Joan Sanderson

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Joan Sanderson
Sanderson as Mrs. Richards in Fawlty Towers
Born	24 November 1912(1912-11-24) Bristol, England
Died	14 May 1992 (aged 79) Norfolk, England

Joan Sanderson (24 November 1912 – 24 May 1992) was an English television and stage actress.

Born and educated in Bristol, Joan Sanderson trained at RADA. She then appeared in repertory theatres, on the West End stage and at Stratford. She made her début with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1939 playing Amelia in The Comedy of Errors a phase in her career that culminated in 1953 when she played both Goneril to Michael Redgrave's King Lear and Queen Margaret in Richard III^[1], she also starred in numerous West End plays including See How They Run and Anyone for Denis.

She played Doris Ewell in the television series Please Sir! (1969) and the Dean's wife, Mrs Pugh Critchley, in the later series of All Gas and Gaiters. She also played the role of Eleanor in the radio and television versions of After Henry and appeared in the sitcom Wild, Wild Women.

However she is best known to many for a single guest role: as the abrasive and selectively deaf Mrs. Richards, one of the most memorable guest characters in the classic British sitcom Fawlty Towers, an episode which some say led to Fawlty Towers being voted the best British TV show of the 20th century in a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes.

She also featured in The Great Muppet Caper - coincidentally playing John Cleese's wife - and had a cameo in Prick Up Your Ears, the film based on the life of playwright Joe Orton.

She was married to actor Gregory Scott. A memorial service was held for her at St Paul's, Covent Garden (commonly known as "The Actors' Church") and many distinguished actors attended to pay tribute to her.