Avril Angers
| Avril Angers | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
Florence Avril Angers 18 April 1918 Liverpool, Lancashire, England, UK |
| Died |
9 November 2005 (aged 87) London, England, UK |
| Occupation | Actress, dancer |
Florence Avril Angers (18 April 1918 – 9 November 2005) was an English stand-up comedian and actress.[1] The Daily Telegraph described her as "one of the most zestful, charming and reliable character comediennes in the post-war London theatre." [2]
Life
Angers was born in Liverpool, Lancashire in 1918. Her father, Harry Angers, was a music hall comedian who also appeared in films in the 1930s and 1940s.She was a dancer with the Tiller Girls before joining ENSA during World War II. She never married or had children. Angers lived in Covent Garden, London and died in London from pneumonia, aged 87.[3]
Career
She made her West End theatre debut at the Palace Theatre in a 1944 revue titled Keep Going.[4] One of the first female stand-up comedians, she was capable of playing a straight man role as a foil to established male comics such as Frankie Howerd and Arthur Askey.
Along with Terry-Thomas, she was one of the original cast of British television's first ever comedy series, How Do You View? in 1949.[1]
In 1961, she played Norah Dawson in Coronation Street, who was Arnold Tanner's new fiancee ('Madame Toffee Shop' as Elsie Tanner called her).
After five years' service with ENSA, she returned to civilian life and took on many and various roles in television (including Dad's Army, All Creatures Great and Small, Are You Being Served? and Odd Man Out), as well as in film and theatre.[5][6] These included playing Miss Marple in Agatha Christie's Murder At the Vicarage at the Savoy Theatre in 1976 in the West End.[2][5]
One of her best remembered roles was that of Hayley Mills's shrewish mother in the film version of Bill Naughton's play The Family Way (1966).[1] A still of her from the film features on the cover of The Smiths' 1987 single "I Started Something I Couldn't Finish".[7]
Selected filmography
- Women Without Men (1956)
- The Green Man (1956)
- Be My Guest (1965)
- Devils of Darkness (1965)
- The Family Way (1966)
- Three Bites of the Apple (1967)
- Two a Penny (1968)
- Staircase (1969)
- The Best House in London (1969)
- Mr. Forbush and the Penguins (1971)
- Confessions of a Driving Instructor (1976)
References
- 1 2 3 "Avril Angers". The Independent.
- 1 2 "Avril Angers". Telegraph.co.uk. 11 November 2005.
- ↑ "Comedy great Avril Angers dies at 87". The Stage. 10 November 2005. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
- ↑ Ian Herbert, ed. (1981). "ANGERS, Avril". Who's Who in the Theatre 1. Gale Research Company. p. 19. ISSN 0083-9833.
- 1 2 Dennis Barker. "Obituary: Avril Angers - Media - The Guardian". the Guardian.
- ↑ "Avril Angers". BFI.
- ↑ "I started something I couldn't finish - The Smiths".