Hattie Jacques (1922–1980) was an English comedy actress of stage, radio and screen, known to a world-wide audience through her portrayals of strict, no-nonsense characters in 14 of the Carry On films. She started her career on stage at the Players' Theatre, London, before progressing onto radio, where she appeared in three popular BBC series, It's That Man Again, Educating Archie and Hancock's Half Hour. Her cinematic debut—in Green for Danger—was brief and uncredited, but she grew to have a prolific screen career. Jacques developed a long professional stage and television partnership with Eric Sykes, with whom she co-starred in the long-running series Sykes and Sykes and a.... The role endeared her to the public and the two became staples of British television. Her private life was turbulent: she was married to the actor John Le Mesurier from 1949 until their divorce in 1965, a separation caused by her five-year affair with another man. Jacques, who had been overweight since her teenage years, suffered ill-health soon after the separation from Le Mesurier. She died in 1980 of a heart attack.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hattie_Jacques
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
457:
Leo I (pictured on solidus) was crowned Byzantine emperor, and went on to rule for nearly 20 years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_I_the_Thracian
1907:
More than 3,000 women in London participated in the Mud March, the first large procession organized by the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, seeking women's suffrage in the United Kingdom. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mud_March_(Suffragists)
1940:
Walt Disney's Pinocchio, the first animated motion picture to win a competitive Academy Award, was released to theaters by RKO Pictures. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinocchio_(1940_film)
1986:
President of Haiti Jean-Claude Duvalier fled the country after a popular uprising, ending 28 years of one-family rule in the nation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Claude_Duvalier
2012:
Several months of political crisis in the Maldives culminated in the resignation of President Mohamed Nasheed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Nasheed
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
conlanger: Someone who creates constructed languages (conlangs). https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/conlanger
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
The Prince himself has no distinction, either of garments, or of a crown; but is only distinguished by a sheaf of corn carried before him; as the high priest is also known by his being preceded by a person carrying a wax light. They have but few laws, and such is their constitution that they need not many. They very much condemn other nations whose laws, together with the commentaries on them, swell up to so many volumes; for they think it an unreasonable thing to oblige men to obey a body of laws that are both of such a bulk, and so dark as not to be read and understood by every one of the subjects. --Thomas More https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_More