Джозефина Тьюсон: Жизнь и карьера британской актрисы

British actress (1931–2022)

Josephine Ann Tewson (26 February 1931 – 18 August 2022) was an English actress, known for her roles in British television sitcoms and comedies. She portrayed Edna Hawkins ("Mrs H") on Shelley (1979–1982), Jane Travers in Clarence (1988), and Miss Lucinda Davenport in Last of the Summer Wine (2003–2010). She portrayed the frequently put upon neighbour Elizabeth "Liz" Warden in Keeping Up Appearances (1990–1995). Tewson's professional career lasted more than 65 years, from 1952 until her retirement in 2019.

Tewson, an only child, was born on her father's twenty seventh birthday in Hampstead, London, on 26 February 1931. Her father, William (1904–1965) was a professional musician and played the double bass in the BBC Symphony Orchestra; her mother, Kate (née Morley, 1908–1999), was a nurse, the daughter of footballer Haydn Morley, who captained The Wednesday in the 1890 FA Cup Final. After grammar school, Tewson studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art from which she graduated in 1952.

Tewson began acting on the London stage in the 1950s and remained active in theater productions throughout her professional career. She appeared on television during the 1960s with semi regular appearances on shows like Z Cars, The Dick Emery Show, and The Charlie Drake Show. She was a regular comedy performer in sketches on David Frost on Sunday and Hark at Barker (1969–1970). She later appeared in Mostly Monkhouse, a BBC Radio comedy with David Jason and Bob Monkhouse. During the 1970s she had significant roles in comedy sitcoms including Six Dates with Barker, Coppers End (1971), and 1977's Odd Man Out with John Inman playing his half sibling. She co starred in No Appointment Necessary with Roy Kinnear; the tapes of which have been lost or destroyed. Tewson played Edna Hawkins (usually referred to as "Mrs H" by Shelley) in the first six series of the British sitcom Shelley (1979–82). Later, she played Jane Travers in Ronnie Barker's last starring television role before his retirement, the sitcom Clarence (1988), which he wrote. She appeared as two characters in the 1984 children's film Gabrielle and the Doodleman, as Gabrielle's father's housekeeper Mrs. Briggs, and as the Fairy Godmother. Tewson was rumoured to be Inman's cousin though she denied this in several interviews.

Tewson's most prominent role was as Elizabeth "Liz" Warden, neighbour and reluctant confidante of social wannabe Hyacinth Bucket in the comedy series Keeping Up Appearances, written by Roy Clarke. She appeared semi regularly as Miss Davenport in Last of the Summer Wine (2003–2010), a series also written by Clarke. She appeared in two episodes of the documentary series Comedy Connections, talking about her work in Keeping Up Appearances (2004) and opposite The Two Ronnies (2005). In 2009, she played Iris in the radio drama Leaves in Autumn written by Susan Casanove, produced by the Wireless Theatre Company. Other television appearances included an episode of Heartbeat ("Closing The Book", 2002), and as competition judge Samantha Johnstone in the mystery drama Midsomer Murders ("Judgement Day", 2000). She appeared in two episodes of Doctors as kleptomaniac Audrey Wilson ("Now You See It ", 2009), and as Marjorie Page, a woman in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease ("The Bespectacled Bounder", 2012). Tewson played a school teacher in a Sugar Puffs "I Want My Honey" advert during the late 1980s/early 1990s. Just after the end of Keeping Up Appearances, she played a nanny in a 30 second commercial for Nabisco Fruit Newtons, widely aired in 1997 in the United States. In 2012 Tewson launched her one woman show, Still Keeping Up Appearances?, and toured the UK until her retirement in early 2019.

Tewson married actor Leonard Rossiter in 1958. They divorced in 1961. She married dental surgeon Henry Newman in 1972. Newman died in 1980. Tewson died at Denville Hall, a retirement home in London for actors and other entertainment professionals, on 18 August 2022, aged 91.

