The 91-year-old Josephine Tewson, who starred in Last of the Summer Wine and Keeping Up Appearances, has passed away.
According to her agent, she passed away on Thursday evening, August 18th, at Denville Hall, an actor retirement community in Northwood, northeast London.
The Hampstead-born celebrity received her training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, where she earned her degree in 1952.
She later went on to star in minor roles in the 1960s television shows Z-Cars and The Charlie Drake Show, as well as in skits in Hark at Barker and Frost on Sunday alongside comedians Ronnie Corbett and Ronnie Barker.
Additionally, she portrayed Edna Hawkins in the first six seasons of the ITV sitcom Shelley during the 1980s and 1990s.
Tewson is best known for her role as Elizabeth Warden in the acclaimed BBC sitcom Keeping Up Appearances from the 1990s. She was Hyacinth Bucket’s reluctant best friend and worried neighbor.
(BBC)
Between 2003 and 2010, she worked once more with Roy Clarke, the show’s creator, for her renowned performance as Miss Davenport in Last of the Summer Wine.
She referred to her performance in Ronnie Barker’s sitcom Clarence as one of the biggest surprises of her career in an interview she delivered to The Independent in 2008.
“If you’re Julia Roberts or Judi Dench you expect people to write parts for you, but not little old me,” she joked.
Paying tribute to the star, Carol Challis, who was married to Tewson’s late co-star John Challis, said: “Farewell to Josephine Tewson. John loved working with her on Last of the Summer Wine. Another one gone.”
