Josephine Tewson

Josephine Ann Tewson (born 26 February 1931) is a British stage and television character actress. She is best known for her roles in popular and long-running British television sitcoms, such as Edna Hawkins aka "Mrs H" in Shelley; Elizabeth "Liz" Warden, one of the long-suffering neighbours of Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances (1990–95); and Miss Davenport in Last of the Summer Wine (2003–10).

Josephine Tewson
Born
Josephine Ann Tewson

(1931-02-26) 26 February 1931[1]
Hampstead, London, England
Years active1963–Present
Spouse(s)
(m. 1958; div. 1961)

Henry Newman
(m. 1972; died 1980)

Early life and career

Tewson was born in Hampstead, London.[2][3] Her father, William, was a professional musician and played the double bass in the BBC Symphony Orchestra;[4] her mother, Kate (née Morley, born 1908), was a nurse, the daughter of Haydn Morley who captained Sheffield Wednesday in the 1890 F.A cup final.[5][6] After grammar school, Tewson studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art[7] from which she graduated in 1952.[8] She was married to actor Leonard Rossiter;[9] the couple divorced in 1961. She later married Henry Newman, who died in 1980.

A regular comedy performer in sketches featuring Ronnie Corbett and Ronnie Barker on David Frost on Sunday and Hark at Barker (1969), she later appeared in Mostly Monkhouse, a BBC Radio Comedy programme with David Jason supporting Bob Monkhouse. She also appeared a few times in Z-Cars (1963–69) and The Charlie Drake Show (1968). 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 sitcom Clarence (1988), which he also wrote, and was his last starring television role before his retirement.

Tewson is best known for her role as Elizabeth Warden, neighbour and reluctant confidant of social wannabe Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances.[10] Tewson appeared in nearly every episode for the 5 series run, providing an often rattled but pragmatic counter to the scattered and clueless "Mrs Bucket".

Tewson was featured with John Inman in Odd Man Out (1977), an unsuccessful sitcom, where they played half-brother/half-sister roles. She was rumoured to be Inman's cousin, though she has denied this idea in several interviews.[11]

She also appeared in the 1984 children's film Gabrielle and the Doodleman as the characters Mrs. Briggs (Gabrielle's father's housekeeper) and the Fairy Godmother.

Later career

Tewson appeared semi-regularly as Miss Davenport in Last of the Summer Wine (2003–10), a series written by Roy Clarke who also wrote Keeping Up Appearances. She has also 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 the role of Iris in the radio drama Leaves in Autumn written by Susan Casanove, produced by the Wireless Theatre Company.

Other television appearances were in an episode of Heartbeat ("Closing The Book", 2002) and as the competition judge, Samantha Johnstone, in an episode in the mystery drama Midsomer Murders ("Judgement Day", 2000). Most recently, she was featured 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 nanny in a 30-second commercial for Nabisco Fruit Newtons, first aired in 1997 in the United States. She also played a school teacher in a Sugar Puffs "I Want My Honey" advert during the late 1980s/early 1990s.

In 2012, Tewson launched her one-woman show Still Keeping Up Appearances? and toured across the UK.

Filmography

Television and film

YearTitleRole
1959CharlesworthMrs. Furse
1963–64No Hiding PlaceVarious
1963First NightMrs Tullet
1963–68Z-CarsVarious
1966Sergeant CorkMartha St. Clair
1967Mrs. ThursdayDulci
1968The Charlie Drake ShowVarious
1968Frost on SundayVarious
1969The ChampionsHotel switchboard operator (uncredited)
1969–79The Dick Emery ShowVarious
1969–70Hark at BarkerMildred Bates
1970ITV Saturday Night Theatre "Suffer Little Children"Gladys
1971Six Dates with BarkerTravers
1971Copper's EndWPS Penny Pringle
1971–81The Two RonniesVarious
1972His Lordship EntertainsMildred Bates
1972The Troublesome DoubleMrs Wentworth
1973Comedy Playhouse "Elementary My Dear Watson"Lady Cynthia
1973Whoops Baghdad!Fatima
1973It's TarbuckVarious
1973Son of the BrideMiss McDowdie
1973Casanova '73Mrs Kershaw
1973Tell TarbyVarious
1974ThrillerYvonne
1975Tarbuck and All That!Various
1975Wodehouse PlayhouseMabel Potts
1975Dawson's WeeklyCleoberry
1976Happy Ever AfterMrs Robins
1976Lucky FellerShirley
1977No Appointment NecessaryPenelope Marshall
1977The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know ItMiss Hoskins
1977Odd Man OutDorothy
1978The Hound of the BaskervillesNun
1979–84ShelleyEdna Hawkins
1979Rings on Their FingersMrs Harris
1980BernieActress
1983For 4 TonightActress
1984Gabrielle and the DoodlemanMrs Briggs/Fairy Godmother
1985Terry and JuneMrs Robins
1987Rude HealthMrs Thorpe
1988ClarenceJane Travers
1989WiltMiss Leuchars
1990–95Keeping Up AppearancesElizabeth "Liz" Warden
1994Coronation StreetPeggy Phillips
1999SunburnLouise Montague
2000Heroes of Comedy: Ronnie BarkerHerself
2000Midsomer MurdersSamantha Johnstone
2000The Mumbo JumboMiss Hodges
2002HeartbeatMrs Morris
2003–10Last of the Summer WineMiss Lucinda Davenport
2004–05Comedy Connections (2 episodes)Herself
2006Holby CityMabel Phillips
2009DoctorsMrs Winston, a kleptomaniac
2012LewisHazel O'Brien
2012DoctorsMarjorie Page
2012The Many Faces of Ronnie BarkerHerself
2013The Two Ronnies SpectacleHerself
2015DoctorsEileen Wilkie

