She also worked with Rikki Fulton and the Two Ronnies

Claire Nielson, who played the glamorous American Mrs Hamilton in Fawlty Towers, has died at the age of 89.

In the third episode of the second series of the sitcom, her character arrives at the Torquay hotel with her husband, played by Bruce Boa, who clashes with John Cleese’s Basil Fawlty over a Waldorf salad.

Actually born in Scotland, Nielson also played the wife of Rikki Fulton's character in many sketches of the Hogmanay show Scotch and Wry from 1978 until 1992. 

She was also a regular in The Two Ronnies and appeared in an episode of Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads.

R.I P. Claire Nielson. Seen here with Messrs Corbett and Barker in The Two Ronnies (4th September 1976) pic.twitter.com/S0tvZ5FrZh

— archivetvmusings (@archivetvmus71) May 6, 2026

Her dramatic appearances included Upstairs, Downstairs, Monarch of the Glen Z-Cars,  Taggart and Ghost Squad.

An obituary in today’s Times, marking her death on April 29, records that Nielson’s agent had been ‘furious’ she had taken the part in Fawlty Towers, warning that it would ruin her career’. 

She said: ‘Back then, pretty young women who did light entertainment stopped being offered dramatic parts but I’d always preferred comedy, so I didn’t care.’

Published: 6 May 2026