Jane Rossington
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Jane Rossington (born March 5, 1943 in Derby) is a British actress, best known for her role as Jill Richardson on the soap opera Crossroads.
Rossington was the only Crossroads original cast member to be in the first and last episode of the series. She was, however, no stranger to soap opera, having played the part of probationary nurse Kate Ford in the ITV series "Emergency Ward 10" (1957 - 1967).
Jane spoke the first words of the first episode of Crossroads on November 2 1964, "Crossroads Motel, good evening." Jane played Jill Richardson, the daughter of the owner of the Crossroads Motel, Meg Richardson. For the 24 years she appeared in the show the writers delighted in making her suffer, and, amongst other things, she was married three times - once bigamously - was a drug addict, an alcoholic, had a baby with her step-brother. Jane was the only actress to appear in the programme from the first episode to the last (no. 4510) in April 1988. She also spoke the final words of the final episode.
Because no regular member of the cast of Crossroads had a permanent contract, Jane had plenty of time to pursue other roles, perhaps most notably that of Monica Downes in the BBC Radio 4 soap opera The Archers. She was, however, an integral part of Crossroads. When she became pregnant, the show's producer, Reg Watson ordered the script writers to include the pregnancy in the storyline. When Jane mis-carried, Watson asked her if she would mind if the pregnancy storyline went ahead, as they had had such a positive response from the audience. Jill's daughter, Sarah Jane, was played by Jane's own daughter, Sorrell.
After the demise of the original series, Jane was seen very little on television but appeared on stage many times. When ITV 1 announced in 2000 that the series was to be revived, Jane returned to the role. Jill was later 'killed off' by her estranged husband Adam.
Jane now lives in Staffordshire with her second husband, chartered surveyor David Dunger. She has two grown children, Sorrel (who had played Sarah Jane Harvey as a child) and Harry.
Jane Rossington since 1988 has been the main patron of the Crossroads Appreciation Society, and continues to take an active role in the society.
