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Last updated on the 26 March 2024 by Evandrus
Mini Biography
Born: February 7, 1922, Sandgate, Kent, England.
Hattie Jacques was an English comedy actress who starred in stage, radio and screen productions. She is best known for her roles in the Carry On films and her long partnership with Eric Sykes on television.
Hattie Jacques father was a flying officer in the Royal Air Force who died in a plane crash when she was one year old. Her mother was a nurse who served in the Voluntary Aid Detachment during the First World War. Jacques had an elder brother, Robin, who became a doctor.
Hattie Jacques developed a love of theatre and dance from an early age and attended the Lady Margaret primary school in Chelsea, where she excelled in drama and music. She later won a scholarship to study at the Ben Greet Academy of Acting. She made her stage debut in 1944 at the Players’ Theatre in London, performing in music hall and variety shows.
Hattie Jacques rose to fame through her radio appearances, first with Tommy Handley on It’s That Man Again, then with Peter Brough on Educating Archie and finally with Tony Hancock on Hancock’s Half Hour. She displayed her talent for larger-than-life comedy and versatile voice work, creating memorable characters such as Griselda Pugh, the secretary of Hancock, and Clara, the maid of Archie, the ventriloquist’s dummy.
Hattie Jacques made her film debut in 1946 in Green for Danger, a thriller starring Alastair Sim. She went on to appear in over 40 films, mostly comedies, including 14 of the Carry On series. She often played strict, no-nonsense characters, such as hospital matrons, headmistresses and prison wardens. She also starred in several films with Eric Sykes, whom she met in 1955 while working on a radio show.
Jacques and Sykes formed a close friendship and a successful comedy duo, appearing together on television for over 20 years. Their most popular show was Sykes and a…, which ran from 1960 to 1965 and featured them as brother and sister living in a suburban house. They reprised their roles in Sykes, which ran from 1972 to 1979. Jacques also appeared in other TV shows, such as The Dick Emery Show, The Goodies, and Till Death Us Do Part.
Hattie Jacques had a turbulent personal life. She married John Le Mesurier, an actor best known for playing Sergeant Wilson in Dad’s Army, in 1949. They had two sons, Robin and Kim. However, their marriage was strained by Jacques’ affair with John Schofield, a car dealer, which lasted from 1959 to 1964. Jacques and Le Mesurier divorced in 1965, but remained friends until his death in 1977.
Hattie Jacques suffered from health problems due to her obesity, which she had struggled with since her teenage years. She weighed nearly 20 stone (280 lb; 130 kg) at her heaviest. She had a heart attack in 1967 and underwent surgery to reduce her stomach size in 1974. She died of another heart attack on 6 October 1980, at the age of 58. She was cremated and her ashes were scattered in the English Channel.
Hattie Jacques is remembered as one of the most beloved and talented comedy actresses of her generation. She was awarded the OBE in 1979 for her services to entertainment.
Suggested viewing
Carry on Doctor (1967)
Bftv 8.5 / IMDb 6.5 A bumbling but charming doctor clashes with a strict and unloved superior and a battle-axe matron in a hospital filled with eccentric patients. The doctor’s popularity with the patients and a beautiful nurse lands him in hot water, while a hypochondriac faith healer arrives demanding special treatment, causing further chaos in the already dysfunctional hospital. Top cast: Jim Dale, Kenneth Williams, Sid James, Barbara Windsor, Joan Sims, Hattie Jacques, Charles Hawtrey, Frankie Howerd, Bernard Bresslaw, Peter Butterworth. |
Sykes (1972)
Bftv 8.5 / IMDb 7.4 Sykes is a comedy series about the adventures of two twins, Eric and Harriet, who live together in a suburban house. They often annoy their snooty neighbour, Mr. Brown, and get into trouble with the local policeman, PC Turnbull. The show features the witty dialogue and slapstick humour of Eric Sykes, who also wrote the scripts and the charming performance of Hattie Jacques, who played his sister. Sykes is a remake of an earlier black and white series, Sykes and a…, with some of the same episodes and cast. Top cast: Eric Sykes, Hattie Jacques, Richard Wattis, Deryck Guyler, Joan Sims. |
Carry on Matron (1972)
Bftv 8.5 / IMDb 6.2 A gang of criminals hatches a scheme to steal a valuable stock of contraceptive pills from a maternity hospital. One member, disguised as a female nurse, infiltrates the facility but faces challenges from a flirtatious doctor, well-meaning patients and his own growing feelings for a real nurse. Meanwhile, the hospital staff, including the stern matron, contends with the disruption caused by the criminals and the doctor’s antics. Top cast: Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Joan Sims, Hattie Jacques, Charles Hawtrey, Bernard Bresslaw, Kenneth Cope, Terry Scott, Barbara Windsor, Kenneth Connor, Jacki Piper, Bill Maynard, Patsy Rowlands. |
Full filmography (@Wikipedia)
Hattie Jacques Gallery
