Pat Coombs
Encyclopedia
Pat Coombs was an English
actress. Coombs was considered one of Britain's
great character actresses
, specialising in the portrayal of the eternal downtrodden female — comically under the thumb of stronger personalities. She was known for many roles on radio, film
and television sitcoms. She died aged 75 from complications arising from emphysema
at Denville Hall
actors' home, Northwood.
, South London
, Coombs was one of three children; her father worked in insurance, for the Employers' Liability, the forerunner of Commercial Union.
Coombs attended the County School for Girls in Beckenham
, Kent
. After leaving school she began her working life as a student kindergarten
teacher before her keenness for acting prompted her to take drama lessons during the Second World War with her friend and neighbour Vivien Merchant
. At the age of 19, she won a scholarship to train as an actress at Lamda, where she subsequently taught dialect
to students.
in Arthur Askey
's Hello Playmates; their double-act had started as a guest spot on Bob Monkhouse
's show. Coombs also gained experience as a comedy stooge in radio shows alongside Ted Ray
and Charlie Chester
.
in an episode of his series Hancock's Half Hour
(1957). She followed this with regular appearances in The Cyril Fletcher Show
(1959) and later she became a regular performer in the 1963 series of The Dick Emery
Show. She also starred in the sitcoms Barney Is My Darling (1965–66) alongside Irene Handl and Wild, Wild Women
(1969) alongside Barbara Windsor
.
After a relatively unsuccessful partnership with Peggy Mount
in the television series Lollipop Loves Mr Mole (ITV
, 1971), the two found a better platform for their talents when they were reunited in Yorkshire TV
's You're Only Young Twice (1977–1981), set in a home for the elderly; the two actresses were to become close friends.
During her long career, Pat made two memorable contributions to Dad's Army
. In 1970, she played Mrs Hall in the movie, and later in 1975, she played the dual part of Marie/the Clippie in the radio adaptation of A Soldier's Farewell.
Her other television work included Beggar My Neighbour
(1967), Cucumber Castle
(1970), Don't Drink the Water (1974–75), Up Pompeii!
(1969), Till Death Us Do Part (1966–75) and its sequel In Sickness And In Health
(1990, 1992), and The Lady is a Tramp (1983), in which she co-starred with Patricia Hayes
in a series set among 'down-and-outs'. Coombs was also the subject of This is Your Life
in 1978 and appeared regularly as a guest on Noel Edmonds
's Saturday night entertainment show Noel's House Party
(1992–95) and on the game shows Blankety Blank
and Celebrity Squares (1975–79), returning for its revival in 1993-94.
In 1989 she appeared in the popular BBC
soap opera
EastEnders
. For a year she played Marge Green
, Brown Owl of the Walford
Brownies
' pack, where she worked closely with EastEnders stalwarts June Brown
, Edna Doré
and Gretchen Franklin
. Coombs's character was introduced as part of a deliberate attempt to bring humour into the programme, which had come under attack for being too depressing. However many viewers felt that the comic storylines stretched the programme's credibility. The character subsequently became one of many to be axed in 1990 following the introduction of new executive producer, Michael Ferguson
. Pat Coombs was said to be extremely upset that the character of Marge only lasted for one year, but the producers felt there was no place in the programme's new plan for a character "whose prime function was to be comic relief".
Following her stint in EastEnders Coombs went on to guest in the BBC comedy Birds of a Feather
, Boon
and the BBC medical drama Doctors
in 2001, which was her last appearance on screen.
(1982–1987), she played Policewoman Pat in Mooncat and Co (1984-5) and voiced one of the puppets in the children's show Playbox
(1988) alongside Keith Chegwin
. She was seen in Rainbow
(1981–82), The Basil Brush Show (1977–1979) Supergran
and joined Stanley Baxter
to play Miss Flavia Jelly in the first two series of Mr Majeika
(1988–89) among many others.
played a modern-day Cinderella in the music video for her song "The Touch," which guest starred Coombs as her warmly-smiling fairy godmother.
