Charmian Rosemary May (16 June 1937 – 24 October 2002) was an English character actress best known for her television and film roles. She appeared in the sitcoms '' The Good Life'', '' The Upper Hand'' and ''

Keeping Up Appearances ''Keeping Up Appearances'' is a British sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke. It originally aired on BBC1 from 1990 to 1995. The central character is an eccentric and snobbish middle-class social climber, Hyacinth Bucket ( Patricia Ro ...

'', and the film '' Bridget Jones's Diary''. She appeared as Miss Pershore in episodes 6 and 7 of ''

The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin ''The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin'' is a British sitcom starring Leonard Rossiter in the title role. Three series were produced from 1976 to 1979, based on a series of novels written by David Nobbs. Nobbs adapted the screenplay for the fi ...

'' (1976). She also appeared in ''

The Worst Witch ''The Worst Witch'' is a series of children's books written and illustrated by English author Jill Murphy. The series are primarily about a girl named Mildred Hubble who attends a witch school and fantasy stories, with eight books published. ...

'' as Miss Pentangle, in '' Weirdsister College'' as Prof. Alicia Thunderblast, and she was Miss Milton in the

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

series, '' You're Only Young Twice''. Amongst her stage work, May was in the original production of '' 84, Charing Cross Road'' at Salisbury Playhouse, and its West End transfer, in 1981. She also toured in the 1970s in a production of ''

The Importance of Being Earnest ''The Importance of Being Earnest, a Trivial Comedy for Serious People'' is a play by Oscar Wilde, the last of his four drawing-room plays, following ''Lady Windermere's Fan'' (1892), ''A Woman of No Importance'' (1893) and ''An Ideal Husban ...

'' by

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

, playing Lady Bracknell.

Death

She died from cancer on 24 October 2002, aged 65. A service of thanksgiving for the life of the actress was held at St Paul's, Covent Garden on 23 May 2003.

Filmography

References

External links

* 1937 births 2002 deaths English stage actresses English film actresses English television actresses People from Purbrook 20th-century English actresses Actresses from Hampshire Deaths from cancer in England 21st-century English actresses 20th-century English businesspeople Actors from the Borough of Havant {{UK-tv-actor-1930s-stub