The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 9 letter word JEAN ALEXANDER
J
E
A
N
A
L
E
X
A
N
D
E
R
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "actress" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case actress = jean alexander.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.