Paula Jacobs is one of the ‘elite’ group of Liverpool-born
actors who have appeared in both Coronation Street and Brookside.
She was born on 6th March 1932, the daughter of
Jewish businessman Philip Jacobs and his wife Stella Miriam (née Harris). At
the time of her birth the family were living at 9 Ballantrae Road L18, later
moving to a large house, ‘Newstead’ near to Strawberry Fields on Beaconsfield
Road L25. The Jacobs’ business supplied clothing goods to Marks & Spencer.
The success of the company was illustrated by their substantial home and in
1949 we find records of them travelling first-class to New York on the Queen
Elizabeth.
In 1953 she married David Swift who worked for her father’s
business and they moved into 109 Druid’s Cross Road L25, later moving to ‘The
Red House’ on Allerton Road near the junction with Booker Avenue. David Swift’s
brother, Clive, had taken up an acting career in the 1950s and he and Paula
decided they would follow suit.
Her first TV role came in 1962 in an episode of Z-Cars
and in a career which would last nearly half a century she appeared in many
well-known programmes including Shoestring, Mapp & Lucia, The New
Statesman, Bergerac, Brookside, Coronations Street, Casualty, Midsomer Murders,
Doctors and many others. She also appeared alongside her husband in the
1990’s in Drop the Dead Donkey.
Her film appearances included The Birth of the Beatles
[1979] An American Werewolf in London [1981] the Remains of the Day [1983]
and Tea With Mussolini [1999].
Their daughter, Julia Swift, also became an actor.
Paula Jacobs died on 26th June 2021. She is
buried alongside her husband in Highgate Cemetery.
.