(1963), Carry On Doctor
(1968), Carry On Again, Doctor (1969), On the Buses
(1971), Ooh… You Are Awful
(1972) with Dick Emery
, and Spike Milligan
's Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall
(1972). She also had a minor, uncredited, role as Henrietta Salt in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
1971. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067992/fullcredits#cast
in 1995, and became an active campaigner for the National Osteoporosis Society
. Her Christmas appeal letter raised £100,000 for the charity's research.
She had just completed a role for Radio 4
alongside June Whitfield
in Like They've Never Been Gone when she died, aged 75, on 25 May 2002 from emphysema
in Denville Hall
actors' home, a west London nursing home to which she had moved to be close to her friend Peggy Mount
, who had died six months earlier.
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...
actress. Coombs was considered one of Britain's
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
great character actresses
Character actor
A character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...
, specialising in the portrayal of the eternal downtrodden female — comically under the thumb of stronger personalities. She was known for many roles on radio, film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and television sitcoms. She died aged 75 from complications arising from emphysema
Emphysema
Emphysema is a long-term, progressive disease of the lungs that primarily causes shortness of breath. In people with emphysema, the tissues necessary to support the physical shape and function of the lungs are destroyed. It is included in a group of diseases called chronic obstructive pulmonary...
at Denville Hall
Denville Hall
Denville Hall is a retirement home for professional actors, situated in Northwood, Hillingdon, London, which was designed by Founded in 1925 as a charity for actors by Alfred Denville, impresario, actor-manager and MP, he dedicated the Hall to the acting profession, in memory of his son Jack, who...
actors' home, Northwood.
Early life
Born in CamberwellCamberwell
Camberwell is a district of south London, England, and forms part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is a built-up inner city district located southeast of Charing Cross. To the west it has a boundary with the London Borough of Lambeth.-Toponymy:...
, South London
South London
South London is the southern part of London, England, United Kingdom.According to the 2011 official Boundary Commission for England definition, South London includes the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Southwark, Sutton and...
, Coombs was one of three children; her father worked in insurance, for the Employers' Liability, the forerunner of Commercial Union.
Coombs attended the County School for Girls in Beckenham
Beckenham
Beckenham is a town in the London Borough of Bromley, England. It is located 8.4 miles south east of Charing Cross and 1.75 miles west of Bromley town...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
. After leaving school she began her working life as a student kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
teacher before her keenness for acting prompted her to take drama lessons during the Second World War with her friend and neighbour Vivien Merchant
Vivien Merchant
Vivien Merchant was a British actress.-Career:Merchant performed in many stage productions and several films, including Alfie and Frenzy...
. At the age of 19, she won a scholarship to train as an actress at Lamda, where she subsequently taught dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
to students.
Radio
She first made her name in the post-war era of radio variety as 'Nola', the dim and put-upon daughter of Irene HandlIrene Handl
-Life:Irene Handl was born in Maida Vale, London, the daughter of an Austrian banker father and French mother. She took to acting at the relatively advanced age of 36, and studied at the acting school run by the sister of Dame Sybil Thorndike...
in Arthur Askey
Arthur Askey
Arthur Bowden Askey CBE was a prominent English comedian.- Life and career :Askey was born at 29 Moses Street, Liverpool, the eldest child and only son of Samuel Askey , secretary of the firm Sugar Products of Liverpool, and his wife, Betsy Bowden , of Knutsford, Cheshire...
's Hello Playmates; their double-act had started as a guest spot on Bob Monkhouse
Bob Monkhouse
Robert Alan "Bob" Monkhouse, OBE was an English entertainer. He was a successful comedy writer, comedian and actor and was also well known on British television as a presenter and game show host...
's show. Coombs also gained experience as a comedy stooge in radio shows alongside Ted Ray
Ted Ray (comedian)
Ted Ray was a popular English comedian of the 1940s, 50s and 60s....
and Charlie Chester
Charlie Chester
Charlie Chester was a British comedian and TV and radio presenter, broadcasting almost continuously from the 1940s to the 1990s. His style was similar to that of Max Miller.- Life and career :...
