Joan Sanderson was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 television and stage actress. During a long career she invariably played dragonish dowagers, stuck-up spinsters and suburban matrons.

Theatre

Born and educated at Northumberland House in Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

, Joan Sanderson trained at RADA

Rada

Rada is the term for "council" or "assembly"borrowed by Polish from the Low Franconian "Rad" and later passed into the Czech, Ukrainian, and Belarusian languages....

. Sanderson had teaching diplomas in elocution. She appeared in repertory theatres, on the West End stage and at the Stratford Memorial Theatre

Royal Shakespeare Theatre

The Royal Shakespeare Theatre is a 1,040+ seat thrust stage theatre owned by the Royal Shakespeare Company dedicated to the British playwright and poet William Shakespeare. It is located in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon - Shakespeare's birthplace - in the English Midlands, beside the River Avon...

, where she made her début in 1939 playing Amelia in The Comedy of Errors

The Comedy of Errors

The Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare's earliest plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. The Comedy of Errors is one of only two of Shakespeare's...

, a phase in her career that culminated in 1953 when she played both Goneril

Goneril

Goneril, or Gonerill, is a fictional character in William Shakespeare’s King Lear. She is the eldest of King Lear's daughters. Along with her sister Regan, Goneril is considered a wicked character. She is obsessed with power and overthrowing her elderly father as ruler of the kingdom...

 to Michael Redgrave

Michael Redgrave

Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave, CBE was an English stage and film actor, director, manager and author.-Youth and education:...

's King Lear

King Lear

King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...

 and Queen Margaret

Margaret of Anjou

Margaret of Anjou was the wife of King Henry VI of England. As such, she was Queen consort of England from 1445 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471; and Queen consort of France from 1445 to 1453...

 in Richard III

Richard III (play)

Richard III is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1591. It depicts the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of Richard III of England. The play is grouped among the histories in the First Folio and is most often classified...

,
During the Second World War she gained experience in repertory and toured North Africa

North Africa

North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...

 and Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 entertaining the troops. In 1948 she married fellow actor Gregory Moseley.

Sanderson achieved her apotheosis as Delia, Lady Rumpers, in Habeas Corpus

Habeas Corpus (play)

Habeas Corpus is a comedy stage play by the English author Alan Bennett. It was first performed at the Lyric Theatre in London on 10 May 1973, with Alec Guinness and Margaret Courtenay in the lead roles....

by Alan Bennett

Alan Bennett

Alan Bennett is a British playwright, screenwriter, actor and author. Born in Leeds, he attended Oxford University where he studied history and performed with The Oxford Revue. He stayed to teach and research mediaeval history at the university for several years...

 (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

West End theatre

West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...

 productions including See How They Run and Anyone for Denis.

Television, radio and film

She played Doris Ewell in the long-running television series Please Sir!

Please Sir!

Please Sir! was a London Weekend Television produced situation comedy, created by writers John Esmonde and Bob Larbey and featured the actors John Alderton, Deryck Guyler, Joan Sanderson, Noel Howlett, Erik Chitty and Richard Davies...

(1968-72) and the Dean's wife, Mrs Pugh Critchley, in the later series of All Gas and Gaiters

All Gas and Gaiters

All Gas and Gaiters was a British television ecclesiastical sitcom which aired on BBC1 from 1966 to 1971. It was written by Pauline Devaney and Edwin Apps, a husband-and-wife team who used the pseudonym of "John Wraith" when writing the pilot...

(1970-71), as well as a role in the short-lived sitcom Wild, Wild Women

Wild, Wild Women

Wild, Wild Women was a British sitcom that aired on BBC from 1968 to 1969. Made in black-and-white, it starred Barbara Windsor and was written by Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney.-Pilot:*Barbara Windsor - Millie*Derek Francis - Mr Harcourt...

(1969). However, she is probably best known to many for a single guest role: that of the abrasive and selectively deaf Mrs. Richards

Communication Problems

"Communication Problems" is the first episode of the second series of BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers and the seventh episode overall. It is also known as "Mrs. Richards".-Cast:Episode Credited cast:*John Cleese as Basil Fawlty...

, one of the most memorable guest characters in the classic British sitcom Fawlty Towers

Fawlty Towers

Fawlty Towers is a British sitcom produced by BBC Television and first broadcast on BBC2 in 1975. Twelve television program episodes were produced . The show was written by John Cleese and his then wife Connie Booth, both of whom played major characters...

