Creator / Joan Sims

"To be a comic woman, you have to put up with quite a bit of banter. But I didn't mind. I've got a dirty sense of humour and I never found those things really offensive."

Joan Sims, born Irene Joan Marion Sims (9 May 1930 — 27 June 2001) was an English film and television actress, mostly known for being a regular in the Carry On... Series and the TV show As Time Goes By.

She studied at the Royal Academy Of Dramatic Art in her early twenties, and then graduated in 1950, later gaining an appearance in a 1953 film titled Will Any Gentleman...?, another film called Trouble In Store, and then appeared in Carry On Admiral, before being approached by the studio that made the box-office hit Carry On, Sergeant who wanted her to appear in their sequel Carry On Nurse. The two films soon became a part of one of the biggest franchises in British history called Carry On in which Sims appeared in 24 of the movies.

Between films, she joined Kenneth Williams on his radio show Stop Messing About in the late-1960s until 1970, then when the series finished in 1978, she appeared on television in shows such as Worzel Gummidge and Till Death Us Do Part, as well as bit parts in Doctor Who, Only Fools and Horses and The Goodies. She was intended to star in Coppers End in 1971 but had to leave after two episodes due to an illness, resulting in her scenes being reshot with Josephine Tewson. Arguably, her other star-making role was As Time Goes By as Lionel's stepmother Madge, which was her last TV appearance.

Within her adult life, she became depressed and turned to alcohol when her mother, agent, and fellow Carry On colleague Hattie Jacques died within two years, but she claimed that she refused therapy and rehab in hope to get through her woes without anyone else's help, stating that she was the one that got herself in the state. Although eventually beating them, Joan's health worsened. In between appearing on As Time Goes By, she'd developed Bell's palsy and fractured her hip, but she got better, only to become comatose after operation complications in 2001, eventually dying in her state in hospital.

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Her roles include:

Film

• The Million Pound Note (1954) — Party Guest (Uncredited Role)
• Doctor in the House (1954) — Nurse Rigor Mortis
• The Belles of St. Trinian's (1954) — Miss Dawn
• Doctor at Sea (1955) — Wendy Thomas
• The Naked Truth (1957) — Ethel Ransom
• Carry On Nurse (1959) — Student Nurse Stella Dawson
• Carry On Teacher (1959) — Miss Sarah Allcock
• Please Turn Over (1959) — Beryl/Madeline
• Carry On Constable (1960) — Policewoman Gloria Passworthy
• Doctor in Love (1960) — Dawn
• Watch Your Stern (1960) — Miss Ann Foster
• Carry On Regardless (1961) — Lily Duveen
• Twice Round the Daffodils (1962) — Harriet Halfpenny
• Carry On Cleo (1964) — Calpurnia
• Carry On Cowboy (1965) — Belle
• Doctor in Clover (1966) — Miss Sweet, the Matron
• Carry On Screaming! (1966) — Emily Bung
• Don't Lose Your Head (1967) — Désirée Dubarry
• Follow That Camel (1967) — Zig-Zig
• Carry On Doctor (1967) — Miss Chloe Gibson
• Carry On Up the Khyber (1968) — Lady Joan Ruff-Diamond
• Carry On Camping (1969) — Joan Fussey
• Carry On Again Doctor (1969) — Mrs. Ellen Moore
• Carry On Up the Jungle (1970) — Lady Evelyn Bagley
• Doctor in Trouble (1970) — Russian Captain
• Carry On Loving (1970) — Esme Crowfoot
• Carry On Henry (1971) — Queen Marie of Normandy
• Carry On at Your Convenience (1971) — Chloe Moore
• Carry On Matron (1972) — Mrs. Tidey
• Carry On Abroad (1972) — Cora Flange
• Carry On Girls (1973) — Connie Philpotts
• Carry On Dick (1974) — Madame Desiree
• One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing (1975) — Emily
• Carry On Behind (1975) — Daphne Barnes
• Carry On England (1976) — Private Jennifer Ffoukes-Sharpe
• Carry On Emmannuelle (1978) — Mrs. Dangle

Television

• The Adventures of Robin Hood, episode "The Sheriff's Boots" (1956) — Nell
• Colonel March of Scotland Yard, episode "Hot Money" (1956) — Marjorie Dawson
• The Dick Emery Show, 15 episodes (1963-64) — Various Characters
• Till Death Us Do Part, 13 episodes (1967-75) — Gran
• Jackanory Playhouse, episode "The Wednesday Wand" (1972) — Sycamore
• The Goodies, 2 episodes:
  • "Wicked Waltzing" (1971) — Delia Capone
  • "Way Outward Bound" (1973) — Matron
• Coppers End, 2 episodes (1971) — Sergeant Penny Pringle
• Carry On Christmas, 2 episodes (1972, 1973) — Various Characters
• Sykes, 5 episodes^{show list} "Football" (1972), "Window-Smasher" (1973), "Marriage" (1975), "Night Out" (1975), "End of the World" (1978) (1972-78) — Madge Kettlewell
• Carry on Laughing!, 15 episodes:
  • "The Prisoner of Spenda" (1975) — Madame Olga
  • "The Baron Outlook" (1975) — Lady Isobel
  • "One in the Eye for Harold" (1975) — Else
  • "The Sobbing Cavalier" (1975) — Lady Kate
  • "The Nine Old Cobblers" (1975) — Amelia Forbush
  • "Under the Round Table" (1975) — Lady Guinevere
  • "The Case of the Screaming Winkles" (1975) — Mrs. MacFlute
  • "And in My Lady's Chamber" (1975) — Mrs. Breeches
  • "Short Knight, Long Daze" (1975) — Lady Guinevere
  • "The Case of the Coughing Parrot" (1975) — Dr. Janis Crunbitt
  • "Who Needs Kitchener?" (1975) — Mrs. Breeches
• The Two Ronnies, 1 episode (1976) — Dowager Duchess of Arc
• Worzel Gummidge, 8 episodes^{show list} "Aunt Sally", "The Crowman", "Worzel Pays a Visit", "The Scarecrow Hop", "Worzel's Nephew", "A Fishy Tale", "Very Good, Worzel", "Fire Drill" (1979-80) — Mrs. Bloomsbury-Barton
• Miss Marple, 3 episodes^{show list} "A Murder is Announced Part 1", "A Murder is Announced Part 2", "A Murder is Announced Part 3" (1985) — Miss Murgatroyd
• Doctor Who, 4-episode story "The Mysterious Planet" (1986) — Katryca
• Super Gran, episode "Supergran Snookered" (1987) — Cat Burglar
• Only Fools and Horses, episode "The Frog's Legacy" (1987) — Auntie Reenie Turpin
• Simon And The Witch, 23 episodes (1987-88) — Lady Fox-Custard
• Cluedo, episode "Christmas Past, Christmas Present" (1990) — Mrs. White
• Screen One, episode "Tender Loving Care" (1993) — Daisy Potter
• One Foot in the Grave, episode "One Foot in the Algarve" (1993) — Lady on Plane
• As Time Goes By, 9 episodes^{show list} "The Old Folks' Party", "What's Wrong with Mrs Bale?", "Showered with Gifts", "Avoiding the Country Set", "Improvements", "Wedding Day Nerves", "Welcome News", "Problems, Problems", "Rocky's Wedding Day" (1994-98) — Madge
• Pie in the Sky, episode "The Mild Bunch" (1995) — Harriet Coverly
• Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, episode "A Rose by Any Other Name" (1997) — Adele McCarthy

Western Animation

• The Thief and the Cobbler (1993) — Mad and Holy Old Witch (voice)