Josephine Tewson

Josephine Ann Tewson (26 February 1931 – 18 August 2022) was an English actress, known for her roles in British television sitcoms and comedies. She portrayed Edna Hawkins ("Mrs H") on Shelley (1979–1982), Jane Travers in Clarence, and Miss Lucinda Davenport in Last of the Summer Wine (2003–2010). She portrayed the frequently put-upon neighbour Elizabeth "Liz" Warden in Keeping Up Appearances (1990–1995). Tewson's professional career lasted more than 65 years, from 1952 until her retirement in 2019.

Early life and education Tewson, an only child, was born on her father's twenty seventh birthday in Hampstead, London, on 26 February 1931. Her father, William (1904–1965) was a professional musician and played the double bass in the BBC Symphony Orchestra; her mother, Kate (née Morley, 1908–1999), was a nurse and the daughter of footballer Haydn Morley, who captained The Wednesday in the 1890 FA Cup Final. After grammar school, Tewson studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art from which she graduated in 1952.

Early career Tewson began acting on the London stage in the 1950s and remained active in theatre productions throughout her professional career. She appeared on television during the 1960s with semi-regular appearances on shows like Z-Cars, The Dick Emery Show, and The Charlie Drake Show. She was a regular comedy performer in sketches on David Frost on Sunday and Hark at Barker (1969–1970). She created the role of Mrs. Drudge in the premiere of Tom Stoppard's The Real Inspector Hound at the Criterion Theatre in London in June 1968.

She later appeared in Mostly Monkhouse, a BBC Radio comedy with David Jason and Bob Monkhouse. During the 1970s she had significant roles in comedy sitcoms including Six Dates with Barker, Coppers End (1971), and 1977's Odd Man Out with John Inman playing her half-sibling. She co-starred in No Appointment Necessary with Roy Kinnear; the tapes of which have been lost or destroyed. Tewson played Edna Hawkins (usually referred to as "Mrs H" by Shelley) in the first six series of the British sitcom Shelley (1979–82). Later, she played Jane Travers in Ronnie Barker's last starring television role before his retirement, the sitcom Clarence (1988), which he wrote. She appeared as two characters in the 1984 children's film Gabrielle and the Doodleman, as Gabrielle's father's housekeeper Mrs. Briggs, and as the Fairy Godmother.

Tewson was rumoured to be Inman's cousin though she denied this in several interviews.

Later career Tewson's most prominent role was as Elizabeth "Liz" Warden, neighbour and reluctant confidante of social wannabe Hyacinth Bucket in the comedy series Keeping Up Appearances, written by Roy Clarke. She appeared semi-regularly as Miss Davenport in Last of the Summer Wine (2003–2010), a series also written by Clarke. She appeared in two episodes of the documentary series Comedy Connections, talking about her work in Keeping Up Appearances (2004) and opposite The Two Ronnies (2005). In 2009, she played Iris in the radio drama Leaves in Autumn written by Susan Casanove, produced by the Wireless Theatre Company.

Other television appearances included an episode of Heartbeat ("Closing The Book", 2002), and as competition judge Samantha Johnstone in the mystery drama Midsomer Murders ("Judgement Day", 2000). She appeared in two episodes of Doctors as kleptomaniac Audrey Wilson ("Now You See It...", 2009), and as Marjorie Page, a woman in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease ("The Bespectacled Bounder", 2012). Tewson played a school teacher in a Sugar Puffs "I Want My Honey" advert during the late 1980s/early 1990s. Just after the end of Keeping Up Appearances, she played a nanny in a 30-second commercial for Nabisco Fruit Newtons, widely aired in 1997 in the United States.

In 2012 Tewson launched her one-woman show, Still Keeping Up Appearances?, and toured the UK until her retirement in early 2019.

Personal life and death Tewson married actor Leonard Rossiter in 1958. They divorced in 1961. She married dental surgeon Henry Newman in 1972. Newman died in 1980. Tewson died from complications of Alzheimer's disease and diabetes at Denville Hall, a retirement home in London for actors and other entertainment professionals, on 18 August 2022, aged 91.

Filmography Film

Year Title Role Notes1972 The Troublesome Double Mrs Wentworth 1977 The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It Miss Hoskins 1978 The Hound of the Baskervilles Nun 1984 Gabrielle and the Doodleman Mrs Briggs/Fairy Godmother 1989 Wilt Miss Leuchars 2000 The Mumbo Jumbo Miss Hodges

Television

Theatre roles

Radio