Yootha Joyce
Actor
Born August 20, 1927 in Wandsworth, London, England, UK
British actress best known for her role as Mildred Roper in the '70s sitcom Man About the House and its spin-off George and Mildred. Born to musical parents Hurst Needham and Jessica Rivett in 1927, Joyce was trained at RADA, toured with ENSA and came to prominence via the Joan Littlewood Theatre Workshop, securing roles in TV shows such as The Avengers, Man in a Suitcase, Te Saint, Jason King and Steptoe and Son, and the films The Pumpkin Eater, A Man For All Seasons, Charlie Bubbles, All the Right Noises and Burke and Hare. She was married to fellow actor Glynn Edwards from 1956 to 1968, and they remained friends all her life. An alcoholic, Joyce died from liver failure in 1980, just four days after her 53rd birthday. Her sitcom co-star Brian Murphy was by her side. In 1986 the Smiths used an image of Joyce on the sleeve of their UK single release "Ask" and the German release of "Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others" securing her place as a British cultural icon.
Filmography
Man About the House: 50 Years of Laughs
Archive Footage
The World of Hammer
Self (archive footage)
George & Mildred
Mildred Roper
George and Mildred
Mildred Roper
Man About the House
Mildred Roper
Frankenstein: The True Story
Hospital Matron
Frankenstein: The True Story
Hospital Matron
Man About the House
Mildred Roper
Steptoe & Son Ride Again
Freda
Seven of One
Mrs Scully
Never Mind the Quality, Feel the Width
Mrs. Finch
Burke & Hare
Mrs. Hare
Nearest and Dearest
Mrs. Rhoda Rowbottom
Jason King
The Road Builder
Mrs. Palafox
All the Right Noises
Mrs. Bird
Fragment of Fear
Miss Ward-Cadbury
The Misfit
Pamela
Manhunt
Denise
On the Buses
Maigret at Bay
Mlle. Motte
ITV Saturday Night Theatre
Erica Seydoux
Twenty-Nine
The Prostitute
Your Name's Not God, It's Edgar
Charlie Bubbles
Woman in Cafe
Luther
Katharine Luther
ITV Playhouse
Phoebe
Our Mother's House
Mrs. Quayle
Stranger in the House
Shooting Range Girl
A Man for All Seasons
Averil Machin
Kaleidoscope
Museum Receptionist
BBC Play of the Month
Mademoiselle Motte
Thirty-Minute Theatre
Agnes
Catch Us If You Can
Nan
Fanatic
Anna
Redcap
Magda
The Wednesday Play
Rosalind Arnold
The Pumpkin Eater
Woman at Hairdresser's
Theatre 625
Jane Matthews
A Place to Go
Bit Role (uncredited)
Sparrows Can't Sing
Barmaid
The Saint
Milanov
Steptoe and Son
Delilah
The Avengers
Miss Lister
No Hiding Place
Armchair Theatre
Cissy