Joan Sterndale-Bennett (5 March 191427 April 1996) was a British stage and film actress, best known as a character comedian for her work at the Players' Theatre in London.

Career

Born into a musical family, her father Thomas Case Sterndale Bennett was a songwriter, entertainer and a grandson of the composer

William Sterndale Bennett Sir William Sterndale Bennett (13 April 18161 February 1875) was an English composer, pianist, conductor and music educator. At the age of ten Bennett was admitted to the London Royal Academy of Music (RAM), where he remained for ten years. B ...

. Her mother Christine Bywater was a professional oratorio singer. After studying at the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Senat ...

and later with the American choreographer Buddy Bradley, she started with repertory in 1933 in ''Strange Orchestra'' at Worthing before moving to London's West End. From 1938 she appeared in the Herbert Farjeon reviews ''Nine Sharp'', ''Diversion'', ''Light and Shade'', ''In Town Again'' and the pantomime ''The Glass Slipper''. In that same year at the invitation of

Leonard Sachs Leonard Meyer Sachs (26 September 1909 – 15 June 1990) was a South African-born British actor. Life and career Sachs was born in the town of Roodepoort, in the then Transvaal Colony, present day South Africa. He was Jewish. He emigrated t ...

she joined the

Players Theatre The Players' Theatre was a London theatre which opened at 43 King Street, Covent Garden, on 18 October 1936. The club originally mounted period-style musical comedies, introducing Victorian-style music hall in December 1937. The threat of Worl ...

which was to be the start of a forty-year association at the home of traditional music hall in London and which provided her with a platform to excel in that special direct relationship between the performer and audiences. In 1943 she made her film debut taking small parts in

Anthony Asquith Anthony William Landon Asquith (; 9 November 1902 – 20 February 1968) was an English film director. He collaborated successfully with playwright Terence Rattigan on ''The Winslow Boy'' (1948) and '' The Browning Version'' (1951), among oth ...

's '' We Dive at Dawn'' and as Rose in

Bernard Miles Bernard James Miles, Baron Miles, CBE (27 September 190714 June 1991) was an English character actor, writer and director. He opened the Mermaid Theatre in London in 1959, the first new theatre that opened in the City of London since the 17th ce ...

's '' Tawny Pipit''. In 1951, in collaboration with

Hattie Jacques Hattie Jacques (; born Josephine Edwina Jaques; 7 February 1922 – 6 October 1980) was an English comedy actress of stage, radio and screen. She is best known as a regular of the ''Carry On'' films, where she typically played strict, no-non ...

, she adapted ''Ali Baba, or, the Thirty-Nine Thieves'' and later wrote a Victorian pantomime based on ''Riquet with a Tuft'' as a special show for the

Festival of Britain The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Historian Kenneth O. Morgan says the Festival was a "triumphant success" during which people: ...

. After four years starring as the French schoolmistress in the musical '' The Boy Friend'' she made her

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

debut at the Strollers Theatre Club in 1961 in ''Time, Gentlemen Please'' in which she was hailed as Britain's answer to

Ethel Merman Ethel Merman (born Ethel Agnes Zimmermann, January 16, 1908 – February 15, 1984) was an American actress and singer, known for her distinctive, powerful voice, and for leading roles in musical theatre.Obituary '' Variety'', February 22, 1984. ...

. In 1966 she gave a critically acclaimed performance as Mrs Banks in ''Barefoot in the Park'' to be followed by the long running comedy ''No Sex Please, We're British'' in London and South Africa. The BBC TV production in 1958 of ''The Noble Spaniard'' by Somerset Maugham saw her starring alongside

Margaret Rutherford Dame Margaret Taylor Rutherford, (11 May 1892 – 22 May 1972) was an English actress of stage, television and film. She came to national attention following World War II in the film adaptations of Noël Coward's ''Blithe Spirit'', and Oscar ...

and

Kenneth Williams Kenneth Charles Williams (22 February 1926 – 15 April 1988) was an English actor of Welsh heritage. He was best known for his comedy roles and in later life as a raconteur and diarist. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the 31 '' ...

