Dandy Nichols

Dandy Nichols, born Daisy Sander on 21 May 1907 in Fulham, London, was an English actress whose career spanned stage, film, and television across several decades. She died on 6 February 1986 at the London Hospital, Whitechapel, following a fall in her flat that led to pneumonia and heart disease. She was 78.

Nichols began her working life as a factory secretary in London. After twelve years in office work, she took classes in drama, diction, and fencing, and was subsequently spotted performing in a charity show by a producer who offered her a position in his repertory theatre company in Cambridge. She initially performed under the name Barbara Nichols before adopting Dandy, a childhood nickname. When the Second World War began, she returned to office work, though she later completed a six-week tour with ENSA. After the war she resumed her stage career and began appearing in films, frequently cast as maids or charladies. Her big screen debut came in Hue and Cry in 1947, and subsequent film appearances included Nicholas Nickleby, The Fallen Idol, The Winslow Boy, The History of Mr Polly, Scott of the Antarctic, Mother Riley Meets the Vampire, and The Pickwick Papers.

Her film career continued to expand over the following decades. Credits included Carry On Doctor, Ladies Who Do, The Holly and the Ivy, The Vikings, the Beatles film Help!, Georgy Girl, Doctor in Clover, The Birthday Party, The Bed Sitting Room, O Lucky Man!, Confessions of a Window Cleaner, and Britannia Hospital. She also appeared in the music video for Adam Ant's Goody Two Shoes, again in the role of a charlady.

On stage, Nichols performed at the Royal Court Theatre in London and appeared on Broadway in 1970 in Home, David Storey's play, alongside Sir Ralph Richardson and Sir John Gielgud. Her other stage work included Ben Travers's comedy Plunder.

Nichols's most prominent television role was Else Garnett in the BBC sitcom Till Death Us Do Part, in which she played the long-suffering wife of Alf Garnett, a parody of a working-class Tory. The role had originally been played in the pilot episode by Gretchen Franklin, but when the series was commissioned Franklin was unable to break an existing West End contract, and Nichols was cast in her place. Though Else's role appeared limited in early episodes — in one she spent much of the runtime reading a telephone book while Alf delivered tirades — the character became an effective foil for her husband, capable of deflating him with a look or a brief remark. A notable episode from 1974 saw Else adopt a personal three-day week, compelling Alf to feed and care for himself on her days off. The series' enduring catchphrase also originated with Nichols: when BBC Head of Comedy Frank Muir vetoed the scripted phrase "silly cow," Nichols remarked it was "a lot of silly fuss about a silly moo," which writer Johnny Speight overheard and incorporated into the show.

Till Death Us Do Part ended in 1975 and was revived in 1981 as Till Death..., then again in 1985. By that point Nichols was suffering from rheumatoid arthritis and required a wheelchair. Her condition was incorporated into the scripts, and the series was retitled In Sickness and in Health. The show continued after her death, with Alf's character written as living alone. Her other television work included a role opposite Alastair Sim in William Trevor's The Generals Day, as well as appearances in Flint, The Tea Ladies, and Bergerac.

Nichols married newspaper editor Stephen Bagueley Waters in 1942. The marriage ended in divorce in 1955.