Janet Webb (1 July 1930 – 29 December 1983) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

actress.

Biography

Webb was born Janet Patricia Webster on 1 July 1930, in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, Lancashire, the daughter of Gilbert Webster, Professor of music at the

Royal Manchester College of Music The Royal Manchester College of Music (RMCM) was a tertiary level conservatoire in Manchester, north-west England. It was founded in 1893 by the German-born conductor Sir Charles Hallé in 1893. In 1972, the Royal Manchester College of Music a ...

and renowned as one of the few players of the

cimbalom The cimbalom (; ) or concert cimbalom is a type of chordophone composed of a large, trapezoidal box on legs with metal strings stretched across its top and a damping pedal underneath. It was designed and created by V. Josef Schunda in 1874 in ...

. Her mother was Adeline Ashcroft Webster (née Coghlan). Webb was best known for her appearances on

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

television's '' The Morecambe & Wise Show'' where she was "the lady who comes on at the end". Webb had appeared in

Morecambe and Wise Eric Morecambe (John Eric Bartholomew, 14 May 1926 – 28 May 1984) and Ernie Wise (Ernest Wiseman, 27 November 1925 – 21 March 1999), known as Morecambe and Wise (and sometimes as Eric and Ernie), were an English comic double act, working i ...

sketches starting in 1964. Her first appearance as "the lady who comes on at the end" was non-speaking in the 1969 second series. Her part was later expanded to a talking role, her line was nearly always: The farewell speech would be followed by gifts such as flowers, boxes of chocolates and the like. Webb stopped appearing regularly in 1972, due to ill health, but did make occasional cameo appearances in ''The Morecambe & Wise Show'' until 1974. In 1972 she made an appearance on the Morecambe & Wise Christmas Special. The show featured clips of celebrities such as

Eric Porter Eric Richard Porter (8 April 192815 May 1995) was an English actor of stage, film and television. Early life Porter was born in Shepherd's Bush, London, to bus conductor Richard John Porter and Phoebe Elizabeth (née Spall). His parents hope ...

André Previn André George Previn (; born Andreas Ludwig Priwin; April 6, 1929 – February 28, 2019) was a German-American pianist, composer, and conductor. His career had three major genres: Hollywood films, jazz, and classical music. In each he achieved ...

Ian Carmichael Ian Gillett Carmichael, OBE (18 June 1920 – 5 February 2010) was an English actor who worked prolifically on stage, screen and radio in a career spanning 70 years. He found prominence in the films of the Boulting brothers, including ' ...

and

Flora Robson Dame Flora McKenzie Robson (28 March 19027 July 1984) was an English actress and star of the theatrical stage and cinema, particularly renowned for her performances in plays demanding dramatic and emotional intensity. Her range extended from q ...

stating, "I worked with Morecambe and Wise and look what happened..." showing that Porter had become a

bin man A waste collector, also known as a garbageman, garbage collector, trashman (in the US), binman or (rarely) dustman (in the UK), is a person employed by a public or private enterprise to collect and dispose of municipal solid waste (refuse) and r ...

, Previn a

bus conductor Bus conductors (also referred to as conductors, or clippies) were a common feature of many bus services across Europe until the late 1970s and early 1980s. The main reason two-person crews were needed was that most towns and cities used doubl ...

, Carmichael became a

paper boy ''Paper Boy'' is a 2018 Telugu-language romantic drama film written and produced by Sampath Nandi and directed by V. Jayashankarr. The leading actors are Santosh Sobhan, Riya Suman, and Tanya Hope. It was released on 31 August 2018. Synopsis Rav ...

and Robson a BBC

tea lady A tea lady provides drinks in an office, factory, hospital, or other place of work. The role under this name began in Britain during World War II, and continues in the National Health Service today. It used to be a wide-spread occupation for wo ...

. At the end of the show Webb appeared and after exiting a

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

at her

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...

explained "I worked with Morecambe and Wise and it never did me any harm". She later appeared with another BBC double act show - ''

The Two Ronnies ''The Two Ronnies'' is a British television comedy sketch show starring Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. It was created by Bill Cotton and aired on BBC1 from April 1971 to December 1987. The usual format included sketches, solo sections, seria ...

'' (

Ronnie Barker Ronald William George Barker (25 September 1929 – 3 October 2005) was an English actor, comedian and writer. He was known for roles in British comedy television series such as '' Porridge'', ''The Two Ronnies'', and ''Open All Hours''. ...

and

Ronnie Corbett Ronald Balfour Corbett (4 December 1930 – 31 March 2016) was a Scottish actor, broadcaster, comedian and writer. He had a long association with Ronnie Barker in the BBC television comedy sketch show ''The Two Ronnies''. He achieved promine ...

) on several shows in their 1976 and 1977 series, with her final TV appearance being a character role in an episode from the

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...

sitcom ''

Room Service Room service or in-room dining is a hotel service enabling guests to choose items of food and drink for delivery to their hotel room for consumption. Room service is organized as a subdivision within the food and beverage department of high-end ...

'', written by

Jimmy Perry James Perry, (20 September 1923 – 23 October 2016)Simon Morgan-Russell, "Perry, James (Jimmy) (1923–2016)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Jan 202available online Retrieved 25 August 2020. was an Engli ...

. She is reputed to have had a "fine singing voice" and had

Alyn Ainsworth Alyn Ainsworth (24 August 1924 – 4 October 1990)
was a British musician, singer and conductor of light e ...

as her musical director. Her belting style was put to use on the 1969 Music for Pleasure (record label), Music For Pleasure album ''Songs Of A World At War'' by Janet Webb And The Naafi Singers (Music For Pleasure: MFP3005). Her film career was short, but included appearances in British film comedies such as ''

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum ''A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart. Inspired by the farces of the ancient Roman playwright Plautus (254–184 BC), specifica ...

'' (1966), ''

The Amorous Milkman ''The Amorous Milkman'' is a 1975 British comedy film directed by Derren Nesbitt and starring Julie Ege, Diana Dors and Brendan Price. The plot is about a young milkman who enjoys a number of adventures with bored women on his round. One versi ...

'' (1975), and ''

Joseph Andrews ''The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews and of his Friend Mr. Abraham Adams'', was the first full-length novel by the English author Henry Fielding to be published and among the early novels in the English language. Appearing in 1742 ...

'' (1977). Webb was married to violinist Charles Vorzanger from 1957. She died from cancer on 29 December 1983 and was buried at the churchyard of

St Paul's, Covent Garden St Paul's Church is a Church of England parish church located in Bedford Street, Covent Garden, central London. It was designed by Inigo Jones as part of a commission for the 4th Earl of Bedford in 1631 to create "houses and buildings fit ...

London Borough of Camden The London Borough of Camden () is a London borough in Inner London. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 from the area of the former boroughs of Hampstead, Holborn, and St ...

in London.

Notes

References

*Birth: GRO July–September 1930 Liverpool, Vol 8b page 473. *Marriage: GRO April–June 1957 Marylebone, Vol 5d page 550. *Death: GRO October–December 1983 Westminster, Vol 15 page 1996.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Webb, Janet 1930 births 1983 deaths Actresses from Liverpool English television actresses English women comedians Morecambe and Wise 20th-century British actresses 20th-century English comedians