Comedy star Mollie Sugden dies

'Are You Being Served?' actress Mollie Sugden has died at the age of 86. Photo / Supplied

Mollie Sugden, the actress best known for her role as Mrs Slocombe in the often-repeated comedy series, Are You Being Served?, has died aged 86.

Sugden's portrayal of overpowering women, including the fearsome Mrs Hutchinson in the Liver Birds, made her a household name over the past five decades, England's Daily Telegraph newspaper reported.

She died in the Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford on Wednesday afternoon after a long illness, with her twin sons, Robin and Simon Moore, at her bedside.

"I represented her for more than 30 years and I was a very close friend as well," said Joan Reddin, her agent.

"She was a great professional."

Sugden's husband, the actor William Moore whom she married in 1956, died nine years ago.

Sugden, who was born in Keighley, Yorkshire, became a familiar face on television in the 1960s with hit programmes such as Hugh And I, Please Sir! and The Love Of Ada.

She quickly found her strength in comedy dramas and it was as the formidable Mrs Hutchinson that she started to show her true potential.

The BBC's Liver Birds was so popular in the late 60s and early 70s that it was revived in the late 90s using the original cast.

But it was as the bossy sales lady Betty Slocombe in the BBC's Are You Being Served?, set in a fictional London department store, that she was best known.

The long-running television comedy, which aired between 1972 and 1985, was such a hit that a feature film was made based on the series.

- NZPA