Editing Hattie Jacques (section)

===The ''Carry On'' series: 1958–1963===
When the first ''[[Carry On (film series)|Carry On]]'' film was made in 1958, Jacques formed part of the cast. This series would go on to employ the same group of actors who would collectively become known as the "[[List of Carry On films cast members|Carry On team]]". Jacques appeared in 14 of these films over a 15-year period{{sfn|Snelgrove|2003|p=59}} and like many of her ''Carry On'' co-stars, she quickly became typecast. A recurring role for Jacques was a no-nonsense matron which she played in five of the films – ''[[Carry On Nurse]]'',{{sfn|Ross|2005|p=22}} ''[[Carry On Doctor]]'',{{sfn|Ross|2005|p=88}} ''[[Carry On Again Doctor]]'',{{sfn|Ross|2005|p=104}} ''[[Carry On Camping]]''{{sfn|Ross|2005|p=100}} and ''[[Carry On Matron]]''.{{sfn|Ross|2005|p=136}} She became known by the team as a "Mother Hen" figure,{{sfn|Goddard|2012|p=64}} and was a close friend to many of her co-stars, including Kenneth Williams and [[Joan Sims]], whom Jacques provided with a great deal of advice and practical help. In return, Sims regarded Jacques as her "greatest friend", and as "both a sister and a mother to me".{{sfn|Sims|2000|p=173}}{{sfn|Goddard|2012|p=64}} Jacques would frequently invite Sims, Williams and Hawtrey to her house for Christmas dinner.{{sfn|Goddard|2012|p=64}}

Jacques began her association with the ''Carry On'' series in March 1958{{sfn|Snelgrove|2003|p=105}} with the first film in the series, ''[[Carry On Sergeant]]''.{{sfn|Ross|2005|p=141}} She played the small role of Captain Clark, a "[[Battle-axe (woman)|battleaxe]] medical officer"{{sfn|Hartley|2013|p=493}} who fails to believe the fabricated ailments of the [[hypochondriac]] Private Horace Strong, played by [[Kenneth Connor]].{{sfn|Ross|2005|p=16}} The following year she played "Matron" for the first time{{sfn|Ross|2005|p=22}} in ''Carry On Nurse'', a film which broke that year's box office records, selling more than 10&nbsp;million tickets in British cinemas.{{sfn|Ross|2005|p=26}}{{sfn|Webber|2008|p=50}} Although Jacques's role was still relatively small, she appeared in perhaps the best known scene of the film, in which she retrieves a daffodil from [[Wilfrid Hyde-White]]'s buttocks, put there by a mischievous nurse as revenge for his constant harassment of the staff.{{sfn|Ross|2005|p=23}} So popular was Jacques's scene, that the producers imported two million plastic daffodils from Japan which were then used to promote the comedy.{{sfn|Snelgrove|2003|p=11}} Other characterisations followed, including the formidable maths mistress Grace Short in ''[[Carry On Teacher]]'' (1959){{sfn|Ross|2005|p=28}} and the friendly Police Sergeant Laura Moon in ''[[Carry On Constable]]'' (1960).{{sfn|Ross|2005|p=32}} Of the former film, Derek Prouse of ''[[The Sunday Times]]'' thought that Jacques "triumph[ed] over material so remorselessly juvenile that one is battered into a kind of fascinated admiration".<ref name="SX: Teacher" />

