Doris Breamer Hare was born on 1 March 1905 in Bargoed, Glamorgan, into a family who ran a portable theatre touring South Wales. It seemed inevitable she would join the family trade: she made her stage debut at the age of three and grew up performing in juvenile troupes around Britain before going solo as 'Little Doris Hare' in music hall, variety and pantomime.
Hare built a long and varied stage career, reaching the West End in Noel Coward's 'Words and Music' in 1932 and making her Broadway debut in 1936. During the Second World War she compered radio shows for the Merchant Navy, work that earned her the MBE in the 1946 Birthday Honours. She later joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1963 and the National Theatre Company at the Old Vic in 1965, acting in plays by Shakespeare, Shaw and Pinter. She also had a brief spell in 'Coronation Street' in 1968-69, playing Alice Pickens.
Hare is best remembered for taking over the role of Mabel 'Mum' Butler in the ITV sitcom 'On the Buses' from 1969, a part she played for 67 episodes until the series ended in 1973, reprising it in all three spin-off films: 'On the Buses' (1971), 'Mutiny on the Buses' (1972) and 'Holiday on the Buses' (1973). She continued working well into old age, appearing in 'Nuns on the Run' (1990) and making her final film appearance in 'Second Best' (1994), and gave her last stage performance aged 87 at the London Palladium.
Doris Hare died on 30 May 2000 at Denville Hall, Northwood, London, aged 95. Readers of this site have shared their own memories of her Bargoed roots below, including one contributor whose grandmother remembered Doris as a child in the town.