Doris Hare/Mabel Butler
1st March 1905 – 30th May 2000
🎭 Doris Hare MBE Biography
👤 Quick Facts
- Full name: Doris Breamer Hare
- Born: 1 March 1905 📅
- Birthplace: Bargoed, Glamorgan, Wales 🏴
- Died: 30 May 2000 🕊️
- Age: 95
- Profession: Actress, comedian, singer and dancer 🎭
- Honour: MBE 🇬🇧
- Best known for: Mabel "Mum" Butler in On the Buses 🚌
- Years active: 1908–1995
- Children: 2
- Husband: John Fraser Roberts
Hare had an extraordinary career lasting more than eight decades. Although she became internationally recognised late in life as "Mum" Butler in On the Buses, she had already been a highly experienced stage performer for decades.
👶 Early Life — Born into the Theatre
Doris Hare was born in Bargoed, South Wales, on 1 March 1905.
She was born into an extraordinary theatrical family. Her parents operated a portable theatre company, touring around South Wales, so entertainment was part of Doris's life from the beginning. Several of her siblings also became performers.
🎭 Theatre was literally the family business.
Doris began performing as a very young child and was appearing professionally by the age of three. She subsequently travelled around Britain with juvenile theatrical companies.
As a child performer she became known as:
⭐ "Little Doris Hare"
She appeared in:
- 🎭 Theatre
- 🎪 Variety
- 🎤 Music hall
- 💃 Dance
- 🎪 Pantomime
- 🎶 Revue
This early experience gave her the versatility that later became one of the defining characteristics of her career.
🌟 Childhood and Young Performer
Hare continued performing throughout her childhood and teenage years.
Her career developed during the final years of the Edwardian era and continued through the First World War, the 1920s and the 1930s.
Her early years were particularly remarkable because she experienced the theatrical world before cinema and television became dominant forms of entertainment. As The Guardian noted in its obituary, when she started performing, theatre was the principal form of professional dramatic entertainment.
🎭 She therefore belonged to a generation of performers who learned their craft through live performance, often appearing night after night before audiences.
🎭 West End Career
Hare eventually graduated from juvenile performances into professional adult theatre.
She made her West End debut in 1916, appearing as Sally in The Scarlet Clue at the Palace Theatre.
During the following decades she built an extensive theatrical career.
She appeared in productions associated with major British theatrical figures and worked in an enormous variety of styles.
🎭 Her theatrical repertoire included:
- Shakespeare
- George Bernard Shaw
- Noël Coward
- J. M. Barrie
- Pinero
- Harold Pinter
- Alan Bennett
- Musical theatre
- Farce
- Revue
- Comedy
- Pantomime
Her versatility meant that she could move from serious drama to broad comedy with ease.
🎬 International Career
Hare's career wasn't confined to Britain.
She toured internationally, including performances in:
Ireland
Australia
South Africa
United States
In 1936, she made her Broadway debut in Night Must Fall.
This demonstrated that she was already an established performer long before television gave her mass popularity.
🎭 Words and Music
One important stage appearance came in 1932, when Hare appeared in Noël Coward's Words and Music in the West End.
She worked alongside performers including John Mills, further establishing herself within London's theatrical community.
🎥 Film Career
Hare also worked in British cinema.
Her film appearances began during the 1930s, including:
🎬 Night Mail (1935)
🎬 Jubilee Window (1935)
🎬 Opening Night (1935)
🎬 Luck of the Navy (1938)
🎬 Discoveries (1939)
🎬 She Couldn't Say No (1939)
She subsequently appeared in films such as:
🎬 Here Come the Huggetts (1948)
🎬 The History of Mr Polly (1949)
🎬 Dance Hall (1950)
🎬 The League of Gentlemen (1960)
🎬 A Place to Go (1964)
World War II
During the Second World War, Hare put her entertainment skills to use supporting the war effort.
She worked with Evelyn Laye on a revue for troops and also became associated with radio entertainment for the Merchant Navy.
Her work included compering Shipmates Ashore on the BBC Forces Programme.
🏅 MBE — 1946
In recognition of her wartime services to the Merchant Navy, Doris Hare was appointed:
Member of the Order of the British Empire — MBE
in the 1946 Birthday Honours.
This was an important honour and reflected the contribution she had made outside conventional acting work.