. Returning to her roots she regularly appeared in the BBC TV series '' The Good Old Days'' based on the formula used at the Players Theatre compered by

. Prone to stage fright which was never apparent to her audiences, she declined several professional opportunities which might well have secured her greater recognition, as her abilities deserved. One critic remarked that, like so many actors, she suffered anguish behind the clown's mask. She was briefly married to the actor John Barron during the Second World War. She had no children. She retired early to become something of a recluse living with her stepmother Mary Maskelyne, a member of the famous illusionist family and later wardrobe mistress at the

Selected plays and musicals

* '' Strange Orchestra'' (1933) * ''The Glass Slipper'' (1945) * ''

See You Again "See You Again" is a song by American rapper and singer Wiz Khalifa featuring fellow American singer Charlie Puth. It was commissioned for the soundtrack of the 2015 film ''Furious 7'' as a tribute to actor Paul Walker, who died in a single-ve ...

'' (1952) * ''

The Boy Friend (musical) ''The Boy Friend'' (sometimes misrepresented ''The Boyfriend'') is a musical by Sandy Wilson. Its original 1954 London production ran for 2,078 performances, briefly making it the third-longest running musical in West End or Broadway history ...

'' (1954) * '' Time Gentlemen Please!'' (1961) * ''

Barefoot in the Park ''Barefoot in the Park'' is a romantic comedy by Neil Simon. The play premiered on Broadway in 1963, starring Robert Redford and Elizabeth Ashley. It was made into a film in 1967, which starred Redford and Jane Fonda. Productions ''Barefoot ...

'' (1966) * ''

No Sex Please, We're British ''No Sex Please, We're British'' is a British farce written by Alistair Foot and Anthony Marriott, which premiered in London's West End on 3 June 1971 at the Strand Theatre. It was panned by critics, but ran until 5 September 1987, transferri ...

'' (1970)

Selected filmography

* '' We Dive at Dawn'' (1943) - (uncredited) * '' Tawny Pipit'' (1944) - Rose * ''

The Woman in the Hall ''The Woman in the Hall'' is a 1947 British drama film directed by Jack Lee and starring Ursula Jeans, Jean Simmons, Cecil Parker. The screenplay was written by Jack Lee, Ian Dalrymple and Gladys Bronwyn Stern, from Stern's 1939 novel of the s ...

'' (1947) - Shop assistant * '' Brighton Rock'' (1948) - Delia * ''

Poet's Pub ''Poet's Pub'' is a 1949 British comedy film directed by Frederick Wilson and starring Derek Bond, Rona Anderson and James Robertson Justice. It is based on the 1929 novel of the same title by Eric Linklater. The film was one of four of Dav ...

'' (1949) - (uncredited) * '' Angels One Five'' (1952) - W.A.A.F. * '' The Spider's Web'' (1960) - Mrs. Elgin * ''

Don't Bother to Knock ''Don't Bother to Knock'' is a 1952 American psychological film noir thriller starring Richard Widmark and Marilyn Monroe and directed by Roy Ward Baker. The screenplay was written by Daniel Taradash, based on the 1951 novel ''Mischief'' by C ...

'' (1961) - Spinster * ''

San Ferry Ann ''San Ferry Ann'' is a 1965 British sound effect comedy. Wordlessly, with soundtrack and sound effects, it tells the story of a holiday crossing from Dover to Calais. Synopsis A motley crew of British characters ride the San Ferry Ann to the s ...

'' (1965) - Madame of Hotel * ''

Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon ''Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon'' is a 1967 Eastman color British science fiction comedy film directed by Don Sharp and starring Burl Ives, Troy Donahue, Gert Fröbe and Terry-Thomas. It was released in the US as ''Those Fantastic Flying Foo ...

'' (1967) - Queen Victoria * '' Decline and Fall... of a Birdwatcher'' (1968) - Lady Circumference

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sterndalebennett, Joan 1914 births 1996 deaths Actresses from London British film actresses British stage actresses 20th-century British actresses Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art 20th-century English women 20th-century English people