always (1997), a UK tour of Annie in 2000, and Jailhouse Rock (2004).

Known for her sense of fun and love of performance, Teece took part in a production of Cinderella at the Tower Theatre in 1979 with a cast entirely made up of theatrical agents and casting directors.

Shirley Teece was born on March 9, 1936, and died on January 6.