Hattie Jacques
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Josephine Edwina Jacques (7 February 1924 – 6 October 1980) was an English comedy actress, known as Hattie Jacques, who is best remembered for her roles in the Carry On films and her long-running partnership with Eric Sykes in the TV sitcom Sykes.
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[edit] Early Life
Hattie was born in Sandgate, Kent. She served as a nurse in the Red Cross during the Second World War, as well as working as a welder in a factory in North London.
At the age of twenty, she made her theatrical debut at the Players' Theatre in London. Almost immediately, she became a firm favourite of the company, appearing in music hall revues and playing the Fairy Queen in their Victorian-style pantomimes.
[edit] Radio
In 1947 she was spotted at the Players by Ted Kavanagh and was invited to join the cast of the radio comedy series It's That Man Again ("ITMA"), playing the greedy schoolgirl Sophie Tuckshop.
By the early 1950s, she was appearing in radio shows like Educating Archie as Agatha Danglebody. It was on this show that she first met Eric Sykes, who was providing scripts for the series.
In 1956, she was asked to join the radio series Hancock's Half Hour, joining regulars Tony Hancock, Sid James, Bill Kerr and Kenneth Williams. The same year she starred in The Tony Hancock Show on television.
[edit] "Carry On" films
She was also appearing in films by this time, including a couple of Norman Wisdom comedies - The Square Peg and Follow a Star. However, it wasn't until 1958, when she joined the Carry On team in Carry On Sergeant that her film career really took off.
She appeared in fourteen films in the long-running series and became famous as the no-nonsense Matron in four of the films - Carry On Nurse, Carry On Doctor, Carry On Again Doctor and Carry On Matron.
She was known by the team as a warm, kind and endearing lady and was close friends with many of her co-stars, including Kenneth Williams and Joan Sims.
[edit] Eric Sykes
In 1960 she joined Eric Sykes on his long-running BBC comedy series Sykes, in which they played a brother and sister who got into all sorts of comic scrapes. The joke was that they were meant to be twins, but were physically very unalike, Jacques being short and plump, while Sykes was thin and gangly. The show ran from 1960 to 1965 and was revived from 1972 to 1979.
[edit] Personal Life
Hattie Jacques was married to the actor John Le Mesurier from 1949 to 1965. They had two sons. At the time of their divorce, the media were given the impression that the fault was on Le Mesurier's side. It was later revealed that Jacques had been having an affair with a younger man and had left her husband for him. Le Mesurier had gone along with the charade so as not to damage her career.
Hattie Jacques died of a heart attack on 6 October 1980, at the age of 56.
[edit] Radio performances
- ITMA (1948 - 1949), Sophie Tuckshop
- Educating Archie (1951 - 1952)
- Hancock's Half Hour (1956 - 1959), Griselda Pugh
[edit] Television
- Hancock's Half Hour (1956 - 1960), Griselda Pugh
- Sykes (TV series, 1960 - 1965, 1971 - 1979), Hattie
[edit] Selected films
- Carry On Sergeant (1958), Captain Clark
- The Square Peg (1958), Gretchen
- Carry on Nurse (1959), Matron
- The Navy Lark (1959), Fortune Teller
- The Night We Dropped a Clanger (1959), Ada
- Carry On Teacher (1959), Grace Short
- Make Mine Mink (1960), Nanette Parry
- Carry On Constable (1960), Sergeant Laura Moon
- School for Scoundrels (1960), First Instructress
- In the Doghouse (1961), Gudgeon
- Carry On Regardless (1961), Sister
- Carry On Cabby (1963), Peggy
- Carry On Doctor (1967), Matron
- The Magic Christian (1969), Ginger Horton
- Carry On Camping (1969), Mrs Haggerd
- Carry On Loving (1970), Sophie Bliss
- Carry On Matron (1971), Matron
- Carry On Abroad (1972), Floella
- Carry On Dick (1974), Martha Hoggett
[edit] External links
- Hattie Jacques at the Internet Movie Database
- Hattie Jacques on Find-A-Grave
- BFI Screen Online: biography
| Carry On films |
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| Main Cast: Kenneth Williams | Joan Sims | Charles Hawtrey | Sid James | Kenneth Connor | Peter Butterworth | Bernard Bresslaw | Hattie Jacques | Jim Dale | Barbara Windsor | Terry Scott |
| Films: Sergeant • Nurse • Teacher • Constable • Regardless • Cruising • Cabby • Jack • Spying • Cleo • Cowboy • Screaming • Don't Lose Your Head • Follow That Camel • Doctor • Up the Khyber • Camping • Again Doctor • Up the Jungle • Loving • Henry • At Your Convenience • Matron • Abroad • Girls • Dick • Behind • England • Emmannuelle • Columbus TV: Laughing • Christmas Specials • That's Carry On! Unmade: Spaceman Upcoming: London |
