A Stubbs

Born on May 1, 1937, in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, Una Stubbs was the great-granddaughter of the renowned urban planner Sir Ebenezer Howard, builder of the first garden city. Her father worked in the shredded and hosiery factories, and her mother had a job in the editing room of the Denham film studios. At the age of 14, she was sent to the La Roche dance school in Slough. “I loved to dance,” she explained, “and because I was so desperate at school, my parents thought, ‘What are we going to do with her?’ They were smart to encourage all three of us brothers to do something we enjoyed.”

She began her journey as a model, becoming the image of Dairy Vox chocolates, at the age of 21. She first appeared on television as one of Dougie Squires’s dancers on the British television music show Cool for Cats, in 1956. She made her stage debut as a dancer at the London Palladium. She also worked in cabaret, clubs and revues in London during these years and was part of Lionel Blair’s dance ensemble.

After taking part in television series such as Benny Hill , Una Stubbs made her screen debut in Summer Vacation , a musical starring Cliff Richard. Starting in the 1969s, she did not stop working on numerous British series, and on feature films such as Three Hats for Lisa , or The Seal of Death . Her first approach to the world of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle took place when she played a character in a chapter of The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes , a series that adapted stories from the writer’s competitors. In 2010 she was recruited for Sherlock, where he appeared in all the chapters stealing scenes as the detective’s landlady and Watson, his assistant. “I wasn’t told to play the character like that, it just came to me. They gave me the script and I moved on. I just saw her as more of a mother figure to her two ‘kids.’ There’s so much evil in the show that maybe introducing something a little nicer is a good thing,” he explained in an interview. Stubbs had known the lead, Benedict Cumberbatch , since he was four years old, as he had worked with Wanda Ventham, his mother, with whom he was close friends. 

In 1975, Una Stubbs divorced actor Peter Gilmore ( Oh, What a Pretty War! ), with whom she had adopted Jason. She joined fellow actor Nicky Henson ( Syriana ), with whom she had two other children, songwriters Christian Henson and Joe Henson. For many years,  Una Stubbs  drew real people and had several exhibitions.

Late in her career, Una Stubbs  had a memorable appearance in the hit The Durrells , as Mrs. Haddock, a second-rate spiritualist who tries to swindle the leads’ aunt. She last appeared on screen in the 2017 TV movie Murder on the Blackpool Express .