Una Stubbs (born 1 May 1937) is an English television, stage, occasional film actress and former dancer who has appeared on British television and in the theatre, and less frequently in films. She is particularly known for playing Rita in the sitcom Till Death Us Do Part and Aunt Sally in the children's series Worzel Gummidge. She is also known for her role as Miss Bat in the series The Worst Witch and has most recently appeared as Sherlock Holmes's landlady Mrs Hudson in the Bafta award-winning television series Sherlock.

Biography

Stubbs was born in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, the daughter of Angela K. Rawlinson and Clarence Reginald Stubbs. She grew up in Hinckley, Leicestershire. She was married to the actor Peter Gilmore from 1958 to 1969: they adopted a son, Jason. After their divorce in 1969, she married actor Nicky Henson. They divorced in 1975 but remain good friends. She and Henson had two children: composer Christian Henson (born 25 December 1971), and musician-composer Joe Henson (born 18 September 1973).

For many years, Stubbs has sketched vignettes of characters around London, and has held exhibitions of these near her Mayfair home.

Stubbs has known her Sherlock co-star Benedict Cumberbatch since he was four years old, as she had worked with his mother Wanda Ventham. Stubbs was the subject of an episode of the BBC series Who Do You Think You Are?, broadcast on 24 July 2013. It discussed several of her ancestors, including her great-grandfather Sir Ebenezer Howard, who was the founder of the garden city movement, and was the driving force in the design and creation of the first garden cities, Letchworth Garden City and Welwyn Garden City, situated in Hertfordshire.