Irene Handl

Irene Handl (27 December 1901 – 29 November 1987) was a British character actress who appeared in more than 100 British films; she also wrote novels. Irene Handl was born in Maida Vale, London, the younger of two daughters of an Austrian-born father—Friedrich (later Frederick) Handl (1874–1961) and German mother, Marie (née Schiepp or Schuepp; 1875 – before 1924). Both of Handl's parents became naturalised British citizens. Her father came to England via Switzerland and started as a bank clerk, before becoming a stockbroker, then became a private banker. The Handls lived a comfortable middle-class life, with a German cook and housekeeper living in the family home. From 1907 to 1915, Handl attended the Paddington and Maida Vale High School. In the 1920s Handl travelled several times to New York with her father, with the ship's log listing her on each occasion as having no occupation and residing in the family home. Handl studied at an acting school run by a sister of Dame Sybil Thorndike, and then made her stage debut in London in February 1937, at the relatively advanced age of 36. In 1939, and by now an actress, she was living with her widower father in London. She continued to live with her father until his death in 1961. Her elder sister Liane (1898–1977) had married Russian electrical engineer and photographer Victor Kraminsky (born Viktor Azar'evich Kraminskii; later known as Victor Kennett; 1894–1980) in 1920 in Marylebone, Middlesex (now London). They had at least one child, a son, Charles Kennett. Handl appeared in supporting roles in more than 100 British films, mostly comedy character parts such as slightly eccentric mothers, grannies, landladies and servants. She was a passionate lover of rock and roll, especially the work of Elvis Presley, and was president of the Lewisham branch of the Elvis Presley fan club. She was also a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and one of Britain's most avid champions of Chihuahuas, being inseparable from the pair that she owned. Handl had minor roles in such landmark films as Night Train to Munich and Brief Encounter. Her other notable roles included the wife of the union activist Fred Kite (played by Peter Sellers) in I'm All Right Jack (1959); Mrs Gammon, the formidable cook, opposite Gordon Harker in Small Hotel (1957); Tony Hancock's landlady in The Rebel (1961); Sherlock Holmes's housekeeper, Mrs Hudson, in The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970); and Morgan's Communist mother, Mrs Delt, in Morgan – A Suitable Case for Treatment (1966). She also had small roles in two of the Carry On films, Carry On Nurse and Carry On Constable), and played Miss Peach in the original version of The Italian Job. She worked until 1987, the year of her death. Her last role was released posthumously the following year. Handl died in her flat in Kensington, West London, on 29 November 1987, aged 85, reportedly from cancer. She never married. She was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium, North London.

