Joan Sanderson

Joan Sanderson
Born	(1912-11-24)24 November 1912 Bristol, England
Died	24 May 1992(1992-05-24) (aged 79) Norwich, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1939–1992
Spouse	Gregory Moseley ​ (m. 1948)​

Joan Sanderson (24 November 1912 – 24 May 1992) was a British actress. During a long career on stage and screen, her tall and commanding disposition led to her playing mostly dowagers, spinsters and matrons, as well as intense Shakespearean roles. Her television work included the sitcoms Please Sir! (1968–72), Fawlty Towers and Ripping Yarns (1979) and Me and My Girl (1984–88).^[1]

Born and educated in Bristol, Sanderson trained at RADA, having harboured an interest in the performing arts from a young age.^[2][3] She had teaching diplomas in elocution, where she lost her Bristolian accent. ^[4] She appeared in repertory theatres, on the West End stage and at the Stratford Memorial Theatre, where she made her début in 1939^[5] playing Emilia 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.^{[citation needed]}

During the Second World War, she gained experience in repertory and toured North Africa and Italy entertaining the troops. ^[6] In 1948, she married fellow actor Gregory Moseley.^[5]

She achieved her apotheosis as Delia, Lady Rumpers, in Habeas Corpus by Alan Bennett (Lyric Theatre, 1973). She starred in numerous West End productions, including See How They Run and Anyone for Denis?^[7][8]

She played Doris Ewell in the television comedy series Please Sir! (1968–72) and Mrs Pugh-Critchley, in the series All Gas and Gaiters (1970–71), as well as a role in the short-lived sitcom Wild, Wild Women (1969).^[9] In 1979, she played Mrs Richards in the Fawlty Towers episode "Communication Problems".^[10] She also appeared in After Henry, which was broadcast on the radio (1985–88) and television (1988–92), in which she played Eleanor.^[11]

Film roles were rare, but she appeared in the Hylda Baker film She Knows Y'Know (1962), Who Killed the Cat? (1966), the film version of Please Sir! (1971), The Great Muppet Caper (1981), playing John Cleese's wife, and Prick Up Your Ears (1987), the film based on the life of playwright Joe Orton.^[1]

Sanderson listed as her “recreations” as “loving to drive and getting out of London on weekends - particularly to the Cotswolds”. ^[12]

She died of natural causes in Norwich on 24 May 1992, aged 79.^[13] A memorial service was held for her at St Paul's, Covent Garden.^[14] Her husband, also an actor, died just some five months later.^[15]

The final series of After Henry was broadcast July-August 1992, following her death; the last episode paid tribute to Sanderson.^{[citation needed]}

Following Sanderson’s death - a month before the premiere of her final series, Land of Hope and Gloria - the creators, despite originally intending to make a second season, opted not to go ahead with it. ^[16]

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• Joan Sanderson at IMDb