Joan Sanderson

Joan Sanderson
Born	(1912-11-24)24 November 1912 Bristol, England
Died	24 May 1992(1992-05-24) (aged 79) Norfolk, England,
Occupation	Actress

Joan Sanderson (24 November 1912 – 24 May 1992) was an English television and stage actress. During a long career, the tall and commanding actress played dowagers, spinsters and matrons, as well as intense Shakespearean roles.

Theatre

Born and educated at Northumberland House in Bristol, Sanderson trained at RADA. She had teaching diplomas in elocution. She appeared in repertory theatres, on the West End stage and at the Stratford Memorial Theatre, where she made her début in 1939 playing Amelia in The Comedy of Errors, a phase in her career that culminated in 1953 when she played both Goneril to Michael Redgrave's King Lear, and Queen Margaret in Richard III,^[1]

During the Second World War she gained experience in repertory and toured North Africa and Italy entertaining the troops. In 1948 she married fellow actor Gregory Moseley. She achieved her apotheosis as Delia, Lady Rumpers, in Habeas Corpus by Alan Bennett (Lyric Theatre 1973). At one point during the play, Lady Rumpers recalls how her husband has gone into the Army only "to put his moustache to good purpose". She starred in numerous West End productions including See How They Run and Anyone for Denis. ^{[citation needed]}

Television, radio and film

She played Doris Ewell in the long-running television series Please Sir! (1968-72) and Mrs Pugh Critchley, in the later series of All Gas and Gaiters (1970-71), as well as a role in the short-lived sitcom Wild, Wild Women (1969). However, she is probably best known to many for a single guest role: that of the abrasive and selectively deaf Mrs. Richards on Fawlty Towers (episode: "Communication Problems"). She was in both the After Henry radio (1985-88), and later television (1988–92), a gently comic series in which she played the domineering Eleanor, mother of Sarah (Prunella Scales), who lives above her in a flat in Sarah's large house. Her film roles were rare, but she featured in The Great Muppet Caper, playing John Cleese's wife, and had a cameo in Prick Up Your Ears, the film based on the life of playwright Joe Orton. ^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

A memorial service was held for her at St Paul's, Covent Garden (commonly known as "The Actors' Church") and many distinguished actors attended to pay tribute to her.

Credits

TV & film

Radio

Jimmy Edwards Radio Show "Jim The Great"

References

External links

• Joan Sanderson at the Internet Movie Database
• 'sanderson,')AND(Name='joan')) Joan Sanderson at Royal Shakespeare Company database