<Tr> <Th> Occupation </Th> <Td> Actress </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Years active </Th> <Td> 1962--2010 </Td> </Tr> <P> Shirley Ann Pithers (12 June 1935--9 March 2017), better known as Jane Freeman, was an English - born Welsh actress who was best known for her work on British television, mostly for her role as Ivy in Last of the Summer Wine . </P> <P> Freeman was born in Brentford, London, in 1935 but raised in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, as a child, following the death of her father in an accident when she was 9 years old and her mother's subsequent remarriage . She graduated from the City Cardiff College of Music and Drama in 1955, and after a stay in London joined the Osiris Repertory Theatre touring company, based in Gloucestershire . She joined the Arena Theatre, Sutton Coldfield, in 1958, followed by Birmingham Rep from 1968 and 1973 . Her stage appearances include Margaret More in the Welsh Theatre Company's first production, A Man for All Seasons, at Cardiff's New Theatre in 1962 . </P>

Who played ivy in last of the summer wine