Her French mother died when Irene was
young, and she cared for her father until
suddenly deciding to try for the stage in her
early thirties, and enrolling at an acting
school run by the sister of Dame Sybil
Thorndike. She made her London stage
debut in February 1937. The play closed in
a fortnight but her next stage role ensured
her continuous employment on stage,
screen, radio and television for the next
40 years. This was Beer, the maid in George
and Margaret, the only sane figure in the
midst of a panicking family who are awaiting
important guests (who are never seen).
She
repeated the role in the successful 1940 film
version, by which time she was already on
her way to being established as a regular
contributor of funny cameos to British
comedies and dramas in the war years.
In
post-war years she continued to play film
roles, becoming more shapeless with each
decade, as well as becoming an easily-identified radio voice on such shows as Hello
Playmates and Hancock's Half Hour. With
Tony Hancock, she moved into television, but it was 1970 before she got a
series of her own, For the Love of Ada in
harness with one-time quizmaster Wilfred
Pickles, as two septuagenarians getting
married. By this time she had published her
first novel, The Sioux, which became a bestseller. It was followed by another.
Also in
the 1960s, she had her biggest theatrical hit
in many years in the tide role of Goodnight,
Mrs Puffin, which she took on a world-wide
tour after a two-year London run. It was
much to her disappointment that it was
never filmed.
Cooks, gossips, busybodies
and aggressive domestics of all shapes and
ranks were her stock in trade. She played
Madam Arcati the medium in a stage version
of Blithe Spirit, and revelled in the role of
David Warner's Marxist mum in Morgan —
a Suitable Case for Treatment. She was just as
good at being kind and nice as she was at
being absolutely awful.
Dying a few weeks
before her 86th birthday, Irene Handl had
never managed to get married, as much a
source of surprise to her, apparently, as
anyone else. 'It's one thing I just don't
understand', she said. 'I can't understand
why I didn't; It's extraordinary.' Perhaps
Irene Handl, author, broadcaster, actress
and personality, was just too busy.
