Yootha Joyce
ActingAlso Known As
Yootha Joyce Needham
Biography
British actress best known for her role as Mildred Roper in the '70s sitcom Man About the House and its spin-off George and Mildred. Born to musical parents Hurst Needham and Jessica Rivett in 1927, Joyce was trained at RADA, toured with ENSA and came to prominence via the Joan Littlewood Theatre Workshop, securing roles in TV shows such as The Avengers, Man in a Suitcase, Te Saint, Jason King and Steptoe and Son, and the films The Pumpkin Eater, A Man For All Seasons, Charlie Bubbles, All the Right Noises and Burke and Hare. She was married to fellow actor Glynn Edwards from 1956 to 1968, and they remained friends all her life. An alcoholic, Joyce died from liver failure in 1980, just four days after her 53rd birthday. Her sitcom co-star Brian Murphy was by her side. In 1986 the Smiths used an image of Joyce on the sleeve of their UK single release "Ask" and the German release of "Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others" securing her place as a British cultural icon.
Movies
(26 total)
A Man for All Seasons
as Averil Machin
Fanatic
as Anna
The Pumpkin Eater
as Woman at Hairdresser's
Our Mother's House
as Mrs. Quayle
Fragment of Fear
as Miss Ward-Cadbury
Frankenstein: The True Story
as Hospital Matron
Steptoe & Son Ride Again
as Freda
George & Mildred
as Mildred Roper
Sparrows Can't Sing
as Barmaid
Burke & Hare
as Mrs. Hare
The Road Builder
as Mrs. Palafox
Man About the House
as Mildred Roper
Charlie Bubbles
as Woman in Cafe
All the Right Noises
as Mrs. Bird
Kaleidoscope
as Museum Receptionist
Stranger in the House
as Shooting Range Girl
A Place to Go
as Bit Role (uncredited)
Nearest and Dearest
as Mrs. Rhoda Rowbottom
Never Mind the Quality, Feel the Width
as Mrs. Finch
TV Shows
(18 total)
The Avengers
as Miss Lister
The Saint
as Milanov
George and Mildred
as Mildred Roper
Man About the House
as Mildred Roper
BBC Play of the Month
as Mademoiselle Motte
Seven of One
as Mrs Scully
Frankenstein: The True Story
as Hospital Matron
The Wednesday Play
as Rosalind Arnold
Theatre 625
as Jane Matthews
Theatre 625
as Miss Binnington
Manhunt
as Denise
The World of Hammer
as Self (archive footage)
The Misfit
as Pamela