Maria Zena Schneider (22 September 1929 – 21 April 2023), known professionally as Maria Charles, was an English film, television and stage actress, director and comedienne. She was perhaps best known for her performance as the overbearing mother Bea Fisher in the ITV sitcom Agony. Charles also appeared on the stage in original West End productions, including musicals by Stephen Sondheim, Charles Strouse and Sandy Wilson.
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Early life
Maria Zena Schneider was born in London on 22 September 1929. She was the daughter of David Schneider and Celia Schneider (née Ashkenaza). Her father was a hairdresser who used the soubriquet "Mr Charles". When she graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London in 1946 she took her father's working name as her stage surname.
Career
Charles had an exceptionally long acting career that spanned more than seven decades. She made her stage debut as the Dormouse in a 1945 production of Alice in Wonderland at the Connaught Theatre in Worthing and her West End theatre debut in the Pick up Girl at the Prince of Wales Theatre in 1946. Charles appeared in the original London production of The Boy Friend as 'Dulcie' which ran for a total of 2,082 performances (from 1954 to 1959). She played the part of 'Solange Lafitte' in the original West End production of Follies at the Shaftesbury Theatre by Stephen Sondheim. The show ran for 644 performances from 21 July 1987 to 4 February 1989 and starred Julia McKenzie, Daniel Massey and Eartha Kitt. Charles has worked extensively in theatre, TV and films and has carved a niche for herself on television playing clingy Jewish mothers. She appeared in the memorable BBC Play for Today anthology TV series (which ran from 1970 to 1984), in the TV play the Bar Mitzvah Boy which won the BAFTA, British Academy Television Award for best single play; in 1977 it was placed 56th in a BFI poll of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes of the 20th century, voted by industry professionals. She also played Maureen Lipman's character's mother in the ITV sitcom Agony from 1979 to 1981. In 1981 she starred in Nell Dunn's new comedy play, Steaming at the Comedy Theatre Stratford East, playing alongside Brenda Blethyn; the production won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy that year.
Other notable television credits included well known television series such as Z-Cars, Crossroads, Secret Army, Brideshead Revisited, Coronation Street, Whoops Apocalypse, Boon, Never the Twain, Lovejoy, Casualty, Holby City and Bad Girls.
Her notable film credits included: Sisterhood, Hot Fuzz, Cuba, Revenge of the Pink Panther, Victor Victoria, and Sixty Six.
Personal life and death
Charles died on 21 April 2023, aged 93. She had two daughters: Kelly, an actress, and Samantha, a production stage manager.
Television appearances
Stage appearances
(Stage debut) Dormouse, Alice in Wonderland, Connaught Theatre, Worthing, England, 1945
(London West End debut) Ruby Lockwood, The Pick-Up Girl, Prince of Wales Theatre, London, 1946
Rosie, Women of Twilight, Vaudeville Theatre, London, 1951
See You Again (Sandy Wilson revue), Watergate Theatre, London, 1952
Swing Back the Gate (Geoffrey Wright, revue), Irving Theatre, London, 1952.
Sorrell Connaught, A Kiss for Adele, Royal Court Theatre, London, 1952
Florrie Solomon, Spring Song, Embassy Theatre, London, 1953
Dulcie, The Boy Friend, Wyndham's Theatre, London, 1954–1958
Dulcie Du Bois, The Boy Friend, Globe Theatre, London, 1965
Fairy Sorayah, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Players' Theatre, London, 1965
Florence, Enter a Free Man, St. Martin's Theatre, London, 1968
Jessie Macfarlane, Mrs. Dawkins, Bridgid O'Cooney, Mrs. van Boven, Dellarosa Paravici, Miss Minter, Mary Thornton, Mrs. Campbell-Scully, and Mrs. Zuckmeyer, They Don't Grow on Trees, Prince of Wales Theatre, 1969
Felice Kovacs, Partners, Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, Scotland, 1969
Piglet, Winnie the Pooh, Phoenix Theatre, London, 1972
Directing credits
The Boy Friend, (40th anniversary original cast reunion), at the Players Theatre, London, 1995.
Poppy at the ICA, London, 1999.
Other
Anna Gemignani, Anna (pilot), NBC, 1990
Charles also appeared in Angel Pavement, Down Our Street, Easter Passion, The Fourth Wall, The Good Old Days, La Ronde, Turn Out the Lights, The Ugliest Girl in Town, The Voice of the Turtle, and Sheppey.