Jill Gascoine NUDE

Jill Gascoine (born 11 April 1937, in Lambeth, London) is a British actress and novelist. She is most widely known for her role as Detective Inspector Maggie Forbes in the 1980s television series The Gentle Touch and its spin-off series C.A.T.S. Eyes. In the 1990s, she also became a novelist and has published three books.
Gascoine began her acting career in theatre in the 1950s, and during the 1960s she had regular roles at the Dundee Repertory Theatre. Her early work also included collaborations with future film and television director, Ken Loach.

From 1970 onwards, Gascoine turned her attention to television and made guest appearances in series such as Z Cars, Dixon of Dock Green, Softly Softly and Within These Walls. She then had a recurring role playing Letty Gaunt in The Onedin Line from 1976 to 1979. However, she became a household name in 1980 when she starred in the groundbreaking ITV drama series The Gentle Touch, playing Detective Inspector Maggie Forbes. This was the first British television drama that centred around a female police officer, coming before the BBC's similarly-themed Juliet Bravo by several months. The Gentle Touch ran for five series until 1984, though Gascoine continued to play Maggie Forbes in the more action-oriented spin-off series C.A.T.S. Eyes from 1985 to 1987. Following this, she then appeared as Judy Schwartz in the final series of the sitcom Home To Roost (1989-90) opposite John Thaw, and continued to make guest appearances on British television in series such as Taggart and Boon.

After a high profile career that had spanned over twenty years on British television, Gascoine and her second husband, actor Alfred Molina, moved to Los Angeles in the 1990s. Since moving there, Gascoine has made guest appearances on U.S. television in series such as Northern Exposure and Touched By An Angel, as well as performing extensively in theatre.

Though she still resides in Los Angeles, she returned to the UK in 2008 to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, appearing in the play Sister Cities at the Gilded Balloon Theatre.