Brenda Cowling
{{Short description|English actress (1925–2010)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Brenda Cowling
| image = Actress_Brenda_Cowling.jpg
| caption =
| birth_name = Brenda Rose Cowling
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1925|04|23}}
| birth_place = Islington, London, England
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2010|10|02|1925|04|23}}
| death_place = Northwood, London, England
| restingplace =
| alma_mater = RADA
| othername =
| occupation = Actress
| yearsactive = 1950–2006
| spouse =
| website =
| awards =
}}
Brenda Rose Cowling (23 April 1925 – 2 October 2010) was an English actress from London.
Biography
Cowling wanted to be a film actress from the time she was a child; however, upon leaving school, she trained instead as a shorthand typist.
After a time she joined the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where she was a member of the same class as Warren Mitchell and Jimmy Perry.Are You Being Served? A Celebration of Twenty-Five Years. Richard Webber with David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd. New York; Welcome Rain, 1998. While there, she made her film debut in a small role in Alfred Hitchcock's Stage Fright (1950).{{cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba29af34f|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160921072540/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba29af34f|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 September 2016|title=Brenda Cowling|website=BFI}}
Much of her early acting work was in repertory, before she began her television career. She also appeared in films, such as The Railway Children (1970), Please Sir! (1971), Carry On Girls (1973), Carry On Behind (1975). International Velvet (1978), Oliver Twist (1982) and Octopussy (1983).{{cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/artist/brenda-cowling-p15452|title=Brenda Cowling - Movies and Filmography|website=AllMovie}} Television serials in which she appeared include Follyfoot, Miss Marple in They Do It With Mirrors as Mrs. Rodgers in 1991, Fawlty Towers as a nurse in "The Germans", Only When I Laugh as the matron nurse in "Last Tango" in 1980, Are You Being Served? as a customer in "The Erotic Dreams of Mrs Slocombe", Jonathan Creek in "Gorgons Wood" as Mrs. Thrimpson (2004), Dad's Army as Mrs. Prentice in "All is Safely Gathered In", It Ain't Half Hot Mum in "The Last Roll Call" as the WVS Lady, The Famous Five, three episodes of Hi-de-Hi!, notably as a (voice only role) station announcer in "Together Again", a camper in "Raffles", and a maid in "Wedding Bells", and Mrs. Wren in The Legacy of Reginald Perrin.{{cite web|url=http://www.aveleyman.com/ActorCredit.aspx?ActorID=3749|title=Brenda Cowling|website=www.aveleyman.com}} One of her better known roles was as the cook, Mrs. Lipton, in You Rang, M'Lord?.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/yourangmlord/|title=You Rang, M'Lord?|last=BBC|website=www.bbc.co.uk}}
Cowling retired in 2006 after suffering a stroke. She died on 2 October 2010, at the actors' retirement home, Denville Hall, aged 85.{{cite news|date=11 November 2010|last= Hayward|first= Anthony|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2010/nov/11/brenda-cowling-obituary|title=Brenda Cowling Obituary|department= Obituary|newspaper=The Guardian}}
Selected filmography
| class="wikitable"
|+ !Year !Title !Role !Notes |
| 1950
|Plump RADA Girl (uncredited) | |
| 1956
|Minor Role (uncredited) | |
| 1962-1969
|Doris Gray, Miss Nicholls |2 episodes |
| 1962-74
|Various roles |3 episodes |
| rowspan="3" |1963
|Mrs. Gregson |1 episode |
| Maigret
|Madame Pardon |1 episode |
| The Avengers
|Masseuse |1 episode |
| 1964
|Sarah Jenkins |1 episode |
| 1966
|Martha Hearty | |
| rowspan="2" |1967
|Miss Perren |5 episodes |
| The Newcomers
|Mrs. Bennett |2 episodes |
| rowspan="2" |1969
|Mrs. Madgwick |1 episode |
| Up in the Air
|Lady Pennyweight | |
| rowspan="2" |1970
|Mrs. Viney | |
| The Goodies
|Lady |1 episode |
| rowspan="3" |1971
|Lady in Supermarket |1 episode |
| Please Sir!
