Doris Hare

Doris Breamer Hare (1 March 1905 – 30 May 2000) was a Welsh actress, comedian, singer, and dancer whose career spanned nearly nine decades across theatre, television, film, and radio. Born in Bargoed, Glamorgan, she is perhaps best remembered for her portrayal of Mabel Butler, known as "Mum," in the British ITV sitcom On the Buses and its three theatrical film adaptations.

Hare came from a performing family. Her parents operated a portable theatre in South Wales, and she made her stage debut at the age of three in Queen's Evidence. As a child she appeared in juvenile troupes throughout Britain before establishing herself as a solo act billed as "Little Doris Hare," working across music hall, variety, cabaret, revues, and pantomimes. She was one of five siblings, three of whom — her brother Bertie Hare and her sisters Betty Hare and Winifred Breamer — also pursued careers as performers.

Her professional credits accumulated steadily through the early decades of her career. In 1930 she toured in The Show's the Thing, taking on a part that had previously been performed by Gracie Fields. Two years later, in 1932, she appeared in the West End in Noël Coward's Words and Music, sharing the stage with John Mills. In 1936, Hare made her Broadway debut in Night Must Fall, her sole credit on the New York stage.

During the Second World War, Hare joined Evelyn Laye to mount a revue for the troops and served as compere of Shipmates Ashore on the BBC Forces Programme, a broadcast directed at the Merchant Navy. In recognition of those wartime contributions, she was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 1946 Birthday Honours.

In 1958, Hare created the role of Grannie Tooke in the original production of Sandy Wilson's musical Valmouth at the Lyric Hammersmith, a production that subsequently transferred to the West End. The following year she appeared on the Pye Records cast recording of the show, where she duetted with Cleo Laine, who was standing in for Bertice Reading. When Valmouth was revived at the Chichester Festival Theatre in 1982, Hare reprised her original role alongside Reading, Fenella Fielding, and Marcia Ashton, all of whom had also appeared in the 1958 production.

Hare joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1963 and the National Theatre Company at the Old Vic in 1965, performing in works by Shakespeare, Shaw, Pinero, and Pinter. She had been offered the role of Ena Sharples in Coronation Street in 1960 but declined, with the part ultimately going to Violet Carson. Hare did appear in the series between 1968 and 1969, playing Alice Pickens, a character intended to marry Albert Tatlock, though the wedding never occurred.

Also in 1969, Hare took over the role of Mabel Butler in On the Buses from Cicely Courtneidge, beginning with the show's second series. The programme ran until 1973 and generated three spin-off films: On the Buses (1971), Mutiny on the Buses (1972), and Holiday on the Buses (1973), in each of which Hare reprised her role. The cast additionally performed a stage version of the series in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1988. In 1974, Hare spent a year in the West End farce No Sex Please, We're British. Her final stage appearance came at the age of 87, when she performed at the London Palladium alongside John Mills in a tribute show to Evelyn Laye. The Variety Club of Great Britain presented Hare with a Special Award for her contributions to showbusiness in 1982.

Hare died on 30 May 2000 at Denville Hall in Northwood, London, at the age of 95.