British actress Mollie Sugden (Are You Being Served?) dies at 86

[McCrutchy]

Mollie Sugden (1922-2009)

She was Mrs. Slocombe on the British sitcom Are You Being Served? which ran from 1972-1985 and can be seen in syndication in the U.S. on PBS.

From The Guardian (July 1st):

The comedy actor Mollie Sugden died today at the age of 86 after a long illness.

Yorkshire-born Sugden was best known for playing Mrs Slocombe in long-running BBC sitcom Are You Being Served?, a role later reprised for Grace and Favour.

She died at the Royal Surrey hospital with her twin sons, Robin and Simon Moore, at her bedside, according to her agent Joan Reddin.

One of a select bunch of British performers to achieve national treasure status, Sugden was renowned for her portrayal of fearsome battleaxes. The first of such roles to achieve acclaim was as Mrs Hutchinson in The Liver Birds, a series so popular it was revived in the late 90s using the original cast.

She was the star of many other comedies, including Come Back Mrs Noah, That's My Boy and My Husband And I, which she made with her husband.

But it was as the bossy sales lady Betty Slocombe in Are You Being Served? that she was best known. The long-running, innuendo-laden television comedy was such a hit that a feature film was made based on the series, and it was successfully exported to America. Every episode Sugden sported a different hair colour and continually harped on about her "*****".

Born in Keighley, West Yorkshire, in 1922, Sugden studied drama at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where she took three major awards in one year.

But success did not come quickly and she spent many years in repertory up and down the country. It was in 1956, while she was working for Swansea Rep at the Grand Theatre, earning about £12 a week, that she met her husband, the Coronation Street actor William Moore. The couple came to be regarded as one of the establishments of showbusiness, with a marriage that had stood the test of time, until Moore died in 2000.

[Mr.White]

So sad, I use to watch that show on PBS, Mollie's Mrs. Slocombe was a very funny character on the show! FYI, Wendy Richard also died earlier this year from cancer,she was Mrs. Brahams on the same show(Are You Being Served?) Mollie Sugden and Karl Malden on the same day,were losing so many great stars lately

[cembros]

Originally Posted by Mr.White

So sad, I use to watch that show on PBS, Mollie's Mrs. Slocombe was a very funny character on the show! FYI, Wendy Richard also died earlier this year from cancer,she was Mrs. Brahams on the same show(Are You Being Served?) Mollie Sugden and Karl Malden on the same day,were losing so many great stars lately

hey come on now she was 86, i try not to think of someone that age dying as a sad moment but instead a blessing for living so long. So many are taken so early.

[Cplhicks]

Man, this forum needs to be turned into the funeral forum. So many people dying lately. Bummer about this, she was very funny. Didn't know about Wendy Richard too. Man. Tough week or so for famous people, it seems.

[GLaDOS]

DAMN!!! Another one! 2009's racking up some deaths lately.

R.I.P Mollie

Mikey

[doctorsteve]

Some Britcoms really rose above the rest... 'Are you being served?' was one such that always made me pause my channel surfing when I found it. RIP Mollie

[Lucy Diamond]

Rest in peace lady.

[quirkmanly]

Always liked Mollie - Are You Being Served? was part of my childhood.

RIP

[sub-zero]

I remember her having different color hair about every episode of are you being served. Rip

[Texitura]

Mollie, RIP

[Lord_Stewie]

Originally Posted by Cplhicks

Man, this forum needs to be turned into the funeral forum. So many people dying lately. Bummer about this, she was very funny. Didn't know about Wendy Richard too. Man. Tough week or so for famous people, it seems.

Another one. Damn 2009 is a scary year. it is like 2012 for celebrities. RIP.

[Mr.White]

There are only 3 principal AYBS? cast members that are still alive now,Frank Thornton(Captain Peacock),Nicholas Smith (Mr.Rumbold),Mike Berry(Mr.Spooner) and Trevor Bannister(Mr. Lucas) I forgot John Inman(Mr.Humphtries) died a year or so ago from hepatitis C.,that's 3 AYBS? cast member gone in less than 2 years.

[sub-zero]

Originally Posted by Mr.White

There are only 3 principal AYBS? cast members that are still alive now,Frank Thornton(Captain Peacock),Nicholas Smith (Mr.Rumbold) and Trevor Bannister(Mr. Lucas) I forgot John Inman(Mr.Humphtries) died a year or so ago from hepatitis C.,that's 3 AYBS? cast member gone in less than 2 years.

I had a crush on Wendy Richards, I didn't realize she had passed.

[quirkmanly]

Originally Posted by Mr.White

There are only 3 principal AYBS? cast members that are still alive now,Frank Thornton(Captain Peacock),Nicholas Smith (Mr.Rumbold) and Trevor Bannister(Mr. Lucas) I forgot John Inman(Mr.Humphtries) died a year or so ago from hepatitis C.,that's 3 AYBS? cast member gone in less than 2 years.

Mike Berry who played Mr Spooner in the last three season's is still alive.

[Mr.White]

Originally Posted by quirkmanly

Mike Berry who played Mr Spooner in the last three season's is still alive.

updated post,thanks!

[quirkmanly]

Originally Posted by Wheeljack

I had a crush on Wendy Richards

+1 - she made this young lad's heart race.

[Mr.White]

Originally Posted by quirkmanly

+1 - she made this young lad's heart race.

+2 Wendy Richard was such a babe back in the day,she was supposed to be in the Beatles film "Help!" but her scene ended up on the cutting room floor,she did do a brief interview about the lost scene on the "Help!" 2-DVD set from 2007.

[Kirsty_Mc]

I wonder what's going to happen to her ***** ???

[krazyclown]

Originally Posted by Kirsty_Mc

I wonder what's going to happen to her ***** ???

LMAO that part of the show allways cracked me up

[Kirsty_Mc]

Originally Posted by Kirsty_Mc

I wonder what's going to happen to her ***** ???

Hey... Why was this censored... I was only enquiring what would happen to her cat!!!