🎭 Royal Shakespeare Company
One of the most impressive aspects of Hare's career is that she wasn't simply a comedy actress.
In 1963, she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. 🎭
She subsequently joined the National Theatre Company at the Old Vic in 1965.
Her work included plays by major writers including:
- William Shakespeare
- George Bernard Shaw
- Pinero
- Harold Pinter
- Alan Bennett
This is an important part of her legacy because it demonstrates the breadth of her acting ability.
📺 Coronation Street — The Role She Turned Down
Here's an interesting piece of British television history.
In 1960, Doris Hare was offered the role of:
🧹 Ena Sharples
in Coronation Street.
However, she turned it down because she did not want to become tied to a long-running television commitment or risk being typecast. The role ultimately went to Violet Carson, who made Ena one of British television's most famous characters.
Interestingly, Hare eventually appeared in Coronation Street anyway.
In 1968–69, she played:
👩 Alice Pickens
Alice was connected with Albert Tatlock, played by Jack Howarth.
The planned marriage between Alice and Albert never ultimately took place.
🚌 ⭐ On the Buses
Then came the role that transformed Doris Hare's public profile.
In 1969, she joined the cast of ITV's hugely successful sitcom:
🚌 On the Buses
She played:
👩🦳 Mabel "Mum" Butler
— the mother of Stan Butler, played by Reg Varney.
🚌 The Butler family
- 🧑 Stan Butler — Reg Varney
- 👩 Olive Rudge — Anna Karen
- 👨 Arthur Rudge — Michael Robbins
- 👩🦳 Mum/Mabel Butler — Doris Hare
- 👩 Blanche — Patricia Brake
- 🚌 Jack Harper — Bob Grant
- 😠 Inspector Blakey — Stephen Lewis
Hare took over the role from Cicely Courtneidge, who had played Mum in the first series.
She remained with the programme for the remainder of its television run.
😂 Mum Butler
Mabel Butler was one of the show's central characters.
She was the long-suffering mother of Stan and the mother-in-law of Arthur.
Her home was the setting for many of the show's comic situations.
🏠 The Butler household became one of the most recognisable sitcom homes of the early 1970s.
Doris's performance was characterised by:
- 😂 Comic timing
- 😠 Exasperation
- ❤️ Maternal affection
- 🗣️ Sharp observations
- 😄 Physical comedy
- 🎭 Strong stage presence
Her chemistry with Reg Varney, Anna Karen, Michael Robbins, Bob Grant and Stephen Lewis helped make the programme memorable.
📺 Seven Series of On the Buses
The sitcom ran from:
📅 1969–1973
It ultimately produced:
7 series and 74 episodes.
Doris Hare appeared in 67 episodes according to film and television databases.
Her role as Mum therefore became one of the defining television characters of the later part of her career.
🎬 The Three On the Buses Films
The success of the television series resulted in three cinema films.
🚌 1. On the Buses — 1971
Hare reprised Mum Butler.
The film was directed by Harry Booth and featured Reg Varney, Doris Hare and Michael Robbins.
🚌 2. Mutiny on the Buses — 1972
Hare returned as Mum.
🚌 3. Holiday on the Buses — 1973
Hare once again appeared as Mum, completing the trio of films.
🎭 After On the Buses
Despite becoming most famous for On the Buses, Hare did not retire after the series ended.
She continued working in theatre, television and film.
In 1974, she appeared in the hugely successful West End farce:
😂 No Sex Please, We're British
She continued to work well into her later years.
🏆 Variety Club Award — 1982
In 1982, Doris Hare received a:
🏆 Variety Club of Great Britain Special Award
for her contribution to show business.
It was an appropriate recognition for someone who had spent virtually her entire life entertaining audiences.
🎭 Her Remarkable Final Stage Appearance
Perhaps one of the most extraordinary facts about Doris Hare is that she continued performing at an age when most actors had long retired.
She made her final stage appearance at the London Palladium at the age of 87, appearing alongside Sir John Mills in a tribute to Evelyn Laye.
🎭 87 years old and still performing on stage!
That gives some idea of just how extraordinary her career was.
🎬 Later Film Career
Hare continued appearing on screen during the 1980s and 1990s.
Her later credits included:
📺 Why Didn't They Ask Evans? (1980)
📺 Never the Twain (1986)
🎬 Nuns on the Run (1990)
🎬 Second Best (1994)
Second Best became her final film appearance.
