Charwoman

Charwoman, chargirl, charlady and char are occupational terms referring to a paid part-time worker who comes into a house or other building to clean it for a few hours of a day or week, as opposed to a maid, who usually lives as part of the household within the structure of domestic service.

The public's enthusiasm for these stage characters prompted the couple to make the pair a part of their repertoire and this led to sixteen Old Mother Riley films, from 1937 to 1952.

In the radio comedy series It's That Man Again (1939–1949), Dorothy Summers played the part of Mrs Mopp, an office char whose catchphrase was "Can I do you now, Sir?"

Coronation Street character Hilda Ogden (Jean Alexander) achieved mass popularity in the United Kingdom, and has become synonymous with charwoman due to her several jobs cleaning for businesses and neighbours in the show's local area, Weatherfield.

In 1963, Peggy Mount starred in Ladies Who Do, in which a group of charwomen go into high finance under the guidance of the eccentric Colonel Whitforth (Robert Morley), in order to save their old neighbourhood from a team of ruthless developers led by Harry H. Corbett.

American comedian Carol Burnett made a charwoman character into a signature routine during her television career with Garry Moore and later on her own popular long-running variety show.