---
name: "Vivian Pickles"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/vivian-pickles"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "21 October 1931"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
updated: "2026-09-16T10:21:39.061824+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Vivian Pickles

Actor. Born 21 October 1931 in London, England, UK.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 21 October 1931, London, England, UK

## Fi1m on Vivian Pickles

> Vivian Pickles makes authority funny by playing it firmly, without asking us to approve of it. We value the comic precision she brings to supporting parts, even when the writing gives her less to work with than she deserves.

Mrs. Chasen in *Harold and Maude* (1971) treats her authority as something that need not be discussed. Vivian Pickles gives Harold’s controlling mother a comic firmness, making the certainty of her position funny without suggesting that she doubts it herself. We laughed because she sounds so settled in a film determined to unsettle respectable people. It is the sort of supporting performance we value: distinct, useful and more convincing than the script’s account of the character.

Her screen work was not confined to women laying down the rules. The breakthrough was the title role in Ken Russell’s television film *Isadora Duncan, the Biggest Dancer in the World* (1966), before the prominent supporting parts of 1971. In John Schlesinger’s *Sunday Bloody Sunday* (1971), she played Alva Hodson alongside Glenda Jackson, another opportunity for her affinity with unconventional characters. Those credits matter because Mrs. Chasen can otherwise make a misleading introduction: Pickles also had a place among the people who did not fit in.

In Hal Ashby’s *Harold and Maude*, the limitation belongs largely to Colin Higgins’s writing. He is more interested in Harold and Maude than in anyone who might reasonably object to them, and respectable behaviour too readily becomes evidence of emotional failure. Pickles’s firmness helps, but the supporting characters need better objections, not simply better actors to voice them. The film’s funny, unexpectedly touching romance earns our recommendation, but her contribution makes us wish the other characters had been allowed a fairer hearing.

The later parts make plain how useful that authority could be to a director. Lindsay Anderson cast her as Matron in *Britannia Hospital* (1982), and television supplied Aunt Dahlia in *Jeeves and Wooster* (1990). A matron or an aunt can arrive with much of the audience’s judgement already made; our interest in Pickles is how firmly she lets such a woman occupy her own position. Start with Mrs. Chasen, but do not mistake the screenplay’s impatience with her for a reason to overlook the performance.

## Biography

Vivian Pickles is an English actress. Born in London on 21 October 1931, she began her career as a child performer and trained at the Aida Foster Drama School. She worked in repertory theatre and West End productions before moving into screen roles.

Pickles is known for her film performances as Mrs. Chasen in *Harold and Maude* (1971), Alva Hodson in *Sunday Bloody Sunday* (1971) and a role in *O Lucky Man!* (1973). Her television credits include appearances in *The Avengers* (1961), *Nicholas and Alexandra* (1971) as Mme. Krupskaya, *Jeeves and Wooster* (1990) as Aunt Dahlia and *Midsomer Murders* (1997) as Agnes Sampson. She also played the title role in the 1966 television film *Isadora*.

*Sources: imdb.com, en.wikipedia.org.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Harold and Maude* (1971), Fi1m 81, as Mrs. Chasen — [page](https://film.one/film/harold-and-maude.md)

## Also known for

- *Midsomer Murders* (1997), Agnes Sampson
- *The Avengers* (1961)
- *Sunday Bloody Sunday* (1971), Alva Hodson
- *Jeeves and Wooster* (1990), Aunt Dahlia
- *Candleshoe* (1977), Grimsworthy
- *O Lucky Man!* (1973), Good Lady
- *Nicholas and Alexandra* (1971), Mme. Krupskaya
- *Britannia Hospital* (1982), Matron

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/vivian-pickles