Doreen Mantle obit

Doreen Mantle: One Foot In The Grave actress dies aged 97

Mantle starred as Jean Warboys, the annoying friend of Victor Meldrew's wife, in One Foot In The Grave. She also appeared in BBC detective series Father Brown, Doctors and played Joy Fishwick in ITV soap Coronation Street.  

She was not on the list

Actress Doreen Mantle, best known for her role in the BBC comedy series One Foot In The Grave, has died aged 97.

She died "peacefully at home", her agent said.

Mantle starred as Jean Warboys, the annoying friend of Victor Meldrew's wife, in One Foot In The Grave.

She also appeared in the BBC detective series Father Brown, as well as Doctors.

Mantle also played Joy Fishwick in ITV soap Coronation Street.

Her other credits include My Family, Dirk Gently, Jam And Jerusalem, Doc Martin, Jonathan Creek and Yentl.

She won an Olivier Award in 1979 for her role in Death Of A Salesman in the National Theatre.

Mantle also featured in her one-woman show My Truth and Reconciliation, and appeared in 84 Charing Cross Road at The Ambassadors Theatre, as well as classic comedy Billy Liar at the Duke of York's Theatre.

David Renwick, who wrote One Foot In The Grave, said he is "dreadfully saddened" by the news of Mantle's death.

He said in a statement: "She had been in poor health for some time, but you wouldn't have bet against her soldiering on to a hundred - she was such a trouper, so stoic and resilient to the end.

"No-one else could have played Mrs Warboys as she did, it was such a perfect fit, and the honesty that she brought to every line, however bizarre, was what made the character so funny and legitimised even the maddest of moments.

"There was never the remotest suggestion that she was playing comedy: in her hands it was all utterly real, because of course she was, at root, a superb and consummate actress. I shall miss her terribly - but thank God for all those wonderful laughs she's left us."

Confirming Mantle's death, her agent said: "It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our beloved client and much-loved stage, screen, and radio actress Doreen Mantle, aged 97.

"She died peacefully at home. She is survived by her two sons, four grandchildren and one brother."

 

Filmography

 

Films

Year     Title            Role            Note

1967            Privilege          Miss Crawford        

1972    Frenzy            Woman in Crowd            Uncredited

1975    All Creatures Great and Small    Mrs Seaton  TV movie

1979    Black Jack     Mrs Carter 

1979    Secret Orchards            Aunt Bunny   TV movie

1981    The French Lieutenant's Woman            Lady on Train           

1983    Yentl            Mrs Shaemen         

1983    St. Ursula's in Danger Miss Cowley           

1984    Home Video              

1985    Star Quality: Bon Voyage            Mrs Teitelbaum            TV movie

1990            Mountains of the Moon            Mrs Speke 

1992    The Turn of the Screw  Doreen

1994    A Man You Don't Meet Every Day      Mrs Norton

1996    In Love and War            Emilia  

1997    So This Is Romance?            Clairvoyant     

2004    Suzie Gold     Nana's Friend 

2005            Antonio's Breakfast            Lady with Rubbish            Short

2006    Scoop            Joe's Co-Passengers

2010    Two Ladies & a Hill            Hillary            Short

2011    Late Bloomers            Nora   

2012    The Owner  Felicity

2012    Over the Hill?            Mrs Parker 

2013    Fire Horse   Ada            Short

2017    55 Steps            Eleanor's Mother         

2018    Knock at the Door            Mrs. Harris   Short

2018    Jean            Jean            Short

2019    Blind            Mrs Wood  Short

Television

Year     Title            Role            Notes

1964–1965            Emergency Ward 10            Mrs Cox     

1965    Play of the Month            Mrs Fletcher           

1966–1973            Love Story    Mrs Driver / Madge / Mrs Bryant    

1967    Uncle Charles            American Wife           

1969    Strange Report  Mrs Ogilive 

1969    W. Somerset Maugham            Madame Joyce

1969–1973            Special Branch Miss Mitchell / Mrs Harris  

1972    Kate            Harriet Bates   

1972    Six Days of Justice            Probation Officer        

1972–1977            Crown Court   Vera Tilley / Mrs Verity Holt-Mattthews       

1973            Armchair 30     Miss Fanshaw          

1973    Public Eye      Miss Barnwell          

1973    Vienna 1900    Frau Arbesbacher    

1973    The Song of Songs            Frau Czepanek        

1974    Intimate Strangers            Dorothy         

1974            Marked Personal            Mrs Hastings          

1974–1979            Play for Today  Mary Hunter / Julia Branston / Mother

1976    The Duchess of Duke Street            Mrs Catchpole        

1976    Billy Brand   Edna James  

1977    Esther Waters Mrs Randal 

1977            Headmaster            Chairwoman   

1977    Eleanor Marx    Frau Marx   

1978    Secret Army    Mme. Desmarts         

1979            Mystery!: Malice Aforethought            Hilda   

1979    Thomas and Sarah            Mrs Ryder  

1980    The Gentle Touch            Beryl King    

1980            Ladykillers        Mrs Wheeler          

1980    Pride and Prejudice            Mrs Reynolds         

1980–1981            BBC2 Playhouse            Mrs Orpen / Margaret         

1983    The Home Front            Medora         

1984    Charlie            Maggie

1985            Summer Season            Matron

1985    Connie            Miss Greer  

1987    Sunday Premiere            Mrs Venables         

1987            Screenplay      Mother Monica

1990    Screen Two            Landlady       

1990–2000            One Foot in the Grave   Mrs Warboys            18 episodes

1990–2002            Casualty          Renee Wainwright / Mrs Duffin       

1991    Stanley and the Women            Lady Bailey  

1992    Nice Town   Jean Thompson       

1992    The Secret Agent            Mrs Waller 

1992    Sam Saturday            Rita Sterne 

1992    Mr Wakefield's Crusade            Chrissie           

1992            Lovejoy          Vera    

1994    Class Act       Hilda Skoric 

1994    Peak Practice            Mary Eastman          

1996            Testament: The Bible in Animation            Naomi 

1996    Our Friends in the North   Mrs Wilson 

1996    The Vet       Edie Davenport       

1997    Chalk            Dr. Eleanor Gillespie          

1997–1999            The Wild House            Granny

2000    Where the Heart Is            Miriam Stone  

2001–2019            Doctors           Mrs Merriam / Winnie Carpenter / Doris Forsyth / Rose            Recurring roles

2003    The Bill            Anne Culshaw          

2004    Doc Martin            Marianne Walker       

2004            Shadow Play  Queen Victoria           

2004–2009            Holby City      Simone Mannstein / Sylvia Wheeler

2005    Love Soup    Mavis Bledsoe           

2005    Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky Marion Chingford        

2005    Hustle            Anne Foster 

2006    Brief Encounters            Frances           

2006–2008            Jam & Jerusalem            Queenie         

2007    The Sarah Jane Adventures            Mrs Randall

2007    Holby Blue            Maureen Jessie

2008            Bonekickers    Mary Cunley 

2009    The Queen  The Queen Mother 

2010    Dirk Gently  Ruth Jordan 

2010            Jonathan Creek            Mrs Gantry 

2010–2011            Coronation Street            Joy Fishwick            10 episodes

2011    My Family  Lillian  

2013–2014            The Mimic            Martin's Grandma / Martin's Nan   

2015    Lewis            Joan    

2018    Father Brown  Miss Tibby  

2023    One Foot in the Grave - 30 Years Of Laughs            Herself/Mrs Warboy.