Betty Astell (23 May 1912 – 26 July 2005), born Betty Julia Hymans, was an English actress, best known for comedy and

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speakin ...

productions on stage, screen, and radio with her husband,

Cyril Fletcher Cyril Fletcher (25 June 1913 – 2 January 2005) was an English comedian, actor and businessman. His catchphrase was 'Pin back your lugholes'. He was best known for his "Odd Odes", which later formed a section of the television show ''That' ...

. She was one of the first performers to appear on television, in experimental broadcasts by the BBC in 1932.

Early life

Betty Julia Hymans was born in

Brondesbury Brondesbury (), which includes Brondesbury Park, is an area in the London Borough of Brent, in London, England. The area is traditionally part of the Ancient Parish and subsequent Municipal Borough of Willesden, one of the areas that merged to fo ...

Willesden Willesden () is an area of northwest London, situated 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Charing Cross. It is historically a parish in the county of Middlesex that was incorporated as the Municipal Borough of Willesden in 1933, and has forme ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

, the daughter of Herbert Hyams and Estella Oppenheimer Hyams.

Career

Radio

Astell was a child performer, trained as a dancer. She sang on

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

programmes in the 1920s, and met her husband while making recordings for radio in Bristol during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. In 1956 and 1957, they played a married couple in a radio comedy, ''Mixed Doubles'', written by

Bob Monkhouse Robert Alan Monkhouse (1 June 1928 – 29 December 2003) was an English comedian, writer and actor. He was the host of television game shows including ''The Golden Shot'', '' Celebrity Squares'', '' Family Fortunes'' and '' ''Wipeout'. Ear ...

and Denis Goodwin.

Television

In 1931 and 1932, Astell sang and danced in

John Logie Baird John Logie Baird FRSE (; 13 August 188814 June 1946) was a Scottish inventor, electrical engineer, and innovator who demonstrated the world's first live working television system on 26 January 1926. He went on to invent the first publicly dem ...

's experimental television programming, on the BBC's 30-line shows, making her one of the first people to perform on television. That same year, she played Alice in ''Dick Whittington'', the first televised pantomime. She starred with her husband on an early sketch show for television, ''Kaleidoscope'' (1949), and on his eponymous television series, ''The Cyril Fletcher Show'', on ITV beginning in 1959.

Stage and film

Astell's made her London stage debut in

John Galsworthy John Galsworthy (; 14 August 1867 – 31 January 1933) was an English novelist and playwright. Notable works include '' The Forsyte Saga'' (1906–1921) and its sequels, ''A Modern Comedy'' and ''End of the Chapter''. He won the Nobel Prize ...

's ''Escape'' (1928). She performed in revues through the 1940s, including ''Magic Carpet'' (1943) and ''Keep Going'' (1944). Astell first appeared in film in 1932, in ''A Tight Corner'' with Frank Pettingell. She stayed active in film through the 1930s, appearing in two dozen films. In 1942, the Fletchers were familiar enough to a wide audience to make a wartime

newsreel A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a cinema, newsreels were a source of current affairs, inform ...

clip together, honouring farmers. Her last film role came in 1948, when she returned to the screen in '' A Piece of Cake,'' co-starring with her husband. Astell also wrote and produced pantomimes at the Ashcroft Theatre in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an exten ...

, including ''Dick Whittington, Mother Goose, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella'', and ''Aladdin''.

Personal life

Astell was married to entertainer Cyril Fletcher for more than 60 years, from 18 May 1941 until his death on 1 January 2005. They had a daughter, actress/comedian Jill Fletcher, born in 1945. Astell died in a hospital near her home in

Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

, aged 93 years, nearly seven months after the death of her husband.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* *
Betty Astell
at

British Comedy Guide British Comedy Guide or BCG (formerly the British Sitcom Guide or BSG) is a British website covering all forms of British comedy, across all media. At the time of writing, BCG has published guides to more than 7,000 individual British comedie ...

A 1971 portrait of Betty Astell
at

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*The Fairfield Collection at the

Museum of Croydon The Museum of Croydon is a museum located within the Croydon Clocktower arts facility in Central Croydon, England. It showcases historical and cultural artefacts relating to the London Borough of Croydon and its people. The museum is owned and ...

include
several flyers for pantomimes
starring Fletcher and Astell. {{DEFAULTSORT:Astell, Betty 1912 births 2005 deaths English film actresses English television actresses Actresses from London People from Kilburn, London 20th-century English actresses 20th-century British businesspeople