Jean Boht

Jean Boht (née Dance; 6 March 1932 – 12 September 2023) was an English actress, most famous for the role of Nellie Boswell in Carla Lane's sitcom Bread, one of several actors to remain with the show for its entire seven series tenure from 1986 to 1991.

Early life
Boht was born as Jean Dance on 6 March 1932 in Bebington, then in Cheshire; her mother was pianist Edna May "Teddy" Dance. She was educated at Wirral Grammar School for Girls.

Career
Boht trained at the Liverpool Playhouse, where she started her career as a theatre actress, before touring the United Kingdom in stage roles, working in numerous West End Theatres including the Royal National Theatre and the Bristol Old Vic. In a career spanning from 1962 to 2018, she appeared largely in television productions. These included guesting parts in Softly, Softly (1971), Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em (1978), Grange Hill (1978), Last of the Summer Wine (1978), Boys from the Blackstuff (1982), Scully (1984) and Juliet Bravo in the mid-1980s.

In was through her regular role in the sitcom Bread (1986–91), as matriarch Nellie Boswell, which she found her largest audience, with the series attracting some 20 million viewers.

In 1989, she was the subject of This Is Your Life, and in 2008 she made a guest appearance in BBC One's daytime TV soap, Doctors.

Boht starred in The Brighton Belles, an unsuccessful British adaptation of the American sitcom The Golden Girls as the character of Josephine, based on Sophia Petrillo, the part made famous by Estelle Getty.

On stage, Boht appeared with Jeremy Irons in Embers (2006) at the Duke of York's Theatre in London.

Boht also appeared in the film Mothers and Daughters (2004), and starred in Chris Shepherd's award-winning short film Bad Night for the Blues (2010).

Personal life, illness and death
Her first marriage to William Boht ended in divorce. She married the American-British conductor and composer Carl Davis on 28 December 1970. They had two daughters, filmmakers Hannah (born 1972) and Jessie (born 1974). Boht and Davis were executive producers on Hannah Davis's film The Understudy and they appeared in the film as a married couple. Davis died on 3 August 2023.

Boht was diagnosed with vascular dementia and Alzheimer's disease. She was a resident at Denville Hall, a retirement home in Northwood, London, for actors and other members of the entertainment industry.

Boht died from complications of dementia on 12 September 2023, at the age of 91.

Awards
Boht won a British Comedy Award (now known as the "National Comedy Awards") for Best Comedy Actress in 1990.