Jill trained at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She comes from a theatrical background, her father being a variety artist and her mother an actress/dancer and later a theatrical costumier.

One of the highlights of her early career was a season at The Donovan Maule Theatre, Nairobi ,where she played Laura in The Glass Menagerie and Jill Mason in Equus.

She joined The Royal National Theatre for the first time in 1980, appearing in The Life of Galileo for John Dexter, Othello for Sir Peter Hall and creating the role of Slave in The Romans in Britain for Michael Bogdanov. She toured with Mrs Worthington’s Daughters in Angels of War and Wyres Cross.

In 1982, she played Lady Macbeth, Lady Capulet and The Princess of France in Loves Labours Lost at The Bolton Octagon. Her second visit to The National in the late 80’s was for Ghetto directed by Nicholas Hytner, and Hedda Gabler for Howard Davies in which she played Mrs Elvsted as understudy cover opposite Juliet Stevenson.

She has worked on many West End productions, including It’s Ralph and The Rehearsal at The Garrick for Ian McDiarmid. In the mid 90’s she played both Hannah Jarvis and Lady Croom at many performances in Arcadia by Tom Stoppard, directed by Sir Trevor Nunn at The Theatre Royal, Haymarket.

After a career break while her children were teenagers, Jill returned to The Theatre Royal last year to cover Lady Fidget, Mrs Squeamish and Old Lady Squeamish in The Country Wife, directed by Jonathan Kent, and Maria Thins in Girl With A Pearl Earring, directed by Joe Dowling.

Her film and television credits include: Midnight Man, The Bill, Mountain Men, Missing From Home, Strange But True, Crossroads and The Golden Shot!