Hilda Fenemore

Hilda Lilian Fenemore (22 April 1914 – 13 April 2004) was an English actress with a prolific career in film and television from the 1940s to the 1990s. Fenemore played mainly supporting roles which were characterised in her obituary in The Stage as "friends, neighbours, mothers and passers-by". Her most recognisable roles were as recurring characters Jennie Wren in Dixon of Dock Green (1960–1965) and Elsie the cleaner in Are You Being Served? (1974–1979).

Early life Hilda Lilian Fenemore was born in St Pancras, London, the eldest child of William John Fenemore, an electrician, and his wife Mary Ellen (nee Johnson). She had a younger brother named William.

Career Fenemore began her career as a stage actress, joining the company of actors at London's left-wing and progressive Unity Theatre in the 1940s. There she met and married fellow actor Rex Edwards, and worked under the supervision of dramatist Ted Willis, with whom she would later work also in television.

Fenemore made her first film appearance in 1948, and the pattern of her screen career quickly established itself as she featured in a string of supporting parts, mainly in films financed by smaller independent studios rather than the major British set-ups of the day. She appeared in a number of productions financed by the non-profit making Children's Film Foundation, which specialised in adventure-type films made for children, of generally around an hour in length. These films were well regarded as they generally used proven actors and crews, had good production values, and were sophisticated enough to be enjoyed by adults as well as children. In the 1950s, Fenemore continued to work in live theatre, while also accepting work in television.

At the end of the 1950s, Fenemore appeared in two of the early Carry On films, notably in a memorable, albeit brief, cameo in Carry On Nurse (1959) as a wife visiting her husband in hospital, supremely oblivious to the absurdly snobbish impression of upper middle class gentility he has been trying to give his fellow patients, and blithely broadcasting embarrassingly working class trivia at full volume to the entire ward ("I bought this with our divi from the Co-op!") as he cringes in humiliation. In 1960 she was cast as Jennie Wren in Dixon of Dock Green, which reunited her with Willis as scriptwriter, and played the role for the next six years. 1961 brought one of Fenemore's more prominent screen credits, portraying the matriarch of the family at the centre of The Wind of Change, one of the first British films to confront the issue of contemporary race relations.

Through the 1960s and into the 1970s, Fenemore's career increasingly turned to television. She featured in recurring roles in comedy series The Fenn Street Gang (as Mrs. Duffy) and Are You Being Served? (as a cleaner, variously referred to as Ivy, Elsie or Daphne but presumed to be the same person). She also starred in the cult favourite CFF production Chico the Rainmaker, originally shown as a serial during children's Saturday cinema matinees in the UK, and later on PBS in the United States. Fenemore's two final screen credits came in 1978 in the thriller Absolution and as the mother of Oliver Tobias in camp favourite The Stud.

Fenemore's television career continued until the early 1990s, with her last significant appearances in 1992 comedy-drama Going to Seed. According to The Stage, she continued with radio voiceover work almost up to her death. Personal life Fenemore married Walter Frederick Edwards in 1938 in Harrow, Middlesex, and they had two sons. She died on 13 April 2004, aged 89, and is buried in East London Cemetery.

Filmography (partial)

Esther Waters (1948) – Undetermined Minor Role (uncredited) The Astonished Heart (1950) – Railway Station Announcer (voice, uncredited) Chance of a Lifetime (1950) – Worker Saturday Island (1952) – Nurse Stand by to Shoot (1953) - Daisy Time Bomb (1953) – Jimmy's Mother (uncredited) The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953) – Lady Washing Baby (uncredited) Turn the Key Softly (1953) – Granny's Daughter (uncredited) The Large Rope (1953) - Pub Landlady (uncredited) Adventure in the Hopfields (1954) – Mrs. Quin Hands of Destiny (1954) – Mrs Kane The End of the Road (1954) Room in the House (1955) Johnny, You're Wanted (1956) The Secret Place (1957) – Mrs. Haywood's Neighbour (uncredited) The Tommy Steele Story (1957) – Mrs.Steele The Strange World of Planet X (1958) – Mrs. Hale The Safecracker (1958) – Mrs. McCullers Innocent Sinners (1958) – Cassie The Young and the Guilty (1958) – Maude Marshall Carry On Nurse (1959) – Mrs. Rhoda Bray Carry On Constable (1960) – Agitated Woman Feet of Clay (1961) – Mrs. Clarke The Wind of Change (1961) – Gladys Marley Strongroom (1962) – Charlady The Boys (1962) – Mrs. Thompson The War Lover (1962) – Pub Landlady (uncredited) Doctor in Distress (1963) – Railway Station Barmaid (uncredited) This Is My Street (1964) – Doris Witchcraft (1964) – Nurse A Jolly Bad Fellow (1964) – Secretary to Dr. Brass Clash by Night (1964) – Mrs. Peel The Offence (1972) – Woman on Common I Want What I Want (1972) – (uncredited) The Bawdy Adventures of Tom Jones (1976) – Mrs. Belcher Full Circle (1977) – Katherine The Stud (1978) – Tony's mother Absolution (1978) – Mrs. Hoskins

