Jasmine Bligh

Jasmine Lydia Bligh (20 May 1913 – 21 July 1991) was an English broadcaster and television announcer for the BBC. In the late 1930s, she was one of the first three BBC Television Service presenters, and she, along with Leslie Mitchell and Elizabeth Cowell, delivered continuity announcements introducing programmes in-vision. When the BBC's regular television service debuted in November 1936, Bligh was its first female announcer. Prior to joining the BBC, she appeared in revues and films. Bligh left the BBC in 1946 to become a farmer in the Republic of Ireland but returned in the 1950s to present programming for deaf children and announce on BBC Radio. She presented the Thames Television daily magazine show Good Afternoon in 1973 and ran a second-hand mobile clothing business from 1967 until 1976. Early life and career Bligh was born to an upper class family in London on 20 May 1913 to Noel Bligh. She was the niece of Esme Ivo Bligh, the 9th Earl of Darnley and was a descendent of Captain William Bligh, the commander usurped during the Mutiny on the Bounty in the 18th century. Her sister, Susan, was a model. Bligh participated in school amateur theatricals and evensong. Bligh's mother was opposed to her plans to become an actor. She did, however, become a Charlot showgirl at the Cambridge Theatre in London when she was 17 years old. Bligh appeared in revues, cameos in films, and Shakespeare plays. She visited France, Italy, Switzerland and the United States. She appeared in Julius Caesar at His Majesty's Theatre and the Charlot revue Please!, among other London productions. After declining to become a debutante, her mother tore up her contract but agreed to a compromise to be presented in court if she may continue acting.