Best known for playing the role of Mrs Slocombe on the 70’s and 80’s British sitcom “Are You Being Served?”, Mollie Sugden passed away today from a long illness at 86.

One of a select bunch of British performers to achieve national treasure status, Sugden was renowned for her portrayal of fearsome battleaxes. The first of such roles to achieve acclaim was as Mrs Hutchinson in The Liver Birds, a series so popular it was revived in the late 90s using the original cast.

She was the star of many other comedies, including Come Back Mrs Noah, That’s My Boy and My Husband And I, which she made with her husband.

But it was as the bossy sales lady Betty Slocombe in Are You Being Served? that she was best known. The long-running, innuendo-laden television comedy was such a hit that a feature film was made based on the series, and it was successfully exported to America. Every episode Sugden sported a different hair colour and continually harped on about her “pussy”.

And without further ado, Mrs. Slocombe and her famous “pussy.”

And my personal favorite… “Dear Sexy Knickers…”

More recently Sugden appeared as herself in another very popular BBC sitcom, Little Britain.