On 29 January 1960 Jacques appeared in the first episode of the BBC comedy series ''[[Sykes and a...]]'', co-starring with Eric Sykes as a pair of twins; [[Richard Wattis]] and [[Deryck Guyler]] were also regulars in the cast.{{efn|Wattis's role, Charles Brown, was originally offered to Le Mesurier, but he turned down the role as he wanted "to make it on&nbsp;... [his] own" without his wife's help.{{sfn|Le Mesurier|1984|p=73}} }} Jacques's character—Hattie (Hat) Sykes—was "a middle-class, slightly pretentious lady struggling to keep her dignity as the men made fools of themselves".{{sfn|Gray|2004}} ''Sykes and a...'' went on to run for sixty episodes over nine series during the next five years.{{sfn|Merriman|2007|p=112}} According to the media historian Graham McCann, the show was "one of the best-natured, least pretentious and most successful British sitcoms of the 1960s".{{sfn|McCann|2007|p=209}} Because of the success, Jacques and Sykes "became embedded in the public mind as a priceless comic partnership";<ref name="BFI: Sykes and a" /> to capitalise, they released a comedy album entitled ''Eric and Hattie and Things<nowiki>!!!</nowiki>'', but it failed to chart.{{sfn|Debenham|1988|p=303}} In September 1960 she starred in her second television series, ''[[Our House (1960 TV series)|Our House]]'', alongside [[Charles Hawtrey (actor born 1914)|Charles Hawtrey]], [[Bernard Bresslaw]] and Joan Sims; Jacques played the librarian Georgina Ruddy, who was forced to keep quiet at work and so made up for it by being extremely noisy at home.{{sfn|Lewisohn|1998|p=521}}{{efn|The first series ran until December 1960; a second series ran from September 1961 to April 1962.{{sfn|Lewisohn|1998|p=521}}}} Later that year she played minor roles in two films: ''[[Watch Your Stern]]'', with many of the ''Carry On'' regulars, and ''[[School for Scoundrels (1960 film)|School for Scoundrels]]'', opposite [[Ian Carmichael]]. After these her screen time increased with the part of Nanette Parry in ''[[Make Mine Mink]]'' in which she co-starred with Terry-Thomas and [[Athene Seyler]]. She later described this as her favourite film.{{sfn|Merriman|2007|pp=94–95 & 97}}

In October 1961 Jacques appeared on ''[[Desert Island Discs]]'', and said that she would be too lonely on such a quiet island for someone of her temperament.{{sfn|Merriman|2007|p=119}}{{efn|The programme was broadcast on 16 October 1961; her full choice was [[Ludwig van Beethoven]]'s [[Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)|Symphony No. 9 in D minor]] ("Choral") – [[Robert Shaw Chorale]] and the [[NBC Symphony Orchestra]], conducted by [[Arturo Toscanini]]; [[Duke Ellington]]'s "Hello Little Girl" – Ellington and his Orchestra; [[George Frideric Handel]]'s "[[Let the bright Seraphim]]" from ''[[Samson (Handel)|Samson]]'' – [[Joan Sutherland]] and the orchestra of the [[Royal Opera House]]; [[Johann Sebastian Bach]]'s "[[Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 543|Fugue in A minor]]" – [[Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra]]; [[Tommy Dorsey]]'s version of [[On the Sunny Side of the Street]]; The [[Modern Jazz Quartet]]'s version of "[[God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen]]"; [[Peter Sellers]]'s recording of "Lord Badminton's Memoirs"; and [[Judy Garland]] and the [[Gordon Jenkins]] Orchestra with "The Red Balloon". Her chosen book was ''[[The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations]]'' and her luxury item was a photograph and recording of her family.<ref name="BBC: DiD" />}} By this time ''Carry On'' had become a leading film franchise, with the author Robert Ross describing it as a "phenomenon".{{sfn|Ross|2005|p=38}} That year's film, ''[[Carry On Regardless]]'', was the fifth in the series; Jacques received a fee of £100 for the small role of a disgruntled hospital sister, who appeared briefly on screen alongside the English character actor [[Kynaston Reeves]]. Jacques was initially intended for a major part in the film, but she was unable to commit to a longer role because of ill health.{{sfn|Ross|2005|p=40}} She appeared in her sixth ''Carry On'', ''[[Carry On Cabby]]'', in 1963, as "Peggy Hawkins", the emotionally neglected wife of taxi-firm boss "Charlie", played by Sid James.{{sfn|Ross|2005|p=48}} Jacques later named the film as her favourite of the series, as she was allowed to drop her "battleaxe" persona and play the romantic lead opposite James.{{sfn|Merriman|2007|p=128}}