Pamela Cundell
| Pamela Cundell | |
|---|---|
 Pamela Cundell in May 2011 | |
| Born |
Pamela Isabel Cundell 15 January 1920 Croydon, Surrey, England |
| Died | 14 February 2015 (aged 95) |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Spouse(s) | Bill Fraser 1981 - 5 September 1987 (his death) |
Pamela Isabel Cundell[1] (15 January 1920 – 14 February 2015) was an English character actress.[2] Her best-known role was as Mrs Fox in the long-running TV comedy Dad's Army.
She was a descendant of Henry Condell, one of the managers of the Lord Chamberlain's Men, the playing company of William Shakespeare.[3] Henry Condell also helped put together the first folio of Shakespeare's works after his death.
Life and career
Pam Cundell was born in 1920[1] into a show business family and trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama before gaining experience in rep and summer shows as a stand up comic. She worked with many of the great comics of her time, including Frankie Howerd, Benny Hill and Bill Fraser, the last of whom she married in 1981 (he died in 1987).
Making her first television appearance in 1957 with Peter Sellers and Michael Bentine, she went on to appear in many popular television shows, including The Bill, On the Buses, Are You Being Served? Casualty, Z-Cars, and Big Deal. Pam Cundell kept busy with theatre work and pantomime, and appeared in several feature films.
Her most notable credits included Dad's Army as Mrs Fox (who married Clive Dunn's character Lance-Corporal Jones in the final episode), The Borrowers, The Benny Hill Show and, in 2005–06, as Nora Swann in EastEnders. She died at the age of 95 on 14 February 2015.[4][3]
Dad's Army
Character of Mrs Fox
During the course of the war, Mrs Fox becomes a widow. This is good news to butcher Jack Jones (Lance-Corporal Jack Jones) who has admired her for some time. This admiration is returned, with little 'extras' being passed across the counter on her visits to his shop. Beset with bad luck during the war, we hear that her brother did not make it through by the time she has been courted by Jones and accepts his hand in marriage. She is also very fond of George Mainwaring and even asks him to give her away since she no longer has any male relatives.
On 3 August 2008 Pamela Cundell was interviewed, alongside Bill Pertwee and Frank Williams, about her time on Dad's Army for the 40th anniversary tribute show Jonathan Ross Salutes Dad's Army. Following her death in 2015, Frank Williams and Ian Lavender are the last surviving major Dad's Army cast members.
She explained that her character Mrs Fox was so called because of the fox fur which she always wore draped over her shoulders.
References
- 1 2 "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
- ↑ "Pamela Cundell". BFI. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
- 1 2 Anthony Hayward. "Pamela Cundell obituary". the Guardian. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
- ↑ "LatestNews". dadsarmy.co.uk. Retrieved 17 February 2015.