Sheila Bernette (occasionally Burnette) (1931–2021) was an English singer and character actress on film, TV and radio. She also appeared as herself in many TV productions, and is remembered as one of the regular practical jokers in the UK version of '' Candid Camera''. Very petite, she usually wore her hair up to increase her height. A competent singer she was a regular on variety shows such as the ''

Good Old Days Good old days is a cliché in popular culture used to reference a time considered by the speaker to be better than the current era. It is a form of nostalgia which can reflect homesickness or yearning for long-gone moments. There is a predisposi ...

'' and ''

The Black and White Minstrel Show ''The Black and White Minstrel Show'' was a British light entertainment show that ran for twenty years on BBC prime-time television. Running from 1958 to 1978, it was a weekly variety show that presented traditional American minstrel and count ...

'' and appeared in the '' Royal Variety Performance'' show of 1970.

Life

see She was born Sheila Poncini on 30 March 1931 in the

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it me ...

district of London. Her parents were of Italian descent. She entered television in 1955 and was popular and appeared as herself from 1968 in multiple UK television shows. Largely appearing in comedy roles she was a regular sidekick to many stars including

Dick Emery Richard Gilbert Emery (19 February 19152 January 1983) was an English comedian and actor. His broadcasting career began on radio in the 1950s, and his self-titled television series ran from 1963 to 1981. Life and career Richard Gilbert Emery was ...

and

Leslie Crowther Leslie Douglas Sargent Crowther, CBE (6 February 1933 – 29 September 1996) was an English comedian, actor, TV presenter, and game show host. Biography Crowther was born on Monday, 6 February, 1933 in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, son of ...

. Over and above her film and television roles she was a regular performer at the Players' Theatre in Covent Garden. In her Royal Variety Performance she was introduced by

as a Russian defector ballerina "Natalia Nokemova" and performed the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy with Crowther playing a ballet/cricketer Freddie Trumanov. Her final film role was in Driving Aphrodite in 2009, ironically repeated her 1961 role as the goddess

Dorcas Dorcas ( el, Δορκάς, Dorkás, used as a translated variant of the Aramaic name), or Tabitha ( arc, טביתא/ܛܒܝܬܐ, Ṭaḇīṯā, (female) gazelle), was an early disciple of Jesus mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles (, see discussi ...

. Her final TV role was in

Hotel Trubble ''Hotel Trubble'' is a British children's sitcom made by the BBC and broadcast on its flagship children and young person's channel CBBC. It stars Dominique Moore as Sally, the receptionist; Gary Damer as Lenny; Sam Phillips as Jamie, the bellboy; ...

in 2011. In the latter she appeared in every episode from 2008 to 2011 as the long-term hotel resident, Mrs Poshington. She lived in North London and died there in October 2021.

TV roles

see *

Fabian of the Yard ''Fabian of the Yard'' is a British police procedural television series based on the real-life memoirs of Scotland Yard detective Robert Fabian, made by the BBC and broadcast between November 1954 and February 1956. It is considered the earlies ...

(1955) * Arthur's Treasured Volumes (1960) with

Arthur Askey Arthur Bowden Askey, (6 June 1900 – 16 November 1982) was an English comedian and actor. Askey was known for his short stature (5' 2", 1.58 m) and distinctive horn-rimmed glasses, and his playful humour incorporating improvisation ...

as Agnes Barrett * The Angry Gods (1961) as

Harpers West One ''Harpers West One'' was an ATV television drama series about a fictional department store, Harpers, in the West 1 district of London. The show was created by John Whitney and Geoffrey Bellman and ran in one-hour episodes from 1961 to 1963. I ...

(1962) as Pat Williams *Hancock (1963) as canteen lady with

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, ...

* Walter and Connie (1963) as Janet *

Hugh and I ''Hugh and I'' is a black-and-white British sitcom that aired from 1962 to 1967. It starred Terry Scott and Hugh Lloyd as two friends who shared lodgings with Terry's mother and was followed by a sequel called '' Hugh and I Spy''. The two actor ...

(1963 to 1966) as Jimmy's mother with

Terry Scott Owen John "Terry" Scott (4 May 1927 – 26 July 1994) was an English actor and comedian who appeared in seven of the ''Carry On films''. He is also best known for appearing in the BBC1 sitcom ''Terry and June'' with June Whitfield. Early lif ...

and

Hugh Lloyd Hugh Lewis Lloyd (22 April 1923 – 14 July 2008) was an English actor who made his name in film and television comedy from the 1960s to the 1980s. He was best known for appearances in ''Hancock's Half Hour'', ''Hugh and I'' and other sit ...