Television Year Title Role Notes 1952 BBC Sunday-Night Theatre Daisy Episode: "Stop the Roundabout" Happy and Glorious Princess Beatrice 2 episodes 1953 Whirligig Ada Gomm 3 episodes Stand by to Shoot Daisy Episode: "Falling Star" BBC Sunday-Night Theatre Winnie Episode: "Portrait by Peko" 1954 Mrs Pengard Episode: "Ambrose Applejohn's Adventure" Mrs Whitelaw Episode: "Jeannie" Mrs Parsons Episode: "Nineteen Eighty-Four" 1955 Music and Macaroni Teresa 2 episodes ITV Television Playhouse Mrs Grant Episode: "Mid Level" Dixon of Dock Green Mrs Somers Episode: "Needle in a Haystack" The Vise Ruth Karnas Episode: "Two of a Kind" Theatre Royal Housekeeper Episode: "The Stocking" 1956 ITV Television Playhouse Miss Pierce Episode: "Bonaventure" Dixon of Dock Green Mrs Joules Episode: "Eleven Plus" BBC Sunday-Night Theatre 1st Nanny Episode: "The Cold Light" New Ramps for Old Mrs Belbar Episode: "All Mod Cons" ITV Play of the Week Mrs Ashworth Episode: "Waters of the Moon" ITV Television Playhouse Mrs Marshall Episode: "The Young and the Guilty" Mrs Lawrence Episode: "All Correct, Sir" 1957 Boyd Q.C. Episode: "The Case of Casanova Jones" ITV Play of the Week Kate Edwards Episode: "The Druid's Rest" Five Names for Johnny Mrs Sherman Episode: "The Accusation" Dixon of Dock Green Mrs Mayo Episode: "The Story of Jimmy Mayo" Educated Evans Annie Toggs Episode: "Morality v. Education" 1957–1960 Armchair Theatre Lilian Burrows 2 episodes 1958 Theatre Night Ensemble Episode: "Expresso Bongo" Ivanhoe Hilda Episode: "The Fledgling" 1959 Emergency Ward 10 Bessie Sainsbury 2 episodes Love and Mr Lewisham Mrs Chaffrey 2 episodes Dancers in Mourning Mrs Pole 2 episodes The Man Who Finally Died Mrs Schneider Episode: "The Hunt" The Flying Doctor Mrs Stevens Episode: "Boomerang" 1960 No Hiding Place Mrs Williamson Episode: "The Final Chase" Dixon of Dock Green Maisie Episode: "The Black and the White" Probation Officer Mrs Harrison 1 episode Deadline Midnight Mrs Breen 1 episode BBC Sunday-Night Play Mrs Wardle Episode: "A Time to Fight" 1960–1965 Dixon of Dock Green Jennie Wren Recurring role; 40 episodes 1961 The Cheaters Mrs Evans Episode: "For the Price of Two" No Hiding Place Mrs Welch Episode: "The Final Fling" Maigret Madame Ducrau Episode: "The Golden Fleece" 1962 Emergency Ward 10 Mary Harper 2 episodes The Franchise Affair Mrs Bratt 1 episode Drama 61-67 Victoria Poster Episode: "Drama '62: Recruiting Poster" Alice Carter Episode: "Drama '62: A Chance in Life" BBC Sunday-Night Play Emily Britten Episode: "The Big Eat" Harpers West One Mrs Hedges 1 episode Suspense Vera Prentice Episode: "On the Night of the Murder" 1963 Sergeant Cork Nellie Episode: "The Case of the Girl Upstairs" First Night Mary Gilmour Episode: "Funny Noises with Their Mouths" 1964 Thorndyke Mrs Brattle Episode: "Percival Bland's Mother" R3 Mrs Fields Episode: "The Short Cut" 1965 Thursday Theatre Agnes Episode: "Johnson over Jordan" Londoners Mrs Mollins Episode: "The Frighteners" 1966 Emergency Ward 10 Mrs Mayer Episode: "Fat Annie" 1967 Adam Adamant Lives! Mrs Clasp Episode: "The Survivors" Sanctuary Sister Agnes Episode: "The Face of Hunger" Z Cars Mrs Carter 2 episodes 1968 Public