Pamela Cundell

Pamela Cundell
Pamela Cundell in May 2011
Born Pamela Isabel Cundell
(1920-01-15)15 January 1920
Croydon, Surrey, England
Died 14 February 2015(2015-02-14) (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.

Making her first television appearance in 1957 with Peter Sellers and Michael Bentine, she worked with many of the comic performers of her time, including Frankie Howerd, Benny Hill and Bill Fraser, the last of whom she married in 1981; he died in 1987. A semi-regular in Dad's Army as Mrs Fox, her character married Lance-Corporal Jones (Clive Dunn) in the final episode. Cundell appeared in many television shows, including The Bill, On the Buses, Are You Being Served? Casualty, Z-Cars, and Big Deal, The Borrowers and, in 2005–06, as Nora Swann in EastEnders. She worked in the theatre, including pantomime, and appeared in several feature films.

She died at the age of 95 on 14 February 2015.[4][3]

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. She explained that her character Mrs Fox was so called because of the fox fur which she always wore draped over her shoulders. Following her death in 2015, Frank Williams and Ian Lavender are the last surviving major Dad's Army cast members.

Pamela Cundell was involved with amateur theatre in her later years and was President of the Harlequins Theatre Club of Mill Hill, where she directed several shows along with fellow 'Dad's Army' actor Frank Williams.

References

  1. 1 2 "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
  2. ↑ "Pamela Cundell". BFI. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  3. 1 2 Anthony Hayward. "Pamela Cundell obituary". the Guardian. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  4. ↑ "LatestNews". dadsarmy.co.uk. Retrieved 17 February 2015.

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