Just a month after her husband, the composer Carl Davis

Jean Boht, who played Nellie Boswell in 1980s sitcom Bread, has died aged 91.

Her family said she had been battling dementia, and her death comes just a month after her husband, the composer Carl Davis, passed away at the age of 86.

A statement posted to his social media account on behalf of the family said: ‘It is with overwhelming sadness that we must announce that Jean Boht passed away yesterday Tuesday 12 September. Jean had been battling Vascular Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease with the indefatigable spirit for which she was both beloved and renowned.’

Boht played the matriarch of the working-class Liverpudlian family at the heart of Bread for  seven seasons from 1986 to 1991. At its peak, in 1988, the Carla Lane sitcom attracted  21 million viewers.

A couple of years later she starred in The Brighton Belles, an unsuccessful British version  of The Golden Girls, alongside Sheila Hancock, Wendy Craig and Sheila Gish.

Her other TV credits include Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, Grange Hill, Last of the Summer Wine, Boys From The Blackstuff and  Juliet Bravo.

She was a resident at Denville Hall, a retirement home in Northwood, London, for actors and is   survived by two daughters and three grandchildren.

Published: 13 Sep 2023