Mollie Sugden | |
---|---|
Mollie Sugden as Mrs. Slocombe
|
|
Born |
Isobel Mary Sugden 21 July 1922 Keighley, West Riding of Yorkshire, England |
Died | 1 July 2009 Guildford, Surrey, England |
(aged 86)
Cause of death | Heart failure |
Nationality | British |
Years active | 1962–2003, 2009 |
Television |
The Liver Birds Are You Being Served? That's My Boy My Husband and I Grace & Favour |
Spouse(s) | William Moore (m. 1958–2000) |
Children | Robin Moore Simon Moore |
Mollie Sugden (21 July 1922 – 1 July 2009) was an English comedy actress, best known for portraying the saleswoman Mrs. Slocombe in the British sitcom Are You Being Served? (1972–85). She later reprised this role in Grace & Favour (1992–93). Sugden appeared in many other television series, including The Liver Birds, That's My Boy and Coronation Street.
She was born as Isobel Mary Sugden, in Keighley in the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1922. When she was four years old, she heard a woman reading a poem at a village concert making people laugh. The following Christmas, after being asked if she could "do anything", Sugden read this poem and everyone fell about laughing. She later remarked that their response made her "realise how wonderful it was to make people laugh". Shortly after she left school, World War II broke out, and Sugden worked in a munitions factory in Keighley making shells for the Royal Navy. She was later made redundant, so she attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.
When Sugden graduated from the Guildhall School of Drama, she worked in repertory for eight years with a company that included Eric Sykes and Roy Dotrice. She also had work in radio and made her television debut in a live half-hour comedy show. Sugden's other appearances before Are You Being Served? included parts in The Benny Hill Show, Just Jimmy (with Jimmy Clitheroe), Z-Cars, Up Pompeii!, The Goodies, Steptoe and Son and five episodes of Jackanory in 1968.