, in the episode Communication Problems

Communication Problems

"Communication Problems" is the first episode of the second series of BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers and the seventh episode overall. It is also known as "Mrs. Richards".-Cast:Episode Credited cast:*John Cleese as Basil Fawlty...

. Sanderson was in both the After Henry radio (1985-88), and later television (1988–92)

After Henry (TV series)

After Henry is a British sitcom that aired on ITV from 1988 to 1992. Starring Prunella Scales and Joan Sanderson, it had started on BBC Radio 4 in 1985, finishing in 1989. It was written by Simon Brett...

, a gently comic series in which she played the domineering Eleanor, mother of Sarah (Prunella Scales

Prunella Scales

Prunella Scales CBE is an English actress, known for her role as Basil Fawlty's long-suffering wife in the British comedy Fawlty Towers and her award-nominated role as Queen Elizabeth II in the British film A Question of Attribution.-Career:Throughout her long career, Scales has usually been cast...

), who lives above her daughter in a flat in Sarah's large house. Her film roles were rare, but she featured in The Great Muppet Caper

The Great Muppet Caper

The Great Muppet Caper is a 1981 mystery comedy film directed by Jim Henson. It is the second of a series of live-action musical feature films, starring Jim Henson's Muppets. This film was produced by Henson Associates, ITC Entertainment and Universal Pictures, and premiered on 26 July 1981. The...

, playing John Cleese

John Cleese

John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...

's wife, and had a cameo in Prick Up Your Ears

Prick Up Your Ears

Prick Up Your Ears is a 1987 film, directed by Stephen Frears, about the playwright Joe Orton and his lover Kenneth Halliwell. The screenplay was written by Alan Bennett, based on the book by John Lahr...

, the film based on the life of playwright Joe Orton

Joe Orton

John Kingsley Orton was an English playwright.In a short but prolific career lasting from 1964 until his death, he shocked, outraged and amused audiences with his scandalous black comedies...

.

Personal life

A memorial service was held for her at St Paul's, Covent Garden

St Paul's, Covent Garden

St Paul's Church, also commonly known as the Actors' Church, is a church designed by Inigo Jones as part of a commission by Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford in 1631 to create "houses and buildings fitt for the habitacons of Gentlemen and men of ability" in Covent Garden, London, England.As well...

 (commonly known as "The Actors' Church") and many distinguished actors attended to pay tribute to her.

