Jane Wymark is known and loved for playing Joyce Barnaby in ITV's long-running detective series, Midsomer Murders. The actress, who made her name in the 1970s as Morwenna Chynoweth Whitworth in Poldark, stepped down from her role in the crime drama in 2011 after 14 years of starring alongside her on-screen husband, John Nettles.
But did you know that Jane isn't the only famous face in her family? Find out all about her actor brother and famous dad here, as well as what she's been up to after leaving Midsomer Murders.
Jane Wymark's famous family
It's perhaps unsurprising that Jane decided to pursue a career in acting considering her family background, with her father, Patrick Wymark, a famous actor, and her mother, Olwen Wymark, a writer and playwright.
During his short career, Patrick starred in a range of plays with the Royal Shakespeare Company, including Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard and John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi.
As for his TV career, he's perhaps best known for playing businessman John Wilder in the twin drama series The Plane Makers and The Power Game – a role that earned him the 1965 TV BAFTA for Best Actor.
On the silver screen, he appeared in several thrillers and sci-fi movies, including Children of the Damned (1964), Operation Crossbow (1965), and Repulsion (1965).
Meanwhile, his wife Olwen published a number of plays, perhaps most notably her 1977 drama about mental illness, Find Me.
© Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesThe couple welcomed four children in total, including Jane's younger brother, Tristram, who is also an actor. He's appeared in episodes of Call the Midwife, EastEnders and also starred alongside his sister in Midsomer Murders!
His most notable role is playing General Thursday in the drama series, Pennyworth.
Jane and her siblings grew up in Stratford-upon-Avon, where their father worked for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
© ITV"I knew acting was a stupid profession to go into, but when you hang around theatres all your life, it imprints," she previously told Birmingham Live.
Jane's family tragedy
Tragedy struck the Wymark family in 1970 when Patrick suddenly died of a heart attack at the age of 44. The actor passed away in his hotel room in Melbourne, Australia, where he was due to star in the play Sleuth at the Comedy Theatre just days later.
Jane's mum, Olwen, passed away decades later in 2013 at the age of 81. Paying tribute to her mother, who lived in Hampstead and Highgate for most of her life, Jane said "it wasn't easy" for the writer after her husband's death. "It wasn't easy for her. She had to recreate herself as a career person having been a stay-at-home mother," she told Ham&High.
© John Pratt/Keystone Features/Getty Images"She had a busy, successful life and was very much loved by everyone who knew her," Jane said of Olwen, who taught at various colleges alongside her writing work. "She was a good mother and as a teacher, a lot of people benefited from meeting her."
Jane's life after Midsomer Murders
After leaving Midsomer Murders in 2011, Jane revealed her plans to go travelling with her husband, diplomat Paul Howson.
"The first thing I'm going to do now is go travelling with my husband, who's been working in Shanghai in cultural diplomacy for the British Council," she told Birmingham Live in 2010. "I'm very keen to go back and see how it's changed. I went there in 1979, with the first theatre company allowed in after the cultural revolution. It's very different now."
© GettyNowadays, Jane is a member of The London Literary Salon, which builds a "community around the study of literature and ideas", according to its website. The actress works as a facilitator, leading meetings between participants who gather to discuss a variety of texts.
Jane has also run drama workshops in schools for the National Theatre's education department and worked as a tutor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
