Charlotte Mitchell

Charlotte Mitchell
Tony Maiden as Albert Clifton (left), Charlotte Mitchell (1926–2012) as Amy Winthrop (middle) and Roderick Shaw as Kevin Gordon (right) in the episode "The Ponies" of the first series of "The Adventures of Black Beauty".
Born	Edna Winifred Mitchell (1926-07-23)23 July 1926 Ipswich, Suffolk, England, UK
Died	2 May 2012(2012-05-02) (aged 85) Chiswick, London, England, UK
Years active	1949–96
Known for	The Adventures of Black Beauty

Charlotte Mitchell (born Edna Winifred Mitchell; 23 July 1926 – 2 May 2012) was an English actress and poet.

She was once (allegedly) the girlfriend of Peter Sellers, hence her appearance in The Goon Show episodes Ye Bandit of Sherwood Forest as Maid Marion and Tales of Montmartre as Seagoon's love interest, Fifi. Charlotte Mitchell was married to the actor Philip Guard and was the mother of 3 children, actors Christopher Guard and Dominic Guard and animator and novelist Candy Guard. Charlotte lived in West London during the later part of her life and continued to be active as a poet.

In the 1950s she provided lyrics, sketches, and occasionally acted in revues on London's West End. She was especially successful in her ventures providing lyrics for Madeleine Dring in Airs on a Shoestring (1953), Pay the Piper (1954), and Fresh Airs (1956), all productions of Laurier Lister.

She appeared on BBC Radio with Ian Carmichael in The Small, Intricate Life of Gerald C. Potter. Carmichael played Gerald C. Potter, mystery writer, while she played Diana, his wife, who, under the pseudonym of Miss Magnolia Badminton, wrote romantic novels.

She also played, on radio, the Dowager Duchess (Lord Peter Wimsey's mother) in the radio adaption of Strong Poison that starred Ian Carmichael as Peter Wimsey. On television, she played Amy the housekeeper in The Adventures of Black Beauty (1972–74), and Monica Spencer in And Mother Makes Five.

Her poetry was published in collections such as "Twelve Burnt Saucepans", "Looking Round Dangerously", "I Want to Go Home" and "Just in Case". These provided the basis of a series of popular programmes on BBC Radio 4 in which she read her own work. Her poetry is often requested and read on the BBC Radio 4's Poetry Please, and one of her poems was chosen by Judi Dench and Michael Williams in their joint BBC Radio 4 programme With Great Pleasure.