TV & film

Year	Title	Role
1951	Young Wives' Tale Young Wives' Tale Young Wives' Tale is a 1951 British film directed by Henry Cass. It features one of Audrey Hepburn's earliest film roles, albeit a minor one, as Eve Lester.-Cast:* Joan Greenwood as Sabina Pennant* Nigel Patrick as Rodney Pennant...	Nurse
1954	Sunday Night Theatre Sunday Night Theatre Sunday Night Theatre was a long-running series of plays created by the BBC first in early 1950, and was regularly shown on Sundays until late 1959, when the last play, A Cup of Kindness, was staged...	Mrs. Dangerfield
1955	St. Ives	Miss Gilchrist
1961	The Pocket Lancer	Countess of Clarencourt
1962	She Knows, Y'Know	Euphemia Smallhope
1962	Dial RIX	Mrs. Hathaway
1963	Maigret Maigret (1960 TV series) Maigret is a British television series made by the BBC and which ran for 52 episodes from 1960 to 1963.Based on the Maigret stories of Georges Simenon, the series starred Rupert Davies as the Sûreté detective Commissaire Jules Maigret, and featured Ewen Solon as Lucas, Helen Shingler as Madame...	Unknown
1964	Detective	Mrs. Blayne
1965	The Wednesday Play The Wednesday Play The Wednesday Play was an anthology series of British television plays which ran on BBC1 from October 1964 to May 1970. Every week's play was usually written for television, although adaptations from other sources also featured... : The Confidence Course	Angela Walker
1965	Night Train To Surbiton	Manageress
1966	Seven Deadly Sins	Hotel Receptionist
1966	Who Killed the Cat?	Mrs. Sandford
1967	Boy Meets Girl	Germaine
1967	The Wednesday Play The Wednesday Play The Wednesday Play was an anthology series of British television plays which ran on BBC1 from October 1964 to May 1970. Every week's play was usually written for television, although adaptations from other sources also featured... : Fall of the Goat	Isobel
1969	Wild, Wild Women Wild, Wild Women Wild, Wild Women was a British sitcom that aired on BBC from 1968 to 1969. Made in black-and-white, it starred Barbara Windsor and was written by Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney.-Pilot:*Barbara Windsor - Millie*Derek Francis - Mr Harcourt...	Mrs. Harcourt
1970	The Human Element	Lady Brancaster
1970–1971	All Gas and Gaiters All Gas and Gaiters All Gas and Gaiters was a British television ecclesiastical sitcom which aired on BBC1 from 1966 to 1971. It was written by Pauline Devaney and Edwin Apps, a husband-and-wife team who used the pseudonym of "John Wraith" when writing the pilot...	Mrs. Grace Pugh-Critchley
1971	Please Sir! Please Sir! (film) Please Sir! is a 1971 British comedy film starring John Alderton, spun off from the television series Please Sir!.-Cast:* John Alderton as Bernard Hedges* Deryck Guyler as Norman Potter* Noel Howlett as Maurice Cromwell...	Miss Doris Ewell
1975	The Les Dawson Show	various
1975	Crown Court Crown Court (TV series) Crown Court was an afternoon television courtroom drama produced by Granada Television for the ITV network that ran from 1972, when the Crown Court system replaced Assize courts and Quarter sessions in the legal system of England and Wales, to 1984....	Susan Halls
1975	Upstairs, Downstairs Upstairs, Downstairs Upstairs, Downstairs is a British drama television series originally produced by London Weekend Television and revived by the BBC. It ran on ITV in 68 episodes divided into five series from 1971 to 1975, and a sixth series shown on the BBC on three consecutive nights, 26–28 December 2010.Set in a... : "Noblesse Oblige Noblesse Oblige (Upstairs, Downstairs) Noblesse Oblige is the fourteenth episode of the fifth and final series of the period drama Upstairs, Downstairs. It first aired on 7 December 1975 on ITV.-Cast:*Angela Baddeley - Mrs Bridges*Lesley-Anne Down - Georgina Worsley... "	Mrs. Waddilove
1976	Yus, My Dear Yus, My Dear Yus, My Dear is a British situation comedy which ran for nineteen episodes over two series in 1976 featuring Arthur Mullard and Queenie Watts in the lead roles, it was written by Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe...	Mrs. Hartington
1976	Well Anyway	The Countess
1976	Wodehouse Playhouse Wodehouse Playhouse Wodehouse Playhouse is a British television comedy series based on the short stories of P. G. Wodehouse. From 1975 to 1978, three series were made, with twenty half-hour episodes altogether in the entire series.-Overview:P. G... : Strychnine in the Soup Strychnine in the Soup "Strychnine in the Soup" is a short story by the British comic writer P.G. Wodehouse. A part of the Mr. Mulliner series, the story was first published in 1932 in Strand Magazine. It also appears in the collections Mulliner Nights and Wodehouse on Crime...	Lady Bassett
1977	Jubilee: Silver Lining	Unknown
1978	The Ghosts of Motley Hall The Ghosts of Motley Hall The Ghosts of Motley Hall was a British children's television series written by Richard Carpenter, produced and directed by Quentin Lawrence, and shown in 1976 by Granada Television.The series relates the adventures of 5 ghosts who haunt Motley Hall...	Alexandra
1978	Rising Damp Rising Damp Rising Damp is a television sitcom produced by Yorkshire Television for ITV, first broadcast from 1974 to 1978. It was adapted for television by Eric Chappell from his well-received 1971 stage play, The Banana Box The series was the highest-ranking ITV sitcom on the 100 Best Sitcoms poll run in... "Pink Carnations"	Mother
