Benedict Cumberbatch Pays Tribute to Late ‘Sherlock’ Actor Una Stubbs: ‘So Humble and Yet So Damn Good’
Actor Una Stubbs has died at age 84. She was known for playing Mrs. Hudson on the hit series Sherlock, as well as for her roles in The Worst Witch, Till Death Do Us Part, and Worzel Gummidge.
Stubbs had been ill for several months, her agent Rebecca Blond, told BBC News. After her death was announced, many of her colleagues, including Sherlock’s Benedict Cumberbatch, paid tribute to the actor.
Benedict Cumberbatch praises his ‘Sherlock’ co-star Una Stubbs
Stubbs had a long career in British film and TV, but to American audiences she was best known for her work on Sherlock, where she portrayed Sherlock Holmes’ landlady Mrs. Hudson. Cumberbatch, who played Holmes, fondly remembered their time working together on the show, which aired from 2010 to 2017.
“Una was a wonderful, talented, stylish, gentle, joyous, and honest friend. A joy to work with, to laugh with and to make laugh,” the Dr. Strange star said in a statement shared with Metro UK. “So humble and yet so damn good. She lit up the room and will be sorely missed by all who were lucky enough to know her, but she will be remembered forever with fondness and love.”
Mark Gatiss, Steven Moffat remember Una Stubbs
Cumberbatch was joined in his praise of Stubbs by several others associated with Sherlock. Mark Gatiss, who co-created the series and also played Mycroft Holmes, said working with Stubbs was “one of the great joys of my life.”
“She was a wonderful, wonderful woman and a great and serenely graceful actor. Mischief was in her blood. We were so blessed that she became our imperishable Mrs. Hudson,” he tweeted.
“The loveliest light on Baker Street has gone out,” Sherlock co-creator Steven Moffat wrote on Instagram. “What a woman, what a talent, what a star — and just about the kindest, nicest, funniest person you could meet.”
Una Stubbs said she drew on her own life for her ‘Sherlock’ character
In Sherlock, Mrs. Hudson is a more fully developed character than she is in Arthur Conan Doyle’s original short stories featuring the famously cerebral detective. In a 2016 interview with the New York Times, she said she drew on her own experience as a parent when working on the show.
“I am the mother of three sons, so I thought that would be a good angle to go on,” she said. “I once told Benedict that my sons go straight to the fridge and make themselves sandwiches, and he did that in one episode.”
Mrs. Hudson, Stubbs added, was not afraid to stand up to her sometimes socially clueless tenant.
“I put up with a lot from Sherlock, although sometimes the curtain comes down and I give him a bollocking,” she said. “I adore him and John [Watson, played by Martin Freeman], and I like it all nice and cozy.”
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