Mollie Sugden - wikipedia Mollie Sugden Mollie Sugden Mollie Sugden as Mrs. Slocombe Isobel Mary Sugden ( 1922 - 07 - 21 ) 21 July 1922 Keighley, West Riding of Yorkshire, England 1 July 2009 ( 2009 - 07 - 01 ) ( aged 86 ) Guildford, Surrey, England Cause of death Heart failure Nationality British Years active 1962 -- 2003, 2009 Television The Liver Birds Are You Being Served ? That 's My Boy My Husband and I Grace & Favour Spouse ( s ) William Moore ( m. 1958 -- 2000 ) Children Robin Moore Simon Moore Mollie Sugden ( 21 July 1922 -- 1 July 2009 ) was an English comedy actress, best known for portraying the saleswoman Mrs. Slocombe in the British sitcom Are You Being Served ? ( 1972 -- 85 ). She later reprised this role in Grace & Favour ( 1992 -- 93 ). Sugden appeared in many other television series, including The Liver Birds, That 's My Boy and Coronation Street. Contents 1 Early life 2 Early career 3 Television 4 Later years and death 5 References 6 External links Early Life She was born as Isobel Mary Sugden, in Keighley in the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1922. When she was four years old, she heard a woman reading a poem at a village concert making people laugh. The following Christmas, after being asked if she could `` do anything '', Sugden read this poem and everyone fell about laughing. She later remarked that their response made her `` realise how wonderful it was to make people laugh ''. Shortly after she left school, World War II broke out, and Sugden worked in a munitions factory in Keighley making shells for the Royal Navy. She was later made redundant, and attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. Early career When Sugden graduated from the Guildhall School of Drama, she worked in repertory for eight years with a company that included Eric Sykes and Roy Dotrice. She also had work in radio and made her television debut in a live half - hour comedy show. Sugden 's other appearances before Are You Being Served ? included parts in The Benny Hill Show, Just Jimmy ( with Jimmy Clitheroe ), Z - Cars, Up Pompeii !, The Goodies, Steptoe and Son and five episodes of Jackanory in 1968. Television Sugden 's first regular sitcom role was as Mrs Crispin in the sitcom Hugh and I ( 1962 -- 67 ). This was written by John T. Chapman, and when he became involved with The Liver Birds series, he suggested Sugden for the role of Sandra 's mother, Mrs Hutchinson. She appeared in the bulk of the run, from 1971 to 1979. In 1973, she appeared in Son of the Bride. Meanwhile, she was cast in a role which brought her international fame : Mrs Slocombe, a department store saleswoman with a socially superior attitude, a repertoire of double entendres, and a penchant for bouffant, pastel - coloured coiffures, in the long - running Are You Being Served ? ( 1972 -- 85 ). In 1978, when it was thought that Are You Being Served ? was over, she was the lead star in Come Back Mrs. Noah, a sitcom that is regarded by some as one of the worst ever made. From 1965 to 1976, she intermittently played Nellie Harvey, the landlady of The Laughing Donkey pub, in Coronation Street. In this she often appeared opposite Annie Walker, landlady of the Rovers Return. In 1986, she had a 23 - week stint on That 's Life ! Sugden also played main roles in other sitcoms, including That 's My Boy ( 1981 -- 86 ) and My Husband and I ( 1987 -- 88 ), both for ITV. In an unsuccessful revival of The Liver Birds ( 1996 ), Sugden reprised her role as Mrs Hutchinson, despite being on steroids at the time owing to her suffering from polymyalgia. She played opposite her husband, William Moore ( 1916 -- 2000 ), in several series, including two episodes of The Liver Birds and again in My Husband and I, on both occasions as a married couple. They had married on 29 March 1958, having met while in repertory theatre in Swansea, and had twin sons born in October 1963, Robin and Simon. Later years and death Seven years after the end of Are You Being Served ?, five members of the original cast -- including Sugden -- came together to appear in Grace & Favour, where the staff of Grace Brothers are left an old manor house in the country, which they try to run as a hotel. It lasted two seasons, until 1993. Other appearances at this time included Just William and Oliver 's Travels. In 2003, Sugden appeared in an episode of The Bill and also appeared ( as herself ) in an episode of the comedy sketch show Little Britain. In 2002 a tribute programme called Celebrating Mollie Sugden : An Are You Being Served ? Special, aired on American PBS stations featuring several members of the cast of Are You Being Served ? Sugden died at the Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford on 1 July 2009 of unspecified heart failure and was cremated. Her final public appearance was at the funeral of her Are You Being Served ? co-star Wendy Richard four months previously. References Jump up ^ General Register Office birth index Jump up ^ `` Keighley - born Mollie Sugden dies ''. Keighley News. 2 July 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2009. ^ Jump up to : `` I 'm Free ! -- The Complete Are You Being Served ? ''. Orion Books. 1999. Jump up ^ `` BBC Comedy Guide ''. BBC. Jump up ^ `` Nellie Harvey ''. corrie.net. Jump up ^ General Register Office -- Index of Births registered in October, November, December 1963 Jump up ^ `` Celebrating Mollie Sugden ''. Jump up ^ `` Obituary : Mollie Sugden ''. The Telegraph. 1 July 2009. Retrieved 1 July 2009. Jump up ^ `` Actress Mollie Sugden dies at 86 ''. BBC News. 1 July 2009. Retrieved 1 July 2009. External links Official website Mollie Sugden on IMDb Mollie Sugden at TV.com LCCN : no97050973 VIAF : 94344594 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mollie_Sugden&oldid=843178695 '' Categories : 1922 births 2009 deaths 20th - century English actresses 21st - century English actresses Actresses from Yorkshire Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Disease - related deaths in England English film actresses English radio actresses English stage actresses English soap opera actresses English television actresses English voice actresses People from Keighley British comedy actresses Hidden categories : EngvarB from October 2017 Use dmy dates from October 2017 Pages using infobox person with unknown parameters Infobox person using ethnicity Pages to import images to Wikidata Articles with hCards Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Cymraeg Deutsch Frysk עברית Nederlands Polski Simple English Suomi Türkçe Edit links This page was last edited on 27 May 2018, at 12 : 16. 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Question: who played mrs slocombe in are you being served
Answer: Mollie Sugden