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Show When an actress is more than an actress By Ruth Thompson K Actresses as producers andor directors and execu- ' tives? It's not what you would call pioneering at this stage. , But maybe those who are qualified are greater in number num-ber today than before. In the earlier days of television, televi-sion, Ida Lupino, first well-known well-known as an actress and then recognized as a movie director, direc-tor, was one of the co-founders (along with David Niven : and the late Charles Boyer i and Dick Powell) of the pres- tigious television production " company, Four Star Produc-tions. Produc-tions. - Actresses Colleen Dewhurst y and Geraldine Fitzerald both i. have directed New York stage shows. And they're not alone, p Jane Fonda, a movie super-is super-is star, has phased out perform-d perform-d ing for several months to nur- 3 luic uic television audpidiiiu 11 of the movie "9 to 5" (in which J- she co-starred as an exploited secretary). For the TV version she is credited as executive producer. Sometimes thai means a vague financial hold Not this time. Our witness: Jean Marsh the English actress who is co-starring co-starring in "9 to 5" (a spring-at spring-at time replacement on ABC) as ; . U 'i ... . i ' ' ' "J , " I - I , V - -r 1 Jean Marsh the office sneak. Says Jean: "I thought it might be just a title for Jane, because she has the rights. But that's not so. "She was there for all the readings, including mine. when I went out to Los Ange-i Ange-i les to audition for the series at 20th Century-Fox Television , where it's filming. She has an office at the studio. She's l there all the time, every day and she pays attention to eve-' eve-' ry detail. She talks to all the actors... in fact she has talked ' to me several times since I've been back in New York (for a month) about the character I ' play, Roz Keith. She's abso-. abso-. lutely dedicated. "Sometimes with political women, the image is too much a for them, they lose humor," n says Jean. "But she still has e humor. She's very bright but 'f very funny. I am very impressed with her." Jean hopes that "9 to 5" will give a second spurt to her box-office popularity when jv she tours the United States in sr more classical plays. So far, her biggest critical acclaim has come from her U.S. per- 4 formance of "Twelfth Night," 4 in which a major U.S. critic c (Clive Barnes) acclaimed her as a major contemporary actress. "We toured, you know, and out-sold even film stars in comedies." But, she adds, being known is a help. She became well-known first through the "Upstairs Downstairs" series on PBS in the role of the maid, Rose. But she didn't just act. With another anoth-er Shakespearean actress, Eileen Atkins, she created the series' concept and the basic characters. Fate helps those who help themselves. |