Mollie Sugden (born "Mary Isobel Sugden" on 21st July 1922 in Keighley, Yorkshire; died 1st July 2009 in Guildford, Surrey) appeared on Coronation Street intermittently between July 1965 and August 1976 as Nellie Harvey, landlady of the Laughing Donkey public house and friend of Annie Walker.
World War II had broken out shortly after leaving school and she was employed at a local munitions factory, making shells for the Royal Navy. She went on to train at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.
Best known to television audiences as Mrs. Slocombe in all ten series of classic BBC sitcom Are You Being Served? (1972-1985), she also appeared in the film and stage versions and a spin-off, Grace and Favour (1992-1993).
She also made an impact as the super snobby Mrs. Hutchinson in Liverpudlian flatshare comedy The Liver Birds from 1971 to 1979 (alongside Ivan Beavis as the long-suffering Mr. Hutchinson). She reprised the role in the short-lived 1996 revival.
Such was her popularity with the viewing public, Mollie fronted two of her own sitcoms: BBC space travel saga Come Back, Mrs. Noah (1977-1978), and the better-received That's My Boy (1981-1986) for Yorkshire Television.
Her numerous other television comedy credits include appearances in Steptoe and Son, Hugh and I, Up Pompeii!, The Goodies, Doctor at Large, Please Sir!, Doctor in Charge, Love Thy Neighbour and Little Britain. She also made forays into serious drama, with roles in Z Cars, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Emma and The Bill.
On stage, she appeared in productions of Yours Faithfully, The Dark Horse, Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, Saturday Night at the Crown, We're Frying Tonight, Murder Mistaken and The Hollow.
She was the special guest on the edition of This Is Your Life, transmitted on 9th April 1975.
Mollie's husband was the late William Moore, who played Cyril Turpin on Coronation Street from 1969 to 1972.
