Devoted to welfare work and charitable causes, including Amnesty International.
Best remembered as Paddy Fleming, the shop steward from the popular sitcom The Rag Trade (1961), frequently yelling her catchphrase "Everybody out!". In real life, she was an avid Equity trade unionist and member of the Labour Party.
The first woman to play the traditionally male lead in "The Caretaker" by Harold Pinter.
Graduated from Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).
Awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1975 Queen's Birthday Honours List for her union and welfare work.