Peggy Mount, 85; British Actress Starred on Stage, Film and TV

Peggy Mount, 85, a British actress who starred on stage, film and TV for more than 40 years, died Tuesday in a London nursing home for actors. The cause of death was not announced.

Mount, who appeared with the likes of Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers, won praise for her stage roles, including the nurse in “Romeo and Juliet” at the London’s Old Vic Theatre in 1960 and Queenie Hesseltine in “All Things Bright and Beautiful” at the Bristol Old Vic in 1962.

Her film credits include “The Naked Truth”--renamed “Your Past Is Showing” for the American market--a dark comedy starring Sellers about people trying to keep their names out of a scandal magazine.

Born in Southend on Sea, the Essex seaside resort, Mount made her stage debut as Emma Hornett in “Sailor Beware!” in 1955 at the Strand Theater in the West End; it ran for more than 1,000 performances. She reprised the role for the film.

Her best-known British TV role was in the early sitcom “The Larkins,” in which she played the irascible, husband-bashing Ada Larkin. More recently, she appeared in TV’s hit detective series, “Inspector Morse.”