Known For: Acting

Born: Maida Vale, London, England, UK, 1901-12-27

Died: 1987-11-29

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1938	Strange Boarders	Mrs. Dewar	0
2	1938	The Terror	Kitchen Maid	63
3	1939	On the Night of the Fire	Neighbour	52
4	1940	Mrs Pym of Scotland Yard	Miss Bell	66
5	1940	Girl in the News	Gertrude Mary Blaker	64
6	1940	Night Train to Munich	Stationmaster (uncredited)	72
7	1940	George and Margaret	Beer	0
8	1941	Gasbags	Burgomaster's wife	55
9	1941	The Spell of Amy Nugent	Mrs. Nugent	50
10	1941	'Pimpernel' Smith	Bit Part	71
11	1941	Mr. Proudfoot Shows a Light	Councillor	0
12	1942	Partners in Crime	Mrs. Wilson	0
13	1942	Uncensored	Frau Von Koerner	0
14	1943	Get Cracking	Maggie Turner	65
15	1943	Millions Like Us	Landlady	55
16	1943	I'll Walk Beside You	Ma Perkins	50
17	1943	The Flemish Farm	Frau	55
18	1943	Rhythm Serenade		65
19	1944	It's in the Bag	Mrs. Beam	52
20	1944	English Without Tears	(uncredited)	57
21	1944	Give Us the Moon	Miss Haddock	62
22	1944	Mr. Emmanuel	Trude	68
23	1944	Medal for the General	Mrs. Farnsworth	65
24	1945	Kiss the Bride Goodbye	Mrs. Victory	51
25	1945	For You Alone	Miss Trotter	0
26	1945	Great Day	Lady serving Tea in Tea Stall.	73
27	1945	Brief Encounter	The Cellist and Organist (uncredited)	77
28	1946	I'll Turn to You	Mrs. Gammon	50
29	1947	Temptation Harbour	Ethel Gowshall	51
30	1947	The Shop at Sly Corner	Ruby Towser	62
31	1947	The Hills of Donegal	Mrs. Mactavish	45
32	1948	Woman Hater	Mrs. Fletcher	70
33	1949	Silent Dust	Cook	73
34	1949	Cardboard Cavalier	Lady Agnes	57
35	1949	For Them That Trespass	Inn Proprietress	52
36	1949	The Perfect Woman	Mrs. Butters	60
37	1949	Adam and Evelyne	Mrs. Crouch, Manageress (uncredited)	66
38	1949	Dark Secret	'Woody' Woodman	0
39	1950	Stage Fright	Mrs. Mason (uncredited)	68
40	1951	One Wild Oat	Emily Pepys	45
41	1952	Treasure Hunt	Nanny	54
42	1952	Top Secret	Mrs. Tidmarsh	60
43	1953	The Wedding of Lilli Marlene	Rosie	60
44	1953	Meet Mr. Lucifer	Lady with the Dog	51
45	1954	The Weak and the Wicked	Waitress	64
46	1954	Burnt Evidence	Mrs. Raymond	55
47	1954	The Belles of St. Trinian's	Miss Gale	63
48	1954	Mad About Men	Mme. Blanche	61
49	1955	A Kid for Two Farthings	Mrs. Abramowitz	65
50	1956	Who Done It?	Customer (uncredited)	52
51	1956	It's Never Too Late	Neighbour	60
52	1956	The Silken Affair	Receptionist	10
53	1957	Brothers in Law	Mrs. Potter	71
54	1957	Small Hotel	Mrs. Gammon	65
55	1958	Happy Is the Bride	Madame Edna	62
56	1958	The Key	Clerk	60
57	1958	Law and Disorder	Woman in Train	62
58	1958	Next to No Time	Mrs. Crowley, Greengrocer	80
59	1959	Desert Mice	Miss Patch	60
60	1959	Carry On Nurse	Mrs Hickson	64
61	1959	Carlton-Browne of the F.O.	Mrs. Carter	59
62	1959	The Crowning Touch	Bebe	0
63	1959	Left Right and Centre	Mrs. Maggs	60
64	1959	I'm All Right Jack	Mrs. Kite	67
65	1959	The Night We Dropped a Clanger	Mrs Billingsgate	52
66	1959	Upstairs and Downstairs	Large Woman	56
67	1960	Inn for Trouble	Lily	65
68	1960	Carry On Constable	Distraught Mother	63
69	1960	School for Scoundrels	Mrs. Stringer	69
70	1960	Doctor in Love	Professor MacRitchie	52
71	1960	Make Mine Mink	Madame Spolinski	71
72	1960	A French Mistress	Staff Sergeant Hodges	57
73	1960	No Kidding	Mrs. Spicer	56
74	1960	The Night We Got the Bird	Ma	45
75	1960	Two Way Stretch	Mrs. Price	67
76	1960	The Pure Hell of St. Trinian's	Miss Harker-Parker	62
77	1961	The Rebel	Mrs. Crevatte	78
78	1961	A Weekend with Lulu	Florence Bell	54
79	1961	Double Bunk	Mrs. Harper	57
80	1961	Watch It, Sailor!	Edie Hornett	65
81	1961	Nothing Barred	Elsie	65
82	1963	Just for Fun	Housewife	37
83	1963	Heavens Above!	Rene Smith	63
84	1964	The Importance of Being Earnest		0
85	1965	You Must Be Joking	Elderly Woman	51
86	1966	Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment	Mrs. Delt	62
87	1966	The Wrong Box	Mrs. Hackett	65
88	1967	The Mini-Affair	Cook	0
89	1967	Smashing Time	Mrs Gimble	62
90	1968	Lionheart	Lil	60
91	1968	Wonderwall	Mrs. Peurofoy	52
92	1969	Look at Life: Saturday Special	Self	0
93	1969	The Italian Job	Miss Peach	70
94	1970	Doctor in Trouble	Mrs Dailey	42
95	1970	On a Clear Day You Can See Forever	Winnie Wainwhisle	68
96	1970	The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes	Mrs. Hudson	68
97	1972	For the Love of Ada	Ada Bingley	73
98	1976	Room to Let	Lady on crossing	0
99	1976	Confessions of a Driving Instructor	Miss Slenderparts	45
100	1977	Adventures of a Private Eye	Miss Friggin	41
101	1977	Stand up, Virgin Soldiers	Mrs. Phillimore	48
102	1977	Come Play with Me	Lady Bovington	47
103	1977	The Last Remake of Beau Geste	Miss Wormwood	57
104	1978	The Hound of the Baskervilles	Mrs. Barrymore	44
105	1978	The Light Princess	Nanny	70
106	1980	The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle	Cinema Usherette	64
107	1981	Riding High	Gran	40
108	1982	It's Your Move	Grand Old Lady	82
109	1986	Hotel du Lac	Madame de Bonneuil	40
110	1986	Absolute Beginners	Mrs Larkin	55

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1955	The Adventures of Robin Hood	Polly	61
2	1956	Hancock's Half Hour		75
3	1958	Educating Archie	Mrs. Twissle	0
4	1961	Stryker of the Yard		0
5	1968	Mum's Boys		0
6	1969	World in Ferment	Madame Astoria	0
7	1970	For the Love of Ada		73
8	1976	Maggie and Her	Mrs. Perry	70
9	1979	The Cannon & Ball Show	Irene The Neigbour	0
10	1980	Metal Mickey	Granny	52
11	1982	Legacy of Murder	Cousin Looby	0
12	1982	The Kenny Everett Television Show	Self	70
13	1985	Super Gran	Clinging Ivey	65
14	1985	Theatre Night	Nurse	0
15	1987	Never Say Die		0

Irene Handl

Film

Television