Charlotte Mitchell

Charlotte Mitchell (born Edna Winifred Mitchell; 23 July 1926 – 2 May 2012) was an English actress and poet.
Biography
In the 1950s she provided lyrics, sketches, and occasionally acted in revues on London's West End. She was especially successful in her ventures providing lyrics for Madeleine Dring in Airs on a Shoestring (1953), Pay the Piper (1954), and Fresh Airs (1956), all productions of Laurier Lister.
She was once (allegedly) the girlfriend of Peter Sellers, and appeared in The Goon Show episodes Ye Bandit of Sherwood Forest (1954) as Maid Marian and Tales of Montmartre (1956) as Seagoon's love interest, Fifi. Charlotte Mitchell was married to the actor Philip Guard, from whom she separated in 1968, and was the mother of three children: actors Christopher Guard and Dominic Guard and animator and novelist Candy Guard. Charlotte lived in West London during the later part of her life and continued to be active as a poet.
She appeared on BBC Radio with Ian Carmichael in The Small, Intricate Life of Gerald C. Potter. Carmichael played Gerald C. Potter, mystery writer, while she played Diana, his wife, who, under the pseudonym of Miss Magnolia Badminton, wrote romantic novels. She also played, on radio, the Dowager Duchess (Lord Peter Wimsey's mother) in the radio adaption of Strong Poison that starred Ian Carmichael as Wimsey, and the character of Kath Miller in the BBC Radio 2 daily serial Waggoners' Walk. On television, she played Amy Winthrop the housekeeper in The Adventures of Black Beauty (1972–74), and Monica Spencer in And Mother Makes Five.
Her poetry was published in collections such as Twelve Burnt Saucepans, Looking Round Dangerously, I Want to Go Home and Just in Case. These provided the basis of a series of popular programmes on BBC Radio 4 in which she read her own work. Her poetry is often requested and read on BBC Radio 4's Poetry Please, and one of her poems was chosen by Judi Dench and Michael Williams in their joint BBC Radio 4 programme With Great Pleasure.
Death
Mitchell died in Chiswick, London, on 2 May 2012, aged 85, from pneumonia. She had previously battled breast cancer and myeloma.
Filmography
Films
The Romantic Age (1949, Naughty Arlette 1950 in the US) – Charlotte (uncredited)
The Happiest Days of Your Life (1950) – Ethel (uncredited)
Laughter in Paradise (1951) – Ethel
The Man in the White Suit (1951) – Mill Girl
Lady Godiva Rides Again (1951) – Lucille
Curtain Up (1952) – Daphne Ray
Time Bomb (1953) – Buffet Waitress (uncredited)
The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan (1953) (or The Great Gilbert and Sullivan in the US) – Charlotte
Street Corner (1953, Both Sides of the Law 1954 in the US) – Lily Propert (uncredited)
Lost (1955, Tears for Simon 1957 in the US) – Farmer's Wife (uncredited)
The Bridal Path (1959) – Mrs. Mavis Bruce (uncredited)
Village of the Damned (1960) – Janet Pawle
Dentist in the Chair (1960) – Woman in Surgery
Nearly a Nasty Accident (1961) – Miss Chamberlain
Dentist on the Job (1961, Get on with It! 1963 in the US) – Mrs. Burke
The Blood on Satan's Claw (1970) – Ellen
Jim, the World's Greatest (1975) – School Secretary
The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981) – Mrs. Tranter
Out of the Darkness (1985) – Mrs. Barrow
The First Kangaroos (1988) – Mrs. Oaks
Television
Not in Front of the Children (1967–1970) – Mary
Dombey and Son (1969) - Polly "Richards" Toodle
Persuasion (1971) – Mrs. Clay
The Adventures of Black Beauty (1972–1974) – Amy Winthrop
The Kids from 47A (1973, Writer)
...And Mother Makes Five (1974–1976) – Monica Spencer
In This House of Brede (1975, TV Movie) – Mrs. Fraser
Miss Jones and Son (1977) – Mum
Shades of Darkness (1983) – Mrs. Blinder
Return to Treasure Island (1986) – Mrs. Hawkins
The Woman He Loved (1988, TV Movie) – Lady Chatfield
Selling Hitler (1991) – Lady Katherine Giles
Pond Life (1996) – Ivy
Heartbeat (1997–1999) – Granny Bellamy (final appearance)
References
Further reading
Brister, Wanda. Madeleine Dring: The Lady Composer
External links
Obituary – The Guardian
1926 births
2012 deaths
Deaths from cancer in England
Deaths from pneumonia in England
Deaths from multiple myeloma
English film actresses
English television actresses
English radio actresses
Actors from Ipswich
Actresses from Suffolk
20th-century British businesspeople