Best known for playing Matron - as in "ooh, Matron!" - in four films: Un thermomètre pour le colonel (1959), Carry on Doctor (1967), Carry on Again Doctor (1969) and, of course Carry on Matron (1972). Key roles included: Grace Short in Le collège s'en va-t-en guerre (1959), Sophie Bliss in La Marieuse électronique (1970) and Peggy Hawkins in Carry on Cabby (1963). She was married to John Le Mesurier (Sergeant Wilson in Dad's Army (1968)), but left him for another man. They divorced but remained friends. An unexpectedly attractive woman in her time, she played parts which depended upon and mocked her weight. Only in Carry on Cabby (1963) was she allowed to escape her dragon persona and play the romantic lead opposite Sidney James. She died prematurely at the age of 58 from a heart attack.
