Joan Dorothy Le Mesurier (née Long, formerly Malin; 3 July 1931 – 9 July 2021) was an English actress and author who was the widow and biographer of the actor John Le Mesurier.
She was working as a dental nurse in Broadstairs when she met the actor Mark Eden, birth name Douglas Malin,[1][2][3] whom she married in 1953.
[4] A few months later Le Mesurier introduced her to his close friend Tony Hancock.
[8] When Le Mesurier was away in Paris filming Where the Spies Are (1966), she began her affair with Hancock.
[9] An account of her relationship with Le Mesurier was a theme of the television drama Hattie (2011) in which she was played by Jeany Spark.