|Mrs. Duffy | |
| The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes
|Maid |1 episode |
| rowspan="4" |1972
|Mrs. Prentice |1 episode |
| Follyfoot
|Lady Caroline Beck |1 episode |
| Six Days of Justice
|Usher |1 episode |
| Young Winston
|Mrs. Dewsnap (uncredited) | |
| rowspan="3" |1973
|Matron | |
| Oh Father!
|Mrs. Rourke |1 episode |
| Romany Jones
|Betty's Mum |3 episodes |
| rowspan="4" |1974
|Mrs. Cosgrove |1 episode |
| No Strings
|Mrs. Turner |1 episode |
| The Black Windmill
|Pleasant Secretary (uncredited) | |
| The Pallisers
|Mrs. Bunce |5 episodes |
| rowspan="2" |1975
|Wife (uncredited) | |
| Fawlty Towers
|Sister |1 episode |
| 1976
|Staff Nurse |2 episodes |
| rowspan="5" |1977
|Mrs. Robinson |1 episode |
| Jabberwocky
|Mrs. Fishfinger | |
| Raffles
|Mrs. Van Der Berg |1 episode |
| The Duchess of Duke Street
|Elsie Richards |2 episodes |
| The Black Panther
|TBC | |
| rowspan="2" |1978
|Alice | |
| The Famous Five
|Jenny |2 episodes |
| 1979-1983
|Jane |18 episodes |
| rowspan="2" |1980
|Matron |1 episode |
| Shoestring
|Mrs. Margaret Billington |1 episode |
| rowspan="4" |1981
|Lady Customer |1 episode |
| It Ain't Half Hot Mum
|WVS Lady |1 episode |
| Nanny
|Nanny Roberts |1 episode |
| You're Only Young Twice
|Mrs. Hawkhead |1 episode |
| rowspan="3" |1982
|Mrs. Bedwin | |
| Pink Floyd – The Wall
|Teacher | |
| The Agatha Christie Hour
|Mrs. Draper |1 episode |
| 1983
|Schatzi | |
| 1984-1988
|Lady Camper, Nora, Station Announcer |3 episodes |
| rowspan="2" |1985
|Customer |1 episode |
| The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾
|Matron |1 episode |
| 1985-1987
|Woman Patient, Home Help, Matron |3 episodes |
| rowspan="5" |1986
|Brenda Trail |1 episode |
| Dream Lover
|Hotel Manager | |
| Grange Hill
|Shopkeeper |1 episode |
| London's Burning
|Man's Wife |TV Movie |
| T-Bag
|Bunty Badshott |1 episode |
| rowspan="2" |1987
|Mrs. Lundy |1 episode |
| The Charmer
|Chambermaid |1 episode |
| 1988-1993
|Mrs. Blanche Lipton |26 episodes |
| 1989-2002
|Various roles |4 episodes |
| 1991
|Mrs. Rodgers |1 episode |
| 1993
|Nun |1 episode |
| 1996
|The Legacy of Reginald Perrin |Mrs. Wren |1 episode |
| rowspan="2" |1997
|Edith Brown |1 episode |
| The Detectives
|Bride's Grandmother |1 episode |
| 1999
|Mourner |1 episode |
| rowspan="4" |2000
|Sarah |1 episode |
| Greenfingers
|Book Shop Customer | |
| Room to Rent
|Church Lady | |
| Where the Heart Is
|Martha |1 episode |
| 2001
|Mrs. Tatchell |1 episode |
| 2003
|Old Lady |1 episode |
| rowspan="4" |2004
|Older Dawn |5 episodes |
| Jonathan Creek
|Mrs. Thrimpston |1 episode |
| Murder in Suburbia
|Mrs. Kirkman |1 episode |
| The Legend of the Tamworth Two
|Mrs. Martin |TV Movie |
| 2005
|Vox Pops |2 episodes |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0184814}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowling, Brenda}}
Category:English film actresses
Category:English television actresses
Category:Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Category:Actresses from London
Category:Actors from the London Borough of Islington
Category:20th-century English actresses
Category:21st-century English actresses