1. Yootha Joyce Needham, known as Yootha Joyce, was an English actress best known for playing Mildred Roper opposite Brian Murphy in the sitcom Man About the House and its spin-off George and Mildred.
20 Facts About Yootha Joyce
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Yootha Joyce Needham was born in Wandsworth, London, the only child of musical parents Percival "Hurst" Needham, a singer, and Jessie Maud, a concert pianist.
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Yootha Joyce was named "Yootha" after a New Zealand dancer in her father's touring company, a name she would later say she "loathed and detested".
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The family lived in a basement flat at Bennerley Road, Wandsworth, although Yootha Joyce spent much time living with her maternal grandmother, Jessie Rebecca Revitt, while her parents were touring.
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Yootha Joyce left RADA in early 1946, finding it unduly strict and unencouraging.
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In 1955, following a dry period of work, Yootha Joyce applied for work at a further repertory group based at the King's Theatre in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire in a production entitled The Call of the Flesh.
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Yootha Joyce joined the production and became a member of the Theatre Workshop alongside other contemporaries including Barbara Windsor, Murray Melvin, Victor Spinetti, Bob Grant, Stephen Lewis, and Brian Murphy.
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Yootha Joyce would confide in Edwards that her greatest fear was being without work, and that she thought every job she had would be her last.
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Yootha Joyce appeared in the Hammer Horror film Fanatic as a villain.
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Yootha Joyce used her talent for playing villains in television series such as The Saint, The Avengers and Jason King.
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Yootha Joyce made appearances in the films Catch Us If You Can, A Man for All Seasons and Charlie Bubbles, as well as TV spin-off films Nearest and Dearest, Never Mind the Quality Feel the Width and Steptoe and Son Ride Again.
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Yootha Joyce appeared as customer Mrs Scully in the pilot episode of Open All Hours.
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Yootha Joyce died in hospital of liver failure four days after her 53rd birthday on 24 August 1980.
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Yootha Joyce's funeral took place on 3 September 1980 at Golders Green Crematorium, where she was cremated.
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Yootha Joyce's ashes were scattered on the crocus lawn in the grounds of the crematorium.
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The pathologist stated that Yootha Joyce's liver was twice the normal size and that her heart and lungs had suffered because of her drinking; Yootha Joyce's cause of death was given as portal cirrhosis of the liver.
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Yootha Joyce's biography implies that she turned to drink to steady her nerves, particularly after her divorce and subsequent failed relationships, loneliness, typecasting, lack of other work, and lack of privacy due to the popularity of Mildred Roper, and had become depressed.
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Yootha Joyce appeared posthumously in her last recorded television performance, duetting with Max Bygraves on his variety show Max, singing "For All We Know".
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In October 2001, a tribute documentary entitled The Unforgettable Yootha Joyce was broadcast by ITV, which featured Glynn Edwards as well as many of her co-stars and friends, including Sally Thomsett, Brian Murphy, Nicholas Bond-Owen and Norman Eshley, talking about memories and their relationships with Joyce.
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Curran published The Yootha Joyce Scrapbook containing rare and unseen photographs detailing events from Joyce's life in 2015 and released a third book entitled Yootha Joyce: Pieces of a Life in 2021.