Eunice Black (23 October 1914 — 27 August 2007) was an English character actress best known for her roles in various sitcoms and comedy movies.

Early life

Eunice Black was born on 23 October 1914 in

West Ham West Ham is a district in East London, England and is in the London Borough of Newham. It is an inner-city suburb located east of Charing Cross. The area was originally an ancient parish formed to serve parts of the older Manor of Ham, a ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, as Eunice Holden.

Career

Black started out at the

Unity Theatre, London Unity Theatre was a theatre club which existed between 1936-1994, and was initially based in St Judes Hall, Britannia Street, Somers Town, London, NW1. In 1937, it moved to a former chapel in Goldington Street, also in Somers Town, an area whic ...

, before becoming a qualified teacher of English and Drama. She taught both through the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Television

Black appeared in the 1962 Christmas episode of ''

Faces of Jim ''Faces of Jim'' was a black-and-white British comedy television series starring Jimmy Edwards, June Whitfield and Ronnie Barker, with each episode being an individual half-hour sitcom. The first series aired as ''The Seven Faces of Jim'', the ...

,'' 'The Christmas Face of Jim,' opposite

Jimmy Edwards James Keith O'Neill Edwards, DFC (23 March 19207 July 1988) was an English comedy writer and actor of stage, radio, television and film, known for his roles as Pa Glum in '' Take It from Here'' and as headmaster "Professor" James Edwards in ' ...

June Whitfield Dame June Rosemary Whitfield (11 November 1925 – 29 December 2018) was an English radio, television and film actress. Whitfield's big break was a lead in the radio comedy '' Take It from Here'', which aired on the BBC Light Programme ...

Ronnie Barker Ronald William George Barker (25 September 1929 – 3 October 2005) was an English actor, comedian and writer. He was known for roles in British comedy television series such as ''Porridge (1974 TV series), Porridge'', ''The Two Ronnies'', ...

and Michael Brennan. This was her television debut. Black was a regular supporting cast member on the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: Television TV stations/networks/channels ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network and company, including: **ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network in the United Kingd ...

sitcom ''

On The Buses ''On the Buses'' is a British television British sitcom, sitcom that was broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 1969 to 1973. It was created by Chesney and Wolfe, Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe, who wrote most of the episodes. It spawned thr ...

'', appearing in three different roles. Her first appearance was as a traffic warden in 'Mum's Last Fling',

series 3 Series 3 may refer to: * 3 Skypephone Series, the mobile phone series * Apple Watch Series 3, smart watch * Aston Martin Lagonda Series 3, the automobile model * Aston Martin V8 Series 3, the automobile model * BMW 3 Series, the automobile model li ...

, and she reappeared as a ' clippie' called Rosie in two episodes of

series 4 Series 4 could refer to: * Aston Martin Lagonda Series 4, the automobile model * BMW 4 Series, the automobile model line * GeForce 4 series The GeForce 4 series (codenames below) refers to the fourth generation of Nvidia's GeForce line of graph ...

titled 'Dangerous Driving' and 'Christmas Duty.' She also played clippies called Gladys in

series 6 Series 6 or Season 6 may refer to: *Series 6 exam In the United States, the investment company products/variable life contracts representative exam, is commonly referred to as the Series 6 exam. Individuals passing this multiple choice exam are l ...

('No Smoke Without Fire') and Ada in the first spin-off film ''

On the Buses ''On the Buses'' is a British television British sitcom, sitcom that was broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 1969 to 1973. It was created by Chesney and Wolfe, Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe, who wrote most of the episodes. It spawned thr ...

'' (1971); and played Mrs Hudson in ''

Holiday on the Buses ''Holiday on the Buses'' is a 1973 British comedy film directed by Bryan Izzard and starring Reg Varney, Doris Hare, Michael Robbins, Anna Karen, Stephen Lewis and Bob Grant. It was produced by Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe for Hammer ...

'' (1973). These made her one of the ''On the Buses'' franchise's most regularly used guest actors. In addition to this, she appeared as a guest actor on many British

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

s such as ''

Please Sir! ''Please Sir!'' is a British television sitcom created by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey and featuring actors John Alderton, Deryck Guyler, Penny Spencer, Joan Sanderson, Noel Howlett, Erik Chitty and Richard Davies. Produced by London Weeke ...

'', ''

The Liver Birds ''The Liver Birds'' is a British sitcom, set in Liverpool, North West England, which aired on BBC1 from April 1969 to December 1978, and again in 1996. The show was created by Carla Lane and Myra Taylor. The two Liverpudlian housewives had me ...

'', '' Doctor at Large'', ''

George and Mildred ''George and Mildred'' is a British sitcom produced by Thames Television and first aired between 1976 and 1979. It is a spin-off from ''Man About the House'', and starred Brian Murphy and Yootha Joyce as constantly-sparring married couple Geo ...

'', and ''

The Benny Hill Show ''The Benny Hill Show'' is a British comedy television show starring Benny Hill that aired on the BBC and ITV between 15 January 1955 and 1 May 1989. The show consisted mainly of sketch comedy, sketches typified by slapstick, mime, parody, and ...

''. Her last sitcom appearance was in a 1988 episode of ''

Last of the Summer Wine ''Last of the Summer Wine'' is a British sitcom set in Yorkshire created and written by Roy Clarke and originally broadcast by the BBC from 1973 to 2010. It premiered as an episode of ''Comedy Playhouse'' on 4 January 1973, and the first seri ...

''.

Film

Black made her film debut in ''

A Taste of Honey ''A Taste of Honey'' is the first play by the British dramatist Shelagh Delaney, written when she was 19. It was adapted into an award-winning film of the same title in 1961. Set in Salford in North West England, it tells the story of Jo, ...

'' (1961). Other film roles included small appearances in ''

Drop Dead Darling ''Drop Dead Darling'' (US title: ''Arrivederci, Baby!'') is a 1966 British-American black comedy film directed by Ken Hughes and starring Tony Curtis, Rosanna Schiaffino, Lionel Jeffries and Zsa Zsa Gabor. Plot A man goes around marrying weal ...

'' (1966), ''

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' is a 1968 children's film, children's Musical film, musical fantasy film directed by Ken Hughes and produced by Albert R. Broccoli. It stars Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes, Lionel Jeffries, Gert Fröbe, Anna Quayle, ...

'' (1968), '' The Hunchback of Notre Dame'' (1982), and '' Bullseye!'' (1990).

Death

Black died on 27 August 2007 in London, aged 92. Her autobiography, ''Nine Lives of a Free Spirit'', was published the following year.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Eunice 1914 births 2007 deaths 20th-century English actresses Actors from the London Borough of Newham Actresses from Essex People from West Ham