Josephine Tewson Dies: British TV Comedy Star Of ‘Keeping Up Appearances’, ‘Last Of The Summer Wine’ Was 91

British veteran comedy actress Josephine Tewson, who found her biggest success in her sixties starring in one of the 1990s’ biggest TV sitcoms, died Thursday at Denville Hall, a care home for actors and other members of the entertainment industry in north London. She was 91.

Tewson was best known for playing Elizabeth, the living-on-her-nerves neighbour of Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances, from 1990-95.

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But she appeared in a string of other shows too, such as Shelley with Hywel Bennet and No Appointment Necessary with Roy Kinnear. Following the success of Keeping Up Appearances, the show’s writer Roy Clarke gave Tewson the role of Miss Davenport in Last of the Summer Wine, which she played from 2003 to 2010.

In a statement, her agent Jean Diamond said: “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Josephine Tewson.”

Several decades before she enjoyed sitcom stardom, Tewson started her career in the theater, where she met her first husband, Leonard Rossiter, who went onto TV stardom in British comedy Rising Damp.

She worked alongside comedy greats including Charlie Drake, Dick Emery, Bob Monkhouse and Kenneth Williams, and became a regular alongside comedy legend Ronnie Barker, including frequent appearances on his primetime show with Ronnie Corbett, The Two Ronnies.