Dandy Nichols

Dandy Nichols
Dandy Nichols
Born Daisy Sander
21 May 1907(1907-05-21)
Hammersmith, West London, England
Died 6 February 1986(1986-02-06) (aged 78)
London, England
Occupation Actress
Years active 1947–85
Spouse Stephen Bagueley Waters (divorced)

Dandy Nichols (21 May 1907 – 6 February 1986) was an English actress most noted for her role as Else Garnett, the long-suffering wife of the racially bigoted and misogynistic character Alf Garnett in the BBC sitcom Till Death Us Do Part.

Contents

Early life and career

Born Daisy Sander in Hammersmith, London, she started her working life as a secretary in a London factory. Twelve years later, after drama, diction and fencing classes, she was spotted in a charity show by a producer, who offered her a job in his repertory theatre company in Cambridge. During her early career on stage she acted under the name Barbara Nichols but later changed it to Dandy, her childhood nickname.

When the Second World War broke out, she returned to office work but later undertook a six-week tour with ENSA. When the war was over, she returned to the theatre and also began appearing in films: usually comedies and invariably as a maid or char.

Her successes in theatre include the Royal Court Theatre and Broadway productions of Home. Her big screen debut was in Hue and Cry, in 1947, followed with performances in Nicholas Nickleby, The Winslow Boy, The History of Mr Polly, Scott of the Antarctic, Mother Riley Meets the Vampire and Dickens' The Pickwick Papers.

Till Death Us Do Part

Dandy Nichols' most well-known role was as Else Garnett in the controversial, landmark series Till Death Us Do Part. The part was originally played in the pilot episode of series (as part of the BBC's Comedy Playhouse) by future EastEnders actress Gretchen Franklin.

Dandy's role seemed, at first, almost negligible: spending the best part of one early episode reading the telephone book as Alf embarked on another of his tirades. However, Else proved to be a perfect foil for Alf, and could put him down effortlessly with a withering look or cutting remark. Perhaps her finest hour - in an episode shown by the BBC in tribute to Dandy in 1986 - was when, in 1974, Else took a leaf out of Prime Minister Edward Heath's book and went on a "three day week", forcing Alf to fend for and feed himself on her days off.

Controversy

In the original scripts, Alf was to refer to his wife as a "silly cow". This was firmly vetoed by BBC Head of Comedy Frank Muir, who thought this was inappropriate. Una Stubbs said that it was "a lot of silly fuss about a silly moo" which was overheard by script writer Johnny Speight and became the series most enduring catchphrase.

In Sickness And In Health

"Till Death Us Do Part" came to an end in 1975 but was revived in 1985. Dandy agreed to appear, but had been suffering from rheumatoid arthritis and had to use a wheelchair. Her illnesses were written into the scripts, and the series was appropriately re-named In Sickness and in Health.

The series continued after her death: Alf, left alone after the other mourners have gone home, gently touched the handle of her (now empty) wheelchair and sobbed "Silly old moo!"

Film career

She appeared in numerous films, which included, Carry On Sergeant and Carry On Doctor, Ladies Who Do, The Vikings, the Beatles movie Help!, Georgy Girl, Doctor in Clover, The Birthday Party, The Bed Sitting Room, Confessions of a Window Cleaner and Britannia Hospital amongst others.

Later years

After finding fame in Till Death Do Us Part, Nichols found work in television, notably playing opposite Alistair Sim in William Trevor's production of The Generals Day. She made appearances in Flint, The Tea Ladies and Bergerac. Onstage, she appeared in Ben Travers's comedy Plunder, as well as playing alongside Sir Ralph Richardson and Sir John Gielgud in David Storey's Home, in both London and on Broadway.

Personal life

Nichols, whose only marriage to Stephen Bagueley Waters in 1942 had ended in divorce, died of pneumonia and heart disease aged 78 on 6 February 1986 at the London Hospital, Whitechapel.

Television roles

Year Title Role
1966 to 1975
1981
1985 to 1986
Till Death Us Do Part
Till Death...
In Sickness and in Health
Else Garnett
1971 The Trouble With Lilian Madge
1981 The Bagthorpe Saga Mrs Forsdyke

Selected filmography

References

  • [1] Dandy Nichols at screenonline.
  • [2] Dandy Nichols at The Museum of Broadcast Communications.

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Nichols (surname) — For other uses, see Nichols. Not to be confused with Nicholls (name), Nicols, or Nicolls. Nichols is a surname of Irish[citation needed] origin , and may refer to: Contents: Top · 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J …   Wikipedia

  • In Sickness and in Health — This article is about the BBC sitcom. For the Demented Are Go album, see In Sickness In Health. For the Fear Itself episode, see In Sickness and in Health (Fear Itself episode). In Sickness and in Health Format Sitcom Created by Johnny Speight… …   Wikipedia

  • Till Death Us Do Part (British TV series) — infobox television show name = Till Death Us Do Part caption = Original opening titles format = Sitcom runtime = 40 minutes (2) 30 minutes (50) 25 minutes (1) 20 minutes (1) creator = Johnny Speight starring = Warren Mitchell Dandy Nichols Una… …   Wikipedia

  • Till Death Us Do Part — Seriendaten Originaltitel Till Death Us Do Part Produktionsland Großbritannien …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Till Death... — infobox television show name = Till Death caption = format = Sitcom runtime = 30 minutes creator = Johnny Speight starring = Warren Mitchell Dandy Nichols Patricia Hayes Una Stubbs country = United Kingdom network = ITV first aired = 1981 last… …   Wikipedia

  • O Lucky Man! — Directed by Lindsay Anderson Produced by Lindsay Anderson Michael Medwin Malcolm M …   Wikipedia

  • Confessions of a Window Cleaner — Theatrical release poster Directed by Val Guest …   Wikipedia

  • The Bagthorpe Saga — is a series of 10 fiction books written by author Helen Cresswell between 1977 and 2001.[1] The series became the basis of a TV comedy series also called The Bagthorpe Saga in 1981, and also won two International Reading Association awards.[2]… …   Wikipedia

  • Dance Hall (film) — Dance Hall Petula Clark and Douglas Barr in Dance Hall Directed by Charles Crichton Produced by E.V.H. Emmett …   Wikipedia

  • Till Death Us Do Part (film) — Infobox Film name = Till Death Us Do Part image size = caption = director = Norman Cohen producer = writer = Johnny Speight narrator = starring = Warren Mitchell Dandy Nichols music = cinematography = editing = distributor = released = 1969… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”