Joan Le Mesurier (née Malin; born Broadstairs, Kent 1932) is an English actress, best known as the widow and biographer of the actor John Le Mesurier. The story of her relationships with Le Mesurier and his friend Tony Hancock has been a theme of two television dramas, Hancock and Joan (2008) and Hattie (2011).
Joan, who had also worked as a barmaid and secretary, was first married to actor Mark Eden (1953–1959),[1] by whom she had one son, David. She was working at The Establishment, Peter Cook's comedy club,[2] when she was introduced to the actor by his second wife Hattie Jacques.[3] When Jacques began a relationship with another man, John Le Mesurier agreed to cover up her guilt by allowing the media to believe that his romance with Joan was the reason for the couple's divorce. She became Le Mesurier's third wife in 1966.
Only a few months after Joan's marriage, her husband introduced her to the comedian Tony Hancock, with whom she began an affair.[4] Their relationship lasted on and off until Hancock's suicide in 1968, but Joan remained married to John Le Mesurier until his death.
In Hancock and Joan, Joan was portrayed by Maxine Peake. In Hattie, Joan was portrayed by Jeany Spark.