.
Television
An early television break came when she appeared with Tony HancockTony Hancock
Anthony John "Tony" Hancock was an English actor and comedian.-Early life and career:Hancock was born in Southam Road, Hall Green, Birmingham, England, but from the age of three was brought up in Bournemouth, where his father, John Hancock, who ran the Railway Hotel in...
in an episode of his series Hancock's Half Hour
Hancock's Half Hour
Hancock's Half Hour was a BBC radio comedy, and later television comedy, series of the 1950s and 60s written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. The series starred Tony Hancock, with Sid James; the radio version also co-starred, at various times, Moira Lister, Andrée Melly, Hattie Jacques, Bill Kerr...
(1957). She followed this with regular appearances in The Cyril Fletcher Show
Cyril Fletcher
Cyril Fletcher was an English comedian; his catchphrase was 'Pin back your lugholes'. He was most famous for his Odd Odes, which was a section of the television show That's Life!. Fletcher had first begun performing the Odd Odes in 1937, long before they first appeared on television...
(1959) and later she became a regular performer in the 1963 series of The Dick Emery
Dick Emery
Richard Gilbert "Dick" Emery was an English comedian and actor. Beginning on radio in the 1950s, an eponymous television series ran from 1963 to 1981. He was the brother of Ann Emery.-Life and career:...
Show. She also starred in the sitcoms Barney Is My Darling (1965–66) alongside Irene Handl and 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) alongside Barbara Windsor
Barbara Windsor
Barbara Ann Windsor, MBE , better known by her stage name Barbara Windsor, is an English actress. Her best known roles are in the Carry On films and as Peggy Mitchell in the BBC soap opera EastEnders....
.
After a relatively unsuccessful partnership with Peggy Mount
Peggy Mount
Margaret Rose "Peggy" Mount OBE, was an English actress of stage and screen. She was perhaps best known for playing battleaxe characters, though her real personality was said to have been far removed from such roles. She was also well-known for her distinctive voice.- Early life :Mount was born in...
in the television series Lollipop Loves Mr Mole (ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
, 1971), the two found a better platform for their talents when they were reunited in Yorkshire TV
Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...
's You're Only Young Twice (1977–1981), set in a home for the elderly; the two actresses were to become close friends.
During her long career, Pat made two memorable contributions to Dad's Army
Dad's Army
Dad's Army is a British sitcom about the Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft and broadcast on BBC television between 1968 and 1977. The series ran for 9 series and 80 episodes in total, plus a radio series, a feature film and a stage show...
. In 1970, she played Mrs Hall in the movie, and later in 1975, she played the dual part of Marie/the Clippie in the radio adaptation of A Soldier's Farewell.
Her other television work included Beggar My Neighbour
Beggar My Neighbour (TV series)
Beggar My Neighbour was a black-and-white British sitcom starring Reg Varney, Peter Jones, June Whitfield, Pat Coombs and Desmond Walter-Ellis...
(1967), Cucumber Castle
Cucumber Castle (film)
Cucumber Castle is a British comedy film starring The Bee Gees that aired on BBC1 on 26 December 1970.-Overview:The plot revolves around two heirs, Prince Frederick and his brother Prince Marmaduke , and their dying father...
(1970), Don't Drink the Water (1974–75), Up Pompeii!
Up Pompeii!
Up Pompeii! is a British television comedy series broadcast between 1969 and 1970, starring Frankie Howerd. The first series was written by Talbot Rothwell, a scriptwriter for the Carry On films, and the second series by Rothwell and Sid Colin. Two later specials were transmitted in 1975 and...
(1969), Till Death Us Do Part (1966–75) and its sequel In Sickness And In Health
In Sickness and in Health
In Sickness and in Health was a BBC television sitcom which ran between 1985 and 1992. It was also a sequel to both the highly successful Til Death Us Do Part which ran between 1966 and 1975 and Till Death... which ran for one series in 1981.-Series 1:This comedy series debuted in 1985 and took...
