Bella Emberg (born Sybil Dyke; 16 September 1937 – 12 January 2018) was an English comedy actress whose television career spanned 60 years.

Early life and career

Emberg was born in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

and grew up wanting to be an entertainer. Her professional debut was in weekly

repertory A repertory theatre is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation. United Kingdom Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawing ...

Ryde Ryde is an English seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of the Isle of Wight. The built-up area had a population of 23,999 according to the 2011 Census and an estimate of 24,847 in 2019. Its growth as a seaside resort came af ...

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

in the summer season of 1962, aged 25. She appeared in TV series such as ''

The Benny Hill Show ''The Benny Hill Show'' is a British comedy television show starring Benny Hill that aired on the BBC and ITV (from 1969) between 15 January 1955 and 1 May 1989. The show consisted mainly of sketches that were full of slapstick, mime, parody ...

'', Robin's Nest, '' Softly, Softly'', ''

Z Cars ''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by the BBC, it debuted ...

'', ''

Bear Behaving Badly ''Bear Behaving Badly'' is a British children's sitcom which originally aired for four series and was broadcast between 3 September 2007 and 21 December 2010. Background The programme is centred around the daily adventures of Barney Harwood, h ...

'' and ''

Grange Hill ''Grange Hill'' is a British Children's television series, children's television drama series, originally produced by the BBC and portraying life in a typical Comprehensive school (England and Wales), comprehensive school. The show began its ru ...

''. Her best-known role was in ''

The Russ Abbot Show ''The Russ Abbot Show'' is a British television sketch comedy series which stars Russ Abbot and ran for 16 years on television before moving over to Radio 2 for a further five years. History The series originated as ''The Freddie Starr Vari ...

'', where she played superheroine Blunderwoman alongside Abbot's Cooperman character. The show ran from 1980 to 1996, and at its peak attracted 18 million viewers. Emberg also starred in

Mel Brooks Mel Brooks (born Melvin James Kaminsky; June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. He began h ...

' film ''

History of the World, Part I ''History of the World, Part I'' is a 1981 American comedy film written, produced, and directed by Mel Brooks. Brooks also stars in the film, playing five roles: Moses, Comicus the stand-up philosopher, Tomás de Torquemada, King Louis XVI, and ...

'' (1981). She made a guest appearance in the first episode of the revived version of ''

The Basil Brush Show ''The Basil Brush Show'' is a British children's television sitcom series, starring the glove puppet fox Basil Brush. It was produced for six series by The Foundation, airing on CBBC from 27 September 2002 to 25 December 2007. The show is a s ...

'' in 2002, and also featured in ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' four times. From 2008 to 2010 she appeared as

Barney Harwood Barnaby John "Barney" Harwood (born 7 November 1979) is a British actor and television presenter. He is known for his work with CBBC beginning in 2002. Career Television For CBBC, Harwood presented '' Prank Patrol'' and was a voice-over comment ...

’s fictional Aunt Barbara in ''

'' on

CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...

. In 1965 she had an uncredited appearance in '' Undermind'', (non-speaking) and other uncredited roles in the 1970s

Third Doctor The Third Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He was portrayed by actor Jon Pertwee. Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-old alien Time Lord fro ...

serials '' Doctor Who and the Silurians'' and ''

The Time Warrior ''The Time Warrior'' is the first serial of the 11th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 15 December 1973 to 5 January 1974. The serial introduced Eli ...

''. In the revived series, she played Mrs Croot in Love & Monsters. She filmed a second appearance as Mrs Croot for The Runaway Bride, but this scene ended up on the cutting room floor. Shortly before her death, she completed filming for ''In the Long Run'', a

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

comedy created by

Idris Elba Idrissa Akuna Elba (; born 6 September 1972) is an English actor.

, due to be broadcast in April 2018. Emberg's housemate found her collapsed at their home in London's

Raynes Park Raynes Park is a residential suburb, railway station and local centre near Wimbledon, London, and is within the London Borough of Merton. It is situated southwest of Wimbledon Common, to the northwest of Wimbledon Chase and to the east of New M ...

on 12 January 2018, aged 80. Paramedics were unable to resuscitate her and she was found to have died from

alcohol toxicity Alcohol intoxication, also known as alcohol poisoning, commonly described as drunkenness or inebriation, is the negative behavior and physical effects caused by a recent consumption of alcohol. In addition to the toxicity of ethanol, the main ...

Filmography

References

External links

* 1937 births 2018 deaths English television actresses People from Hove English film actresses 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses Actresses from Brighton 20th-century British businesspeople Alcohol-related deaths in England {{UK-tv-actor-1930s-stub