Marianne Stone

Marianne Stone (23 August 1922 – 21 December 2009) was an English character actress. She appeared in many films from the early 1940s to the late 1980s. She usually played working class parts such as barmaids, secretaries and landladies, and is probably best known for her contribution to the Carry On films, of which she appeared in nine, and took part in an episode of the Carry On Laughing television series ("The Case of the Screaming Winkles"). She also had supporting roles with comedian Norman Wisdom. She also appeared in Brighton Rock (1947), Seven Days to Noon (1950), The 39 Steps (1959), Lolita (1962), Ladies Who Do (1963), Oh! What a Lovely War (1969) and the first two "Quatermass" films. Her most serious and arguably most dramatic role was as Lena Van Broecken in three episodes of the BBC's Secret Army between 1977 and 1978. Stone, whose nickname was "Mugsie", was credited in her early films under the name "Mary Stone", and also has been credited as "Marion Stone". She was married for fifty years, from 1947 to 1997, to actor-turned-theatre-critic and film historian Peter Noble, with whom she had two children, one of whom is DJ Kara Noble. She appeared in 201 films before the offers dried up in the 1980s and she retired. Stone died on 21 December 2009 at the age of 87.