Farewell to Mrs Bucket’s neighbour... Star dies at 91
TV sitcom star Josephine Tewson, best known for her role in Keeping Up Appearances, has died aged 91.
She appeared as Elizabeth Warden, the long-suffering neighbour of snobbish social climber Hyacinth Bucket – played by Patricia Routledge – in the BBC series from 1990-1995.
The show’s writer, Roy Clarke, later cast Miss Tewson as Miss Davenport in Last of the Summer Wine between 2003 and 2010.
A statement from Miss Tewson’s agent, Jean Diamond, read: ‘It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Josephine Tewson.’
It said she died at Denville Hall, a retirement home for actors and actresses in Northwood, north-west London. Born in Hampstead, north London, in 1931, Miss Tewson went to a grammar school before attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
Between 1958 and 1961, she was married to Reginald Perrin star Leonard Rossiter. Miss Tewson said of their split: ‘We greatly admired each other in our work, but we mistook that for love.’
She married dentist Henry Newman in 1972, but he died in 1980.
During a long career in TV, stage and films, her other roles included the 1970s sitcoms Shelley and No Appointment Necessary – in which she appreaed alongside Hywel Bennett and Roy Kinnear respectively.
Miss Tewson also acted on The Charlie Drake Show and The Dick Emery Show, as well as launching her own one-woman show called Still Keeping Up Appearances? in 2012.
Carol Challis – whose late husband John starred in both Only Fools and Horses and Last of the Summer Wine, said: ‘Farewell to Josephine Tewson. John loved working with her... Another one gone.’