In a week where it’s difficult to remember when there was a period of seven days that has seen the world losing more iconic figures than in the past week, we now hear of the death of Mollie Sugden, better known as Mrs Slocombe of Are You Being Served? fame! 

First, last Tuesday we said a farewell to Johnny Carson’s side kick Ed McMahon. Thursday morning saw the parting of Charlie’s Angel, Farrah Fawcett, 62, after a 3 year battle with cancer, followed only four hours later by the stunning news of the sudden death of Thriller super star Michael Jackson at 50. Then Sunday morning we were greeted with the sad news of another sudden death, this time of Infomercial Pitchman Billy Mays who was just 50 years old.

And now today, Wednesday we hear that British TV sitcom star Mollie Sugden has passed away after a long illness, and according to her agent, said she had never recovered from her husband’s death in 2000. A spokesperson for Mollie said, ‘She had had a long illness and various problems but it was very quick in the end. Her twin boys were with her and she faded away. She was a lovely, lovely person and I never had any trouble with her. She was a great professional.’ Sugden, who lived in Surrey, was married to fellow actor William Moore.

Then finally Karl Malden, the Academy Award winning American actor who’s career had spanned over seven decades, died today of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles’s Brentwood neighborhood. He was 97 years old.

Although Karl had appeared in several classic feature films such as, A Streetcar Named Desire, On the Waterfront and One-Eyed Jacks with Marlon Brando, his best-known role was on television as Lt. Mike Stone on the 1970s crime drama, The Streets of San Francisco along with a very young Michael Douglas.