Eye Mrs Claverton Episode: "Memories of Meg" Detective Mrs Poltensky Episode: "Dover and the Poison Pen Letters" Z Cars Connie Hughes 2 episodes Nana Madame Lerat 2 episodes 1969 Scene Ellen Episode: "Time Hurries On" The Newcomers May Burrows 2 episodes The Expert Mrs Haskins Episode: "Your Money for My Life" Detective Mrs Law Episode: "Put Out the Light" 1970 The Doctors Mrs Dent 1 episode Steptoe and Son Mrs Woods Episode: "Men of Property" Comedy Playhouse Mum Episode: "Mind Your Own Business" 1971 Z Cars Mrs Bennett 2 episodes Justice Olive Parsons 2 episodes The Runaway Summer Mrs Carver 2 episodes 1971–1973 The Fenn Street Gang Mrs Duffy 8 episodes 1972 The Man Outside Marjorie Griffen Episode: "Eric" Emma Mrs Cole 1 episode Comedy Playhouse Housekeeper Episode: "Weren't You Marcia Honeywell?" 1973 Hunter's Walk Mrs Waller Episode: "Behaviour" Crown Court Martha Cousins 3 episodes 1974 The Boy with Two Heads Hilda Page 7 episodes 1974–1979 Are You Being Served? Elsie 7 episodes 1975 Thriller Mrs Harper Episode: "The Double Kill" Dawson's Weekly Mrs Finch Episode: "Les Miserables" Dad's Army Queenie Beal Episode: "Ring Dem Bells" 1976 The Liver Birds Cafe Attendant Episode: "The Maypole" The Duchess of Duke Street Mrs Parker Episode: "The Outsiders" 1977 Headmaster Stallholder Episode: "Our Patrick" London Belongs to Me Mrs Smyth 1 episode The Fuzz Woman in shop Episode: "Pending Further Enquiries" 1978 Play of the Week Mrs Hewlings Episode: "Flayed" 1979 Murder at the Wedding Mrs Hignell 1 episode Mike Yarwood in Persons British Rail waitress 1 episode Minder Passer-by (uncredited) Episode: "The Bounty Hunter" Two People Betty Episode: "Back to Earth" 1980 Together Dora Klein Regular role; 20 episodes In Loving Memory Cow Farmer Episode: "The Outing" It Ain't Half Hot Mum Mrs Parkins Episode: "The Great Broadcast" 1981 Solo Mother-in-law 1 episode 1982 Chronicle Miss Booth Episode: "For the Love of Egypt" The Haunting of Cassie Palmer Mrs Pettifeather 2 episodes 1983 Hallelujah! Woman Episode: "Struck Down" The Witches and the Grinnygog Mrs Featherly 1 episode 1985 There Comes a Time Doris 1 episode The Kenny Everett Television Show 1 episode Murder of a Moderate Man Beth 3 episodes South of the Border Mrs Fishlock Episode: "An Uneventful Sort of Day" 1986 Kit Curran Bingo Woman Episode: "One Door Closes" 1987 Filthy Rich & Catflap Charlady Episode: "Game Show" Up Line Mrs Coombes 4 episodes French and Saunders Woman at Seance 1 episode Don't Wait Up Florrie 1 episode Life Without George Mrs Flynn 1 episode Vanity Fair Mrs Firkin 5 episodes 1988 Brookside Molly Harrison 1 episode 1988–1990 Mr Majeika Mrs Fudd 2 episodes 1989 Ffizz Miss Partridge Episode: "Plus ca change" 1990 The Play on One Mrs Thackeray Episode: "Killing Time" 1991 Taking the Floor Old Lady 2 Episode: "In the Mood" ScreenPlay Sylvia Bannister Episode: "Broke" The Bill Neighbour Episode: "Delivery on Time" 1992 London's Burning Old woman 1 episode Gone to Seed Miss Pringle 6 episodes 1993 The Bill Mrs Molloy Episode: "On the Loose" Goodnight Sweetheart Old Lady Episode: "I Get Along Without You Very Well" 1994 Harry Enfield and Chums Old Lady at Bus Stop 1 episode