- Born
- Died
- Birth nameDoreen June Mantle
- Doreen June Mantle was born 22 June 1926 in Johannesburg, South Africa and was a character actress who is probably best known for her recurring role as Mrs Warboys in the long-running British sitcom One Foot in the Grave (1990) appearing in 18 episodes in the 1990s.
Mantle first travelled to Britain with her parents when she was just six weeks old. Around four years later they returned to South Africa. She then returned to the UK permanently in her late twenties.
She appeared in many British television series from the 1960s to the present, such as The Duchess of Duke Street, The Wild House, Chalk (1997), Casualty (1986), The Bill (1984), Doctors (2000), Holby City (1999), Love Soup (2005) and Jonathan Creek (1997). She played lollipop lady Queenie in Clatterford (2006).
Mantle has 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 did a great deal of radio work for BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4 and the BBC World Service.
In 2011 Mantle appeared in Coronation Street (1960) as the mother of Colin Fishwick whose identity was taken by John Stape.
- IMDb mini biography by: Anonymous
- SpouseJoshua Graham Smith(1954 - ?) (divorced, 2 children)
- In January 2002 Doreen appeared on a 'Classic British Sitcom Stars' special of TV quiz The Weakest Link (2000). When asked by host Anne Robinson what her most memorable moment was on the crazy sitcom One Foot in the Grave (1990) Doreen replied very matter-of-factly: 'I was rolled down a hill and mounted by a dog'. The studio audience erupted in hysterics.
- Became an Associate Member of RADA.
- Her middle name is June, after the month in which she was born.
- Began her acting career alongside her day job as a social worker in South Africa before moving permanently to the UK with her husband in the mid 1950's.
- Daughter of Bernard and Hilda Mantle (née Greenberg). Sister of Alan Mantle who was born in the UK, whilst Doreen herself was born in South Africa. The family travelled to England in 1926 when Doreen was just six weeks old and spent the next four years in London before leaving again for South Africa in 1930 when her brother Alan (who was born in London, England) was just two months old.
- [on her One Foot in the Grave (1990) character] It began in a very minor way, but I remember how beautifully the episode was written, right from the beginning. She always wanted to help and meant well all the time; it's just that she was tactless and not very bright, although occasionally she'd have these strange streaks of knowledge, like the time she knew all the answers while playing Trivial Pursuit.
- We were young and poor, and needed to earn some money. I decided with the wonderful ignorance of youth to earn a living by acting - and luckily, I did.
- I don't see myself as a comedian at all, I'm happier when I'm playing tragedy. Going Home was a sad play. I've been most successful when there have been tears in the audience.
- People often come up to me and say: 'I know you from the bridge club' or 'Don't you go to my church?'. They can't place me - but I look familiar.
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