Tributes paid to Una Stubbs, who has died aged 84

Actress Una Stubbs, whose career encompassed a prolific number of roles on stage and screen, has died aged 84.

Alongside her TV and film career, which included her breakthrough role as Alf Garnett's daughter Rita in the sitcom Till Death Us Do Part, her stage performances included appearances at the Old Vic, National Theatre, Donmar Warehouse and beyond.

Her agent Rebecca Blond described her as "a wickedly funny, elegant, stylish, graceful, gracious and kind and constant friend" as well as a "highly respected and exhibited artist".

After starting out on the cabaret scene in the 1950s, her acting career spanned over 60 years. Her first screen role was in Cliff Richard's 1963 film Summer Holiday and she was most recently seen as landlady Mrs Hudson in the BBC's BAFTA-winning Sherlock.

She balanced screen work with theatre, with West End credits including Noël Coward's Star Quality opposite Penelope Keith and the Sheffield Crucible production of Schiller's Don Carlos with Derek Jacobi.

Other appearances included La Cage Aux Folles at the Menier Chocolate Factory, Pygmalion at the Theatre Royal, Bath and Old Vic and The Family Reunion at the Donmar. She was also in the original cast of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at the National Theatre in 2012.

Stubbs' sons Joe and Christian Henson and Jason Gilmore said: "Mum passed away quietly today with her family around her, in Edinburgh. We ask for privacy and understanding at this most difficult and sad of times."