(1990, 1992), and The Lady is a Tramp (1983), in which she co-starred with Patricia Hayes
Patricia Hayes
Patricia Lawlor Hayes, OBE was an English comedy actress.Hayes was born in Streatham, London. As a child Hayes attended Sacred Heart School in Wandsworth....
in a series set among 'down-and-outs'. Coombs was also the subject of This is Your Life
This Is Your Life
This Is Your Life is an American television documentary series broadcast on NBC, originally hosted by its producer, Ralph Edwards from 1952 to 1961. In the show, the host surprises a guest, and proceeds to take them through their life in front of an audience including friends and family.Edwards...
in 1978 and appeared regularly as a guest on Noel Edmonds
Noel Edmonds
Noel Ernest Edmonds, is an English broadcaster and executive, who made his name as a DJ on BBC Radio 1 in the UK. He has presented many light entertainment television programmes, including Multi-Coloured Swap Shop, Top of the Pops, The Late, Late Breakfast Show, Telly Addicts, Noel's Saturday...
's Saturday night entertainment show Noel's House Party
Noel's House Party
Noel's House Party was a BBC television light entertainment show hosted by Noel Edmonds that was broadcast live on Saturday evenings throughout the 1990s. It was set in a large house in the fictional village of Crinkley Bottom, leading to much innuendo. The show was broadcast during the...
(1992–95) and on the game shows Blankety Blank
Blankety Blank
Blankety Blank is a British comedy game show based on the 1977–1978 Australian game show Blankety Blanks ....
and Celebrity Squares (1975–79), returning for its revival in 1993-94.
In 1989 she appeared in the popular BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
. For a year she played Marge Green
Marge Green
Marjorie "Marge" Green is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by the late Pat Coombs. Introduced in 1989, elderly Marge was scripted as comical and timid. The character was one of many to be axed in 1990 when the show changed Executive Producer.-Storylines:Marge first...
, Brown Owl of the Walford
Walford
Walford is a fictional borough of east London in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. The name Walford is both a street in Dalston where one of the series' creators, Tony Holland, lived and a blend of Walthamstow, where Holland was born, and Stratford. The suffix 'ford' is also found throughout East...
Brownies
Brownies (Girl Guides)
A Brownie is a member of a section of some Guiding organisations for girls from their seventh birthday to their tenth birthday. Exact age limits are slightly different in each organisation.-History:...
' pack, where she worked closely with EastEnders stalwarts June Brown
June Brown
June Muriel Brown, MBE is a British actress, best known for her role as the busy-body, chain-smoking gossip Dot Cotton in the long-running British soap opera EastEnders and for making other high profile television appearances on shows such as Doctor Who, Coronation Street, Minder, The Bill and...
, Edna Doré
Edna Doré
Edna Doré is a British actress. Doré is one of Britain's best known senior citizen actresses. She is known for her bit-part roles in situation comedies and for playing the character of Mo Butcher in the BBC soap opera EastEnders .- Career :She began her career as a chorus girl in ENSA, then spent...
and Gretchen Franklin
Gretchen Franklin
Gretchen Franklin was an English actress with a career in showbusiness that spanned over eighty years.She was born in Covent Garden, west London, a cousin of the actor Clive Dunn. She was best known for playing the character of Ethel Skinner in the long running BBC One, soap opera, EastEnders...
. Coombs's character was introduced as part of a deliberate attempt to bring humour into the programme, which had come under attack for being too depressing. However many viewers felt that the comic storylines stretched the programme's credibility. The character subsequently became one of many to be axed in 1990 following the introduction of new executive producer, Michael Ferguson
Michael Ferguson (director)
Michael Ferguson is a British script writer, television director and television producer. Ferguson has been described as a “long term champion of realistic popular drama”. Ferguson was executive producer of the BBC soap opera, EastEnders between 1989 and 1991...
. Pat Coombs was said to be extremely upset that the character of Marge only lasted for one year, but the producers felt there was no place in the programme's new plan for a character "whose prime function was to be comic relief".