Theatre roles

Year Production Role Venue
1957 Free as Air Ivy Crush Savoy Theatre, West End
1961 Androcles and the Lion Megaera Mermaid Theatre, London
1964 Coriolanus Nottingham Playhouse, Nottingham
1966 The Ballad of False Barman Hampstead Theatre, London
1968 The Real Inspector Hound Mrs. Drudge Vaudeville Theatre, West End
1972 A Cuckoo in the Nest Thorndike Theatre
1976 Absurd Person Singular Wimbledon Theatre, London
1985 Noises Off Dotty Otley Savoy Theatre, West End
1986–87 Woman in Mind Muriel Vaudeville Theatre, West End
Moscow Shadows Natasha New End Theatre, Hampstead
See How They Run Miss Skillon Watermill Theatre, Newbury
1989 Last of the Red Hot Lovers Jeanette Fisher Strand Theatre, West End
1994 Arsenic and Old Lace Abby Brewster Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford and tour
1995 The Killing of Sister George Mercy Croft Ambassadors Theatre, West End
The Importance of Being Earnest Lady Bracknell Horseshoe Theatre, Basingstoke
Talking Heads: A Lady of Letters Swan Theatre, Worcester
1998 Romeo and Juliet Nurse Salisbury Playhouse, Wiltshire and tour
2002 A Woman of No Importance Lady Hunstanton No. 1 Tour
2004 The Importance of Being Earnest Miss Prism No. 1 Tour
2008 Salonika Charlotte West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds
2009 Separate Tables Lady Matheson Chichester Festival Theatre

Radio

YearTitleRoleCompany
1971, 1973The Secret Life of Kenneth WilliamsMaisieBBC Radio
Early 1970sMostly MonkhouseVariousBBC Radio
July 1981It Sticks Out Half a MileMiss BainesBBC Radio
2009Leaves in AutumnIrisWireless Theatre Company

References

  1. Roberts, Jo (11 March 2015)."Josephine Tewson of TV's Keeping Up Appearances launches one-woman show". KentOnline. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  2. "Josephine Tewson in one-woman show at Hertford Theatre". Hertfordshire Mercury. 23 July 2012. Archived from the original on 18 August 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  3. "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  4. Longhurst, Jenny (25 May 2002). "An actress of great importance; Josephine Tewson has starred alongside such comic greats as The Two Ronnies and Patricia Routledge. She talks to Jenny Longhurst about her latest role". South Wales Echo. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  5. "Keeping up appearances with the first player signed by the Rams". Derby Telegraph. 3 November 2008. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  6. "Josephine Tewson Biography". Film Reference. Advameg, Inc. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  7. Ean, Tan Gim (25 September 1988). "Comedy Queen who is very down to earth". New Straits Times. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  8. "Student and Graduate Profiles: Josephine Tewson". rada.ac.uk. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  9. Chilton, Martin (8 December 2010). "Leonard Rossiter, Character Driven: review". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  10. "The 5-minute Interview: Josephine Tewson, Actress". The Independent. 15 January 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  11. Shaw, Karen. "Tonight Josephine." Northern Life. Last modified 27 September 2012. Accessed 28 March 2013. http://www.northernlifemagazine.co.uk/article.aspx?aid=373 Archived 30 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine

External

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