1978	Mixed Blessings Mixed Blessings (TV series) Mixed Blessings was a British sitcom that was made by LWT for and broadcast on the ITV network between 1978 and 1980, It was created by comedy-writer Sid Green and starred Actor Christopher Blake and Actress Muriel Odunton.- Plot :...	Aunt Dorothy
1978	Doris and Doreen	Dorothy Binns
1979	Fawlty Towers Fawlty Towers Fawlty Towers is a British sitcom produced by BBC Television and first broadcast on BBC2 in 1975. Twelve television program episodes were produced . The show was written by John Cleese and his then wife Connie Booth, both of whom played major characters... : "Communication Problems Communication Problems "Communication Problems" is the first episode of the second series of BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers and the seventh episode overall. It is also known as "Mrs. Richards".-Cast:Episode Credited cast:*John Cleese as Basil Fawlty... "	Mrs. Richards
1979	Ripping Yarns Ripping Yarns Ripping Yarns is a British television comedy series, shown on BBC 2 from 1976 to 1979. It was written by Michael Palin and Terry Jones of Monty Python fame... "Roger of the Raj"	Lady Bartlesham
1980	How's Your Father?	Unknown
1981	The Great Muppet Caper The Great Muppet Caper The Great Muppet Caper is a 1981 mystery comedy film directed by Jim Henson. It is the second of a series of live-action musical feature films, starring Jim Henson's Muppets. This film was produced by Henson Associates, ITC Entertainment and Universal Pictures, and premiered on 26 July 1981. The...	Dorcas
1981	Barriers Barriers Barriers is a British children's television series, created and written by William Corlett, and made by Tyne Tees Television for ITV between 1981 and 1982....	Miss Morton
1981	Janet and Company	Unknown
1982	Play for Today Play for Today Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted... : Intensive Care	Miss Tunstall
1982	Anyone for Denis?	Rear Admiral
1983	All for Love	Mrs. Davidson
1983	Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime is a 1983 British television series based on the short stories of the same name by Agatha Christie. It was directed by John A. Davis and Tony Wharmby, and starred James Warwick and Francesca Annis in the leading roles of husband and wife sleuths Tommy and...  The House of Lurking Death	Rachel Logan
1984	The Fainthearted Feminist	Mother
1984–1988	Me and My Girl Me and My Girl (TV series) Me and My Girl was a 1980s British television situation comedy starring Richard O'Sullivanwhich centred on the challenges faced by a widower raising his adolescent daughter. It was broadcast on ITV between 1984 and 1988.-Plot:...	Nell Cresset
1985	Alice in Wonderland (1985 film) Alice in Wonderland (1985 film) Alice in Wonderland is a two-part film adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Alice books. An Irwin Allen production, it was a special made for television and used a huge all-star cast of notable actors and actresses. The title role was played by 10-year-old Natalie Gregory, who wore a blonde wig for this...	The Queen of Hearts (voice)
1986	Full House (UK TV series) Full House (UK TV series) Full House is a British sitcom which aired for three series from 1985 to 1986. It was the last sitcom to be jointly co-created by the sitcom writing team of Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke, however, it was mainly written by Mortimer alone, with Mortimer writing 12 episodes alone, along with a...	Mrs. Hatfield
1987	Prick Up Your Ears Prick Up Your Ears Prick Up Your Ears is a 1987 film, directed by Stephen Frears, about the playwright Joe Orton and his lover Kenneth Halliwell. The screenplay was written by Alan Bennett, based on the book by John Lahr...	John Lahr's mother-in-law
1987	East of Ipswich East of Ipswich East of Ipswich was a BBC television drama from 1987 written by Michael Palin, based on his own memories of dreary holidays in English coastal towns in the 1950s....	Miss Wilbraham
1988	Thompson	Unknown
1988–1992	After Henry After Henry (TV series) After Henry is a British sitcom that aired on ITV from 1988 to 1992. Starring Prunella Scales and Joan Sanderson, it had started on BBC Radio 4 in 1985, finishing in 1989. It was written by Simon Brett...	Eleanor Prescott
1992	Land of Hope and Gloria	Nancy Princeton

Radio

Year	Title	Role
1954	Personal Call Personal Call Personal Call is the name of a half-hour radio play written by Agatha Christie and first performed on the BBC Radio Light Programme on Monday, May 31, 1954 at 8.30pm...	Mrs. Lamb
1962–1977	The Men from the Ministry The Men from the Ministry The Men from the Ministry was a British radio comedy series broadcast by the BBC between 1962 and 1977, starring Wilfrid Hyde-White, Richard Murdoch and, from 1966, when he replaced Hyde-White, Deryck Guyler...	Unknown
1971–1972	All Gas and Gaiters All Gas and Gaiters All Gas and Gaiters was a British television ecclesiastical sitcom which aired on BBC1 from 1966 to 1971. It was written by Pauline Devaney and Edwin Apps, a husband-and-wife team who used the pseudonym of "John Wraith" when writing the pilot...	Mrs. Grace Pugh-Critchley
1985–1989	After Henry	Eleanor Prescott

External links

• Joan Sanderson at Royal Shakespeare Company database