Year Title Role Notes1959 Preview Joan Garnett Episode: "Marriage Bureau" Charlesworth Mrs. Furse Episode: "Long Hot Spell"1963 ITV Play of the Week Barmaid Episode: "Double Stakes" No Hiding Place Mavis Peters Episode: "Four Faces of Clare" First Night Mrs Tullet Episode: "The Initiation" Z Cars Elizabeth Hepton Episode: "Wait for It"1964 No Hiding Place June Merrall Episode: "The Things Money Can Buy"1965 The Sullavan Brothers WPC Episode: "The Outsider" Z Cars Mrs. Rogers Episode: "The Mice Will Play" Emergency Ward 10 Mrs. Close 5 episodes1966 Sergeant Cork Martha St. Clair Episode: "The Case of the Devil's Daughter"1967 Emergency Ward 10 Dr. Saunders Episode: "Devil Doll" Mrs Thursday Dulcie Ainsworth Episode: "The Old School Tie Up"1968 Z Cars Muriel Finch Episode: "Aren't Policemen Wonderful: Part 2" The Charlie Drake Show Various 6 episodes Frost on Sunday Various 14 episodes1969 The Champions Hotel switchboard operator Episode: "The Night People"1969–1970 Hark at Barker Mildred Bates All 15 episodes1969–1979 The Dick Emery Show Various 15 episodes1970 ITV Saturday Night Theatre Gladys Episode: "Suffer Little Children"1971 Six Dates with Barker Travers Episode: "1937: The Removals Person" Copper's End WPS Penny Pringle 13 episodes1971–1981 The Two Ronnies Various 5 episodes1972 His Lordship Entertains Mildred Bates All 7 episodes1973 Comedy Playhouse Lady Cynthia Episode: "Elementary My Dear Watson" Whoops Baghdad! Fatima Episode: "The Wazir Takes a Wife" It's Tarbuck Various 6 episodes Son of the Bride Miss McDowdie All 6 episodes Casanova '73 Mrs Kershaw Episode: #1.3 Tell Tarby Various 6 episodes1974 Thriller Yvonne Episode: "A Coffin for the Bride "1975 Tarbuck and All That! Various 5 episodes Wodehouse Playhouse Mabel Potts Episode: "Rodney Fails to Qualify" Dawson's Weekly Cleoberry Episode: "Stage Struck" Larry Grayson Various 2 episodes1976 Happy Ever After Mrs Robins Episode: "Mistaken Identikit" Lucky Feller Shirley Episode: "Where There's Life There's Soap"1977 Whodunnit? Miss Frisby Episode: "No Happy Returns" No Appointment Necessary Penelope Marshall All 7 episodes Odd Man Out Dorothy Sutcliffe All 7 episodes1979 Rings on Their Fingers Mrs Harris Episode: "Home Market"1979–1984 Shelley Edna Hawkins 23 episodes1983 Terry and June Brenda Episode: "A Day in Boulogne" Tears Before Bedtime Beatrice Episode: "Show Me the Way to Leave Home"1985 The Caucasian Chalk Circle Various TV film Terry and June Mrs Robins Episode: "Mistaken Identity"1987 Rude Health Mrs Thorpe 8 episodes1988 Clarence Jane Travers All 6 episodes1990–1995 Keeping Up Appearances Elizabeth "Liz" Warden 43 episodes1994 Coronation Street Peggy Phillips 2 episodes1999 Sunburn Louise Montague Episode: #1.1 2000 Midsomer Murders Samantha Johnstone Episode: "Judgement Day"2002 Heartbeat Mrs Morris Episode: "Closing the Book"2003–2010 Last of the Summer Wine Miss Lucinda Davenport 62 episodes2006 Holby City Mabel Phillips Episode: "Looking After Number One"2009 Doctors Audrey Winston Episode: "Now You See It "2012 Lewis Hazel O'Brien Episode: "The Indelible Stain" Doctors Marjorie Page Episode: "The Bespectacled Bounder"2015 Doctors Eileen Wilkie Episode: "A Quiet Life"

YearProductionRoleVenue1957Free as Air Ivy CrushSavoy Theatre, West End1961Androcles and the LionMegaeraMermaid Theatre, London1964CoriolanusNottingham Playhouse, Nottingham1966The Ballad of False BarmanHampstead Theatre, London1968The Real Inspector HoundMrs. DrudgeVaudeville Theatre, West End1972A Cuckoo in the NestThorndike Theatre1976Absurd Person SingularWimbledon Theatre, London1985Noises OffDotty OtleySavoy Theatre, West End1986–87Woman in MindMurielVaudeville Theatre, West End?Moscow ShadowsNatashaNew End Theatre, HampsteadSee How They RunMiss SkillonWatermill Theatre, Newbury1989Last of the Red Hot LoversJeanette FisherStrand Theatre, West End1994Arsenic and Old LaceAbby BrewsterYvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford and tour1995The Killing of Sister GeorgeMercy CroftAmbassadors Theatre, West End?The Importance of Being EarnestLady BracknellHorseshoe Theatre, BasingstokeTalking Heads: A Lady of LettersSwan Theatre, Worcester1998Romeo and JulietNurseSalisbury Playhouse, Wiltshire and tour2002A Woman of No ImportanceLady HunstantonNo. 1 Tour2004The Importance of Being EarnestMiss PrismNo. 1 Tour2008SalonikaCharlotteWest Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds2009Separate TablesLady MathesonChichester Festival Theatre