Steafel, who was born in
Johannesburg, She appeared in many television series, including
The Frost Report,
Z-Cars,
Sykes,
Dave Allen at Large,
The Kenny Everett Television Show,
Minder,
The Ghosts of Motley Hall,
Oh, Brother!,
You Must Be the Husband and
The Laughter of a Fool. She was a regular in the
BBC One music hall programme
The Good Old Days, portraying her comic creation "Miss Popsy Wopsy", who invariably "played up" to chairman
Leonard Sachs. She was also a regular on the "
Tommy Cooper Hour". In February 2018, she appeared in the daytime comedy-drama
Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators Episode 2 as care home resident Dora Bentley. Her film appearances included ''
Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1966), Just like a Woman (1967), Quatermass and the Pit (1967), Baby Love (1968), Otley (1968), Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969), The Smashing Bird I Used to Know (1969), Some Will, Some Won't'' (1970; co-starring her ex-husband's acting partner,
Wilfrid Brambell),
Tropic of Cancer (1970; as Tania),
Percy (1971),
Melody (1971),
Digby, the Biggest Dog in the World (1973),
All I Want Is You... and You... and You... (1974),
Never Too Young to Rock (1975),
Are You Being Served? (1977), ''
What's Up Superdoc! (1978), Bloodbath at the House of Death (1984), Parting Shots (1999), The 10th Kingdom (2000), and Back to the Secret Garden'' (2001). Steafel also worked in
BBC Radio. In the 1970s and 1980s, she was a cast member on the weekly
Radio 4 satirical show
Week Ending, providing the voices of many characters and impersonating real-life figures, such as
Margaret Thatcher. Steafel appeared
as herself alongside
Simon Jones in "The Lost Hitch-Hiker's Sketch", a sketch written by
Douglas Adams for her 1982 Radio 4 show
Steafel Plus. In 1979 she starred in the
West End stage production of
A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine in a number of roles, including that of
Harpo Marx. In 2008, she was portrayed by
Zoe Tapper in the BBC television play
The Curse of Steptoe. In 2015 she lent her voice to the character Master Matoya in the video game
Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward. ==Published works==