Doreen passed away peacefully at home’ her agent confirmed on Wednesday.
They said in a statement: ‘It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our beloved client and much-loved stage, screen, and radio actress Doreen Mantle, aged 97’.
‘She died peacefully at home. She is survived by her two sons, four grandchildren, and one brother.’
Doreen June Mantle was born on June 22, 1926 in South African. She attended the University of the Witwatersrand and moved to the United Kingdom at the age of 23, out of opposition to Apartheid, and settled in London.
Mantle married Graham Smith in 1953; they had two sons and later divorced. She appeared in many British television series since the 1960s, including The Duchess of Duke Street, The Wild House, Sam Saturday, Chalk, Casualty, The Bill, Doctors, Holby City, Lovejoy, Coronation Street, and Jonathan Creek. She played lollipop lady Queenie in Jam & Jerusalem (2006–2009).
Mantle worked extensively on the stage in such productions as My Fair Lady, Keep It in the Family, The Seagull, and Hamlet. She also toured Britain in Billy Liar in the role of Florence Boothroyd and performed at the National Theatre in The Voysey Inheritance. In 1979, she was awarded the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance in Death of a Salesman. She also undertook radio work for BBC Radio 3 and BBC World Service. Mantle played the long-suffering wife of the rabbi in BBC Radio 4’s comedy series The Attractive Young Rabbi.
Mantle played Mrs Shaemen in Barbra Streisand’s film version of Yentl (1983). From 2010 to 2011, Mantle appeared in Coronation Street as Joy Fishwick, the mother of Colin Fishwick (David Crellin), whose identity was taken by John Stape (Graeme Hawley).[
