Last of the Summer Wine’s Pearl dies at 80
ACTRESS Juliette Kaplan, who played sharp-tongued pearl Sibshaw in Last of the Summer Wine, has died of cancer at the age of 80.
She appeared as the domineering wife in 226 episodes of the much-loved BBC sitcom from 1985 until the final series in 2010.
Last night her agent Barry Langford thanked ‘everyone who sent their love and support to this fearless and supremely gifted actress’.
he said: ‘Juliette Kaplan, “Our pearl”, has finally succumbed to the cancer she has bravely battled for so long... As she said, “Ta-ta and it’s been fun”.’
It comes after the agent revealed in July that the actress was ‘gravely ill’, describing her as a ‘very brave lady’. Miss Kaplan entertained audiences in the long-running comedy with her portrayal of pearl, who would often thwart her on-screen husband howard’s attempts to have an affair.
She terrified howard, played by robert Fyfe, uncovering his flimsy lies and his outlandish schemes as he terrorised the Yorkshire Dales with pals Compo and Clegg.
Miss Kaplan, christened Marlene, was born in Bournemouth on October 2, 1939, but moved around as a child because of her South African father’s job as a naval officer.
Thanks to her upbringing – she also lived in South Africa and New York – she had a distinct accent, which she claimed her mother sought to rectify by sending her to drama school for elocution lessons. There, she caught the acting bug – and decided to pursue a career in theatre.
Along with Last of the Summer Wine, Miss Kaplan appeared in Coronation Street, eastenders and Brookside.
She married harold hoser in 1958 and had three children before her husband’s death in 1981 – when she was just 42.
As well as bringing pearl to life, Miss Kaplan was also behind her character’s distinctive costume, complete with wig and glasses. ‘They actually gave me a wig from stock and it used to flap at the back,’ she once said. ‘So every time the wind blew, my wig came off! So it was my idea to anchor it with either a turban or a beret.’