Following her stint in EastEnders Coombs went on to guest in the BBC comedy Birds of a Feather
Birds of a Feather
Birds of a Feather was a British sitcom that was broadcast on BBC1 from 1989 until 1998. Starring Pauline Quirke, Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph, it was created by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, who also wrote some of the episodes along with many other writers.The first episode sees sisters...
, Boon
Boon (TV series)
Boon is a British television drama and modern-day western series starring Michael Elphick, David Daker, and later Neil Morrissey. It was created by Jim Hill and Bill Stair and filmed by Central Television for ITV...
and the BBC medical drama Doctors
Doctors (BBC Soap Opera)
Doctors is a British daytime television soap opera, set in the fictional Midland town of Letherbridge, defined as being close to the City of Birmingham. It was created by Chris Murray; Mal Young drove its development, and Carson Black was the original producer. The first episode was broadcast on...
in 2001, which was her last appearance on screen.
Children's TV
Coombs was a regular on children's television. Hers was one of the voices heard in the children's series Ragdolly AnnaRagdolly Anna
Ragdolly Anna was a British children's television series, produced by Yorkshire Television. The show was broadcast between 1982-1987 on the ITV network during its CITV strand....
(1982–1987), she played Policewoman Pat in Mooncat and Co (1984-5) and voiced one of the puppets in the children's show Playbox
Playbox
Playbox was a TV programme for pre-school children aged 2-5, which ran during the late 1980s and early 1990s in the United Kingdom on ITV and was produced by Central Independent Television. It was the first ragdoll show to be made by ITV...
(1988) alongside Keith Chegwin
Keith Chegwin
Keith Chegwin is an English television presenter, former child actor and singer.-Early career:Chegwin's early roles were in works of the Children's Film Foundation, appearing as Egghead Wentworth in The Troublesome Double Egghead's Robot . He also appeared as a stowaway in Doomwatch episode...
. She was seen in Rainbow
Rainbow (TV series)
Rainbow is a British children's television series, created by Pamela Lonsdale, which ran twice weekly at 12:10 on Tuesdays and Fridays on the ITV network, from 16 October 1972 to 6 March 1992...
(1981–82), The Basil Brush Show (1977–1979) Supergran
Supergran
Super Gran is a 1980s children's television programme, about a grandmother with super powers. The show was adapted by Jenny McDade from books written by Forrest Wilson and was produced by Tyne Tees Television for Children's ITV, with the titular character played by Gudrun Ure, and Iain Cuthbertson...
and joined Stanley Baxter
Stanley Baxter
Stanley Baxter is a Scottish comic actor and impressionist, best known for his British television shows. He worked in radio, theatre, television and film.-Early life:...
to play Miss Flavia Jelly in the first two series of Mr Majeika
Mr Majeika
Mr Majeika is the title of a series of children's books, written by Humphrey Carpenter, and also a children's television series starring Stanley Baxter. The stories have also been broadcast on radio...
(1988–89) among many others.
Music Video
In 1984, pop singer Kim WildeKim Wilde
Kim Wilde is an English pop singer, author and television presenter who burst onto the music scene in 1981 with the number 2 UK Singles Chart new wave classic "Kids in America". In 1987 she had a major hit in the United States when her version of The Supremes' classic "You Keep Me Hangin' On"...
played a modern-day Cinderella in the music video for her song "The Touch," which guest starred Coombs as her warmly-smiling fairy godmother.
Film
Pat Coombs also appeared in many films, including A Stitch in TimeA Stitch in Time (film)
A Stitch in Time is a 1963 Norman Wisdom comedy film set in a children's hospital. It was directed by Robert Asher and edited by Gerry Hambling. The cast includes Edward Chapman, Jeanette Sterke, Jerry Desmonde, Jill Melford, Glyn Houston, Vera Day, Patsy Rowlands, Peter Jones, Ernest Clark,...