* Dave's Kingdom (1964) *Crowther Takes a Look (1965) with

* Beggar My Neighbour (1967) as Olive *BBC Show of the Week (1968) as herself * Two of a Kind (1968) three episodes as herself with

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 ...

* The Good Old Days (1968 to 1983) regular performer *

(1967-1969) as a regular singer * The Morecambe and Wise Show (1968) * The Saturday Crowd (1969) as singer in all 28 episodes *

Sandler and Young Sandler and Young were an American musical duo from the 1960s through the 1980s, composed of Belgian singer Tony Sandler and native New Yorker Ralph Young. First success Sandler and Young appeared with Polly Bergen in her show at the Las Vegas ...

's Kraft Music Hall (1970) as singer * From a Bird's Eye View (1970) as Mrs Cake *Crowther's Back in Town (1970) with

*The

Show (1971) as herself * Tarbuck's Luck (1972) with

Jimmy Tarbuck James Joseph Tarbuck (born 6 February 1940) is an English comedian, singer, actor, entertainer and game show host. He was a host of ''Sunday Night at the London Palladium'' in the mid-1960s, and hosted numerous game shows and quiz shows on ITV ...

The Dick Emery Show ''The Dick Emery Show'' is a British sketch comedy show starring Dick Emery. It was broadcast on the BBC from 1963 to 1981. It was directed and produced by Harold Snoad. The show was broadcast over 19 series with 166 episodes. The show experienced ...

(1972) in 4 episodes * Shut That Door! (1973) with

Larry Grayson Larry is a masculine given name in English, derived from Lawrence or Laurence. It can be a shortened form of those names. Larry may refer to the following: People Arts and entertainment *Larry D. Alexander, American artist/writer * Larry Boon ...

* Coronation Street (1973) as Sister Delaney * Candid Camera (1974) 29 episodes as the female joker *Nobody Does it Like Marti (1976) with

Marti Caine Marti Caine, born Lynne Denise Shepherd (26 January 1945 – 4 November 1995), was an English comedian, actress, dancer, presenter, singer, and writer, who first came to national attention by winning the television talent show ''New Faces'' in 1 ...

The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin ''The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin'' is a British sitcom starring Leonard Rossiter in the title role. It is based on a series of novels written by David Nobbs and produced from 1976 to 1979. Nobbs adapted the screenplay for the first series ...

(1977) as Gladys *Cooper, Just Like That (1978) as Tommy Cooper's stage assistant * Butterflies (1979) as keep-fit instructor * The Ballyskillen Opera House (1981) as Annie O'Kelly * Saturday Night at the Mill (1981) as performer *Punchlines! (1983) as herself *

The Little and Large Show ''The Little and Large Show'' was a sketch comedy series broadcast on BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broa ...

(1987-1990) * Virtual Murder (1992) as Mrs Hall * Uncle Jack and the Dark Side of the Moon (1992) as Miss Fortune *

Agony Again ''Agony Again'' is a British sitcom that aired on BBC1 in 1995. Starring Maureen Lipman, it is the sequel to ''Agony'', an ITV sitcom that aired from 1979 to 1981, produced by the BBC after ITV turned it down; It had originally been pitched as ...

(1995) as Faygey * The Queen's Nose (2001) as Gran's sister *

(2008-2011) all 39 episodes as Mrs Poshington

Film roles

see *

Sons and Lovers ''Sons and Lovers'' is a 1913 novel by the English writer D. H. Lawrence. It traces emotional conflicts through the protagonist, Paul Morel, and his suffocating relationships with a demanding mother and two very different lovers, which exert c ...

(1960) as Polly * Ticket to Paradise (1961) as Clarice *Daft as a Brush (1967) TV movie * The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins (1971) as Mrs Spencer * Eskimo Nell (1975) as casting girl *

Three for All 3 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 3, three, or III may also refer to: * AD 3, the third year of the AD era * 3 BC, the third year before the AD era * March, the third month Books * ''Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 1901 no ...

(1975) as Rhoda * What's Up Nurse (1978) as Mrs Garrard * Car Trouble (1986) * Kin of the Castle (1987) TV movie, * Driving Aphrodite (2009) as

Documentaries

*A Little of What You Fancy (1968) * This Is Your Life (1994) - episode on

*Smile... This Was Candid Camera (2010)

Family

Not known.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernette, Sheila 1931 births 2021 deaths People from Marylebone British actors British dancers British people of Italian descent