Joan Dorothy Le Mesurier (née Long, formerly Malin; 3 July 1931 – 9 July 2021) was an English actress and author who was the widow and biographer of the actor

John Le Mesurier John Le Mesurier (, born John Elton Le Mesurier Halliley; 5 April 191215 November 1983) was an English actor. He is perhaps best remembered for his comedic role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the BBC television situation co ...

. Joan Long was born in

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

. She was brought up in

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to t ...

, where her father owned a fish-and-chip shop. She was working as a dental nurse in Broadstairs when she met the actor

Mark Eden Douglas John Malin (14 February 1928 – 1 January 2021), known professionally as Mark Eden, was an English actor. He was best known for his portrayal of villainous Alan Bradley in ''Coronation Street'' from 1986 to 1989. Early life Mark Ede ...

, birth name Douglas Malin, whom she married in 1953. They had one son, David Malin (1957–2017), who also became an actor. She and Eden divorced in 1959. She had worked as a barmaid and secretary before meeting Le Mesurier at

The Establishment ''The Establishment'' is a term used to describe a dominant social group , group or elite that controls a polity or an organization. It may comprise a closed social group that selects its own members, or entrenched elite structures in specific ...

Peter Cook Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English actor, comedian, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishme ...

's comedy club, where she was introduced to Le Mesurier by a mutual acquaintance, Johnny Heawood, in 1963. When his second wife,

Hattie Jacques Hattie Jacques (; born Josephine Edwina Jaques; 7 February 1922 – 6 October 1980) was an English comedy actress of stage, radio and screen. She is best known as a regular of the ''Carry On'' films, where she typically played strict, no-non ...

, was in a relationship with another man, Le Mesurier agreed to protect Jacques' career by allowing the media to believe that his affair with Joan was the reason for his divorce. She married Le Mesurier in 1966. A few months later Le Mesurier introduced her to his close friend

Tony Hancock Anthony John Hancock (12 May 1924 – 25 June 1968) was an English comedian and actor. High-profile during the 1950s and early 1960s, he had a major success with his BBC series ''Hancock's Half Hour'', first broadcast on radio from 1954, ...

. When Le Mesurier was away in Paris filming ''

Where the Spies Are ''Where the Spies Are'' is a 1966 British comedy adventure film directed by Val Guest and starring David Niven, Françoise Dorléac, John Le Mesurier, Cyril Cusack and Richard Marner. It was based on the 1964 James Leasor book '' Passport to Obli ...

'' (1966), she began her affair with Hancock. When her husband returned, she recalled, "he quite understood. I think he did. He was very fond of Tony, you see." Their relationship lasted on and off until Hancock's suicide in 1968, but she remained married to Le Mesurier until his death, and continued to live at the family home in Ramsgate until her death on 9 July 2021 at the age of 90. An account of her relationship with Le Mesurier was a theme of the television drama ''

Hattie Hattie or Hatty may refer to: People *Hattie Alexander (1901–1968), American pediatrician and microbiologist *Hattie Helen Gould Beck, birth name of burlesque dancer Sally Rand (1904–1979) *Hattie Bessent (1908–2015), American psychiatric ...

'' (2011) in which she was played by

Jeany Spark Jeannette "Jeany" Spark (born 7 November 1982) is an English actress, known for portraying Linda Wallander in the British television series '' Wallander''. The actress has also had significant roles in the comedy series '' Man Down'' and the dram ...

. Her affair with Hancock was dramatised in ''

Hancock and Joan ''Hancock and Joan'' is a 2008 British biographical television film based on the affair between the comedian Tony Hancock and Joan Le Mesurier, the third wife of actor John Le Mesurier. It was first transmitted on BBC Four on 26 March 2008 as p ...

'' (2008) in which she was portrayed by

Maxine Peake Maxine Peake (born 14 July 1974) is an English actress and narrator. She is known for her roles as Twinkle in the BBC One sitcom ''dinnerladies'' (1998–2000), Veronica Ball in the hit Channel 4 comedy drama '' Shameless'' (2004–2007), Marth ...

Works

*''Lady Don't Fall Backwards. A Memoir.'' London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1988. *''Dear John.'' London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 2001.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Le Mesurier, Joan 1931 births 2021 deaths 20th-century English actresses English biographers Actresses from Oldham 20th-century English non-fiction writers 20th-century English women writers 21st-century English women writers People from Ramsgate