Mollie Sugden Biography (July 21 1922 - July 1 2009)

Known more as her character, Mrs Slocombe, in a British sitcom than for being a real person, Mollie Sugden became a British comedic icon through the years, with her purple hair, her outlandish styles and snooty attitude.

Mollie Sugden was born, Mary Sugden, on July 21st 1922 in Keighley, Yorkshire, which is where she first gained her love of the performing arts.

When Mollie was just a school girl she stopped by her local market place and was mesmerized by a lady who stood reading a poem and gaining the attention, the laughter and adoration of the audience.

Remembering that day, and the crowd’s reaction to the poem, Mollie used it herself the following Christmas at her school function. Immediately the audience fell about laughing which, as Mollie later revealed, "realize how wonderful it was to make people laugh".

While Mollie was still an adolescent, World war 2 broke out and Mollie found work in a local munitions factory in her home town where she made shells for the Royal Navy.

After being made redundant Mollie went on to attend the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London from where she graduated and went on to work in rep for the next eight years.

Mollie’s encounter with other comedian’s at that time included working with Eric Sykes and Roy Dotrice on radio shows and went on to make her television debut
in a 30 minute comedy show.

In her early days on stage and screen Mollie made appearances in The Liver Birds and Coronation Street, the longest running soap opera in the UK. Mollie's first regular sitcom role was from 1962 to 1966 when she played Mrs. Crispin in the sitcom Hugh and I.

The lady with the ability to make people laugh soon found her way into the hearts of the viewing public and was soon in demand and made appearances in shows such as in Benny Hill, Just Jimmy, Z-Cars, Up Pompeii! with Frankie Howard, The Goodies, Steptoe and Son with Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H Corbett.

But the most popular of all Mollie’s character’s came along when she was cast in the role of Mrs Slocombe in the 1960’s style department store based comedy, Are You Being Served? Which ran in the UK from 1972 to 1985. Mollie's character,  a social climbing know-all was pitted against the much younger, brighter and heavily cockney accented Miss Shirley Brahms played by Wendy Richard. The series also starred British funny man, John Inman. In 1973, she had a 23-week stint on That's Life! and also appeared in Son of the Bride.

Several years later the comedy was reprised with the new name, Grace & Favour, based on the fact the shop in the original series was Mr Grace. That series saw Mollie creating laughter once again from 1992 through until 1993.

In the sitcom My Husband and I which ran from 1987 to 1988 Mollie played opposite her husband, William Moore, passed away in 2000, and whom she married on 29 March 1958 having met him at Swansea rep. They had twin sons, Robin and Simon, who were born in 1964.

In later years Mollie was seen by American audiences when BBC America took the show across the Atlantic, where both she, and the show, were received with great affection.

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?

Mollie died at the Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford on 1 July 2009 of unspecified causes.