British actress Sugden dead at 86

GUILDFORD, England, July 2 (UPI) -- British actress Mollie Sugden, best known at Mrs. Slocombe in the TV sitcom "Are You Being Served?," has died after a long illness, her agent said. She was 86.

Agent Joan Reddin told the BBC Sugden's twin sons Robin and Simon Moore were at her bedside when she died Wednesday at Royal Surrey Hospital in Guildford.

Sugden played Mrs. Slocombe on "Are You Being Served?" from 1972 to 1985.

"She would never refuse any sort of comedy situation," David Croft, a writer for the show, told the BBC. "No matter how undignified it was, she would always go along with it. She was marvelously funny."

Sugden was married to fellow actor William Moore, who died nine years ago.