Mollie Sugden (born Mary Isobel Sugden; 21 July 1922 â€" 1 July 2009)
was an English comedy actress, best known for portraying the
saleswoman Mrs Slocombe in the British sitcom Are You Being Served?
(1972â€"1985). She later reprised this role in Grace & Favour
(1992â€"1993). Sugden and her co-star John Inman became cult figures
in America, so much so she was asked to appear in Donizetti's opera,
La fille du regiment, in a non-singing role. Sugden appeared in many
other television series, including The Liver Birds, That's My Boy and
Coronation Street.Sugden was born 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, and 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.
was an English comedy actress, best known for portraying the
saleswoman Mrs Slocombe in the British sitcom Are You Being Served?
(1972â€"1985). She later reprised this role in Grace & Favour
(1992â€"1993). Sugden and her co-star John Inman became cult figures
in America, so much so she was asked to appear in Donizetti's opera,
La fille du regiment, in a non-singing role. Sugden appeared in many
other television series, including The Liver Birds, That's My Boy and
Coronation Street.Sugden was born 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, and 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.
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