Joan Sanderson

Joan possessed a certain authoritative air that meant she cornered the market in bossy wives, mothers and spinsters. Before the war she played several Shakesperean roles at the Stratford Memorial Theatre. In Please Sir! she played Doris s Ewell, a stickler for rules and fiercely disapproving of anyone who flouts them – but secretly in love with the headmaster! Joan also appeared in All GasandGaiters and After Henry, in which she played Prunella Scales’ bossy mother. And who can forget her performance as the demanding Mrs Richards who drives Basil to the edge of sanity in

FawltyTowers?