Dotty Otley

Dotty makes a welcome return to the stage to create the role of Mrs. Clackett after playing Mrs. Hackett, Britain’s most famous lollipop lady (‘Ooh, I can’t ‘ardley ‘old me lolly up!’) in over 320 episodes of TV’s On the Zebras. She was born in Malta, and trained at the Estelle Birkwood School of Drama and Allied Arts and went on to the Embassy Theatre, Swiss Cottage, where she gained invaluable experience as an assistant stage manager in successful productions of As You Desire and Starched Aprons. She understudied for Bee Duffell in Haddock’s Eyes at the New Lindsey Theatre, Notting Hill Gate, as well as Margaret Lockwood in Peter Pan at the Scala. She was followed by The King’s Theatre, Peebles for a season, and then the Duke’s Players at Lyme Regis for the better part of two seasons. This in turn led to a prolonged stay in Australia, where she enjoyed some of the biggest successes of her career. When she gets the time she intends to write her memoirs.