(1963), Carry On Doctor
Carry On Doctor
Carry On Doctor is the fifteenth film in the Carry On series. It is the second in the series to have a medical theme. Frankie Howerd makes the first of his two appearances in the film series. He stars alongside regulars Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims and Bernard Bresslaw...
(1968), Carry On Again, Doctor (1969), On the Buses
On The Buses
On the Buses was a British situation comedy created by Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney which was broadcast in the UK from 1969 to 1973. The writers' previous successes with The Rag Trade and Meet the Wife were for the BBC, but the Corporation rejected On the Buses, not seeing much comedy potential...
(1971), Ooh… You Are Awful
Ooh… You Are Awful
Ooh... You Are Awful is a 1972 British comedy film starring Dick Emery and directed by Cliff Owen.Before his death, Reggie Campbell Peek deposited a stolen £500,000 into a Swiss bank account...
(1972) with Dick Emery
Dick Emery
Richard Gilbert "Dick" Emery was an English comedian and actor. Beginning on radio in the 1950s, an eponymous television series ran from 1963 to 1981. He was the brother of Ann Emery.-Life and career:...
, and Spike Milligan
Spike Milligan
Terence Alan Patrick Seán "Spike" Milligan Hon. KBE was a comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright, soldier and actor. His early life was spent in India, where he was born, but the majority of his working life was spent in the United Kingdom. He became an Irish citizen in 1962 after the...
's Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall
Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall (film)
Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall is a film adaptation of the similarly titled first volume of Spike Milligan's autobiography. It starred Jim Dale as the young Terence "Spike" Milligan. Spike played the part of his father, Leo Milligan....
(1972). She also had a minor, uncredited, role as Henrietta Salt in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is a 1971 musical film adaptation of the 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, directed by Mel Stuart, and starring Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka. The film tells the story of Charlie Bucket as he receives a golden ticket and visits Willy...
1971. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067992/fullcredits#cast
Personal life
Coombs never married. She has said she came close to it twice, but was not sure enough to proceed. She once remarked: "I've never been wildly ambitious; I think if I'd been married, my career would have gone out of the window."Illness and death
Coombs was diagnosed with osteoporosisOsteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a disease of bones that leads to an increased risk of fracture. In osteoporosis the bone mineral density is reduced, bone microarchitecture is deteriorating, and the amount and variety of proteins in bone is altered...
in 1995, and became an active campaigner for the National Osteoporosis Society
National Osteoporosis Society
The National Osteoporosis Society, established in 1986, is the only UK-wide charity dedicated to improving the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of osteoporosis. It is based in Camerton, Somerset, England. The income of the charity was about £3.5 million in 2010...
. Her Christmas appeal letter raised £100,000 for the charity's research.
She had just completed a role for Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
alongside June Whitfield
June Whitfield
June Rosemary Whitfield, CBE is an English actress, well known in the United Kingdom since the 1950s for roles in radio and television comedy series....
in Like They've Never Been Gone when she died, aged 75, on 25 May 2002 from emphysema
Emphysema
Emphysema is a long-term, progressive disease of the lungs that primarily causes shortness of breath. In people with emphysema, the tissues necessary to support the physical shape and function of the lungs are destroyed. It is included in a group of diseases called chronic obstructive pulmonary...
in Denville Hall
Denville Hall
Denville Hall is a retirement home for professional actors, situated in Northwood, Hillingdon, London, which was designed by Founded in 1925 as a charity for actors by Alfred Denville, impresario, actor-manager and MP, he dedicated the Hall to the acting profession, in memory of his son Jack, who...
actors' home, a west London nursing home to which she had moved to be close to her friend Peggy Mount
Peggy Mount
Margaret Rose "Peggy" Mount OBE, was an English actress of stage and screen. She was perhaps best known for playing battleaxe characters, though her real personality was said to have been far removed from such roles. She was also well-known for her distinctive voice.- Early life :Mount was born in...
, who had died six months earlier.
External links
- on-line obit in telegraph.co.ukThe Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
- Pat Coombs:British Film Institute Filmography