Joan Sanderson

Joan Sanderson
Born	November 24, 1912 in Bristol, Avon, England
Died	May 24, 1992 in Norfolk, England
Notable Roles	Doris Ewell in Please Sir!
Notable Episodes
Awards

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Joan Sanderson was a British actress best known for her work in Shakespearean plays on the English stage and as Doris Ewell in the British sitcom Please Sir!.

Biography

She became a well-known actress in the English stage, especially in Shakespearean theater, when she performed in Stratford upon Avon in such plays as King Lear, King John and Richard III. At the Old Vic in London, she appeared in the long-running play The Mousetrap. She made multiple TV and film appearances throughout her career—her most famous film appearance being as the wife of John Cleese (whose nemesis she had portrayed in an episode of Fawlty Towers, 2x01 - Communication Problems) in The Great Muppet Caper. She died on May 24, 1992, at the age of 79 in Norfolk, England.

Roles

Guest Starring Roles

Series	Role	Episode	Airdate
Dial RIX	Mrs. Hathaway	1x05 - No Plums in the Pudding	December 26, 1962
Maigret	Juliette Boynet	4x01 - Poor Cecile!	October 1, 1963
Detective	Mrs. Blayne	1x04 - End of Chapter	April 20, 1964
The Wednesday Play	Angela Walker	1x17 - The Confidence Course	February 24, 1965
Boy Meets Girl	Germaine	1x01 - Goodnight Pelican	August 4, 1967
The Wednesday Play	Isobel	1x102 - Fall of the Goat	November 15, 1967
Crown Court	Susan Halls	4x09 - Matron	January 22, 1975
Upstairs, Downstairs	Mrs. Waddilove	5x14 - Noblesse Oblige	December 7, 1975
Wodehouse Playhouse	Lady Bassett	2x03 - Strychnine in the Soup	April 9, 1976
Rising Damp	Mother	4x04 - Pink Carnations	April 25, 1978
Fawlty Towers	Mrs. Richards	2x01 - Communication Problems	February 19, 1979
Ripping Yarns	Lady Bartelsham	2x03 - Roger of the Raj	October 24, 1979
How's Your Father?		2x06 - The Promotion	August 22, 1980
Play for Today	Miss Tunstall	13x04 - Intensive Care	November 9, 1982
Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime	Rachel Logan	1x03 - The House of Lurking Death	October 30, 1983
Thompson	Guest	1x05 - Episode Five	December 8, 1988

Specials and Made-for-TV Movies

Title	Role	Airdate	Series/Banner
The Human Element	Lady Brancaster	July 9, 1970	W. Somerset Maugham
The Les Dawson Show	Various characters	September 10, 1975
Doris and Doreen	Dorothy Binns	December 16, 1978	Six Plays by Alan Bennett
Anyone for Denis?	Rear Admiral	December 28, 1982
East of Ipswich	Miss Wilbraham	February 1, 1987

Trivia

• Died a month before the premiere of her final series, The Land of Hope and Gloria. The creators had originally intended to make a second season, but with her death, they opted not to go ahead with it.