Veteran actress Mollie Sugden dies at 86 after long illness

Published on Wednesday 1 July 2009 21:53

ACTRESS Mollie Sugden has died has died in hospital at the age of 86 after a long illness, her agent said last night.

She was best known for playing the overbearing Mrs Slocombe in the long-running BBC comedy Are You Being Served?, a role she later reprised for Grace and Favour.

The actress also appeared in The Liver Birds and Coronation Street.

Sugden was born in Keighley, in Yorkshire, in 1922.

She worked in repertory theatre for eight years after graduating from the Guildhall School of Drama in London – where she won three awards.

She made her television debut in a live half-hour comedy show, and her other appearances before Are You Being Served? included parts in Benny Hill, Just Jimmy, Z-Cars, Up Pompeii!, The Goodies, Steptoe and Son and five episodes of Jackanory in 1968.

She died at the Royal Surrey Hospital after a long illness.