👨👩👧 Personal Life
Doris Hare married John Fraser Roberts in 1941.
The couple had two children, and their marriage eventually ended in divorce in 1973.
Although she became extremely famous through On the Buses, Hare had spent many decades working as a professional performer before achieving that television fame.
🕊️ Death
Doris Hare died on:
📅 30 May 2000
at: 🏡 Denville Hall, Northwood, London
She was 95 years old.
Denville Hall is a residential home associated with members of the theatrical profession.
Her death brought to an end a performing career that had lasted for more than 90 years.
⭐ Doris Hare's Legacy
Doris Hare's career is remarkable because On the Buses was actually only the final major chapter of an enormous theatrical life.
She had been:
🎭 A child performer
🎤 A music-hall entertainer
💃 A dancer
🎬 A film actress
📺 A television actress
🎭 A West End performer
🇺🇸 A Broadway performer
🎭 A Royal Shakespeare Company member
🏛️ A National Theatre performer
📻 A wartime radio entertainer
🇬🇧 An MBE
🏆 A Variety Club award winner
🚌 And, finally, the unforgettable Mum Butler
The Guardian described her as a true theatrical "trouper", highlighting the extraordinary versatility and experience accumulated during her more than 80 years on stage.
🚌 Doris Hare as Mum Butler
For generations of British television viewers, however, Doris Hare will always be:
👩🦳 "Mum" Butler
The mother of Stan Butler.
The woman trying to keep order in the chaotic Butler household.
The long-suffering mother watching Stan, Arthur and Olive get themselves into one ridiculous situation after another.
And the actress who brought an enormous amount of warmth, personality and comic timing to On the Buses. ❤️🚌
🌟 In numbers
🎭Doris Hare🎂 Born1 March 1905 🏴 BirthplaceBargoed, Wales
🎭 First performed As a child
🎬 Broadway debut1936 MBE1946
🎭 RSC1963
🏛️ National Theatre1965
🚌 Joined On the Buses1969
🎬 On the Buses film1971
🎬 Mutiny on the Buses1972
🎬 Holiday on the Buses1973
🏆 Variety Club Award1982
🎭 Final stage appearanceAge 87
🎬 Final filmSecond Best (1994)
🕊️ Died30 May 2000❤️ Age95
Doris Hare was much more than "Mum" from On the Buses: she was one of Britain's great theatrical veterans, with a career stretching from the Edwardian stage to 1990s cinema.
TRIVIA
Doris turned down the role of Ena Sharples in “Coronation Street” in 1960.
Doris said she did not want to be tied down to a long term commitment or be typecast.
Doris made a guest appearance in 'Corrie' in 1969 as Albert Tatlock’s fiancee, Alice Pickins, see photo below.
Born into an acting family, her Father, Mother 3 Brothers and 2 Sisters were all on the stage. At the age of three she made her professional debut at the Alexander Portable Theatre in their production of Current Cash. She continued working in music halls and choruses before making her West End debut at The Palace as Sally in The Scarlet Clue in 1916. In a packed career that spanned almost ninety years she has toured Ireland, Australia and South Africa as well as appearing in America in various productions including Night Must Fall. She has also played a principal boy in pantomimes and has worked for the Royal Shakespeare Company and The National Theatre.
Doris was familiar voice throughout the war on the radio series Shipmates Ashore, "a show for the MERCHANT NAVY" after which she received an MBE for her work as a wartime entertainer.
Entertaining members of the Merchant Marine during World War II, both in shipboard revues and as hostess of the radio program 'Shipmates Ashore.'
Doris second from left and Vera Lynn second from right in the radio show
Above - Veteran stars of the variety stage talk about their lives in the theatre. Doris was to appear on the show in August 1981.
Doris Hare won a Variety Club of Great Britain Special Award for her contributions to show business in 1982.
Doris Hare & The Rector (left)
With thanks to Les and St Sadwrns Church for permission to use the the photos‘©’
Annette (Ty Gwyn) and Doris Hare 20.04.90
Doris never forgot her roots and carried on working until she sadly passed away at the age of 95.The actress died at Denville Hall, the actors' retirement home in Northwood, Middlesex.She was cremated at Breakspear on the 2nd June, 2000
A tribute to Doris in Borehamwood Times by Paul Burton