Dora Bryan
Encyclopedia
Dora May Bryan OBE
(born 7 February 1923) is an English actress of stage, film and television.
, Lancashire
, England. Her father was a salesman and she attended Hathershaw
County Primary School in Oldham, Lancashire
. Her career began in pantomime
before World War II
, during which she joined the ENSA
in Italy
to entertain British troops
.
. Cast in a production of Noel Cowards's
Private Lives
, the actress was encouraged to adopt a stage name by Coward himself. She opted for Dora Bryant but a typographical error left off the last 't' and she became Dora Bryan.
Recognised for her distinctive speaking voice, which became a trademark of her performances, she followed many of her theatre contemporaries into film acting, generally playing supporting roles. She often played women of easy virtue — for example in Ealing's
The Blue Lamp
(1950) and The Fallen Idol (1948), one of her earliest films. She appeared in similarly stereotypical female roles in other films, for example The Cockleshell Heroes
(1955), The Green Man
(1956) and Carry On Sergeant
(1958).
She appeared in a cameo role in 1955 on the BBC
radio series Hancock's Half Hour
, in an episode now known as "Cinderella Hancock". In 1961, she appeared in A Taste of Honey
. The film won four BAFTA awards: Director Tony Richardson
won Best British Screenplay (with Shelagh Delaney
) and Best British Film, while Bryan won Best Actress and co-star Rita Tushingham
was named Most Promising Newcomer. In 1963 she recorded the Christmas song 'All I want for Christmas is a Beatle'. She played a head mistress in The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery
(1966), and in 1968 she starred in her own British TV series According to Dora.
Bryan appeared in the Anglo-Argentine Hitchcockian thriller, Apartment Zero
. The film was featured in the 1988 Sundance Film Festival
and was directed by Martin Donovan (the Argentine aka: Carlos Enrique Varela y Peralta-Ramos) and starred Hart Bochner
and Colin Firth
. Bryan plays the role of one of two eccentric characters (the other was played by Liz Smith
) described by the Washington Post as two "... tea-and-crumpet gargoyle-featured spinsters who snoop the corridors."
Throughout her career she also remained a versatile and popular stage performer, often appearing in musicals like "Gentleman Prefer Blondes
" (1962) and "Hello, Dolly!
" (1966–68). She also headlined a number of stage revues such as The Dora Bryan Show (1966) and An Evening with Dora Bryan and Friends (1968). She made her Broadway debut as Mrs. Pierce in Pygmalion
(1987), starring Peter O'Toole
and Amanda Plummer. Other notable credits include her first Shakespearean role, Mistress Quickly in The Merry Wives of Windsor
(1984), Mrs. Malaprop in She Stoops to Conquer
(1985), Carlotta Campion (singing "I'm Still Here") in the 1987 London production of the Stephen Sondheim-James Goldman musical Follies
, and she appeared in the 1994 revival of Harold Pinter's The Birthday Party
.
In 2000 she joined the cast of the long-running BBC comedy series Last of the Summer Wine
as Aunt Roz Utterthwaite; she left the show in 2005 to concentrate on stage work in theatre, though she was not written out. In 1999, she made an appearance in the Victoria Wood
sitcom Dinnerladies
. Her last film appearance was in Gone to the Dogs
(2006) opposite Anthony Booth
.
She twice was a guest star on Absolutely Fabulous
as June Whitfield
's on-screen friend Dolly (originally called Milly). She received a BAFTA nomination in 2002 for this role. In September 2006, she was due to tour in the comedy There's No Place Like a Home
but withdrew early in the tour because of her husband's continued ill health.
According To Dora was published in 1987 and has since been updated and republished. In 1996, she was awarded the OBE
in recognition of her services to acting and she was awarded a Laurence Olivier Award in 1996 for her role in the West End production of the Harold Pinter
play, The Birthday Party
.
and Cumberland
cricketer Bill Lawton
until his death as a result of Alzheimer's disease
in August 2008. The couple met in Oldham
during World War II
and were married at Werneth St Thomas, Oldham in 1954. During his final years she reduced her public commitments to enable herself to look after him, as well as suffering with health problems herself, including a serious operation for a hernia.
She once owned Clarges Hotel at 115–119 Marine Parade on Brighton
's seafront, which was used as an exterior location in the films Carry On Girls
and Carry On at Your Convenience
. She and her husband were forced to sell the bulk of the building as a result of bankruptcy, but they retained a flat with a sea view on the first floor for many years. Still maintaining its original structure, the rooms of the hotel have been reconverted into flats, which are rented and owned by local residents.
In 2005 Bryan had to leave Last Of The Summer Wine, reportedly because of her forgetfulness and inability to remember her lines.
She is wheel-chair bound and resides in a nursing home in Hove
in frail health.
According to the Daily Mail (19 May 2009): "Sir Cliff Richard is doing a great act of kindness for his 85-year-old friend, the ailing Dora Bryan, who is languishing in a council-funded bed in a Hove nursing home ... Cliff appeared at an all-star fundraiser for Dora on 31 May at Her Majesty's Theatre in London. Plans to transport Dora to London look precarious. 'She is extremely frail and hardly eating at all,' reveals organiser Tony Hardman."
The Dora Bryan Charity Gala was held at Her Majesty's Theatre London on 31 May 2009. The show was ticketed in order to benefit Dora's two nominated charities, the Variety Club and the Alzheimer’s society and all celebrity guests and performers donated their time to these causes.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 7 February 1923) is an English actress of stage, film and television.
Early life
Bryan was born as Dora May Broadbent in SouthportSouthport
Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. During the 2001 census Southport was recorded as having a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England...
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, England. Her father was a salesman and she attended Hathershaw
Hathershaw
Hathershaw is an urban area of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. It occupies a hillside to the immediate south of Oldham's town centre, and is bound by the districts of Coppice and Fitton Hill, on the northwest and southeast respectively...
County Primary School in Oldham, Lancashire
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...
. Her career began in pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
before World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, during which she joined the ENSA
Entertainments National Service Association
The Entertainments National Service Association or ENSA was an organisation set up in 1939 by Basil Dean and Leslie Henson to provide entertainment for British armed forces personnel during World War II. ENSA operated as part of the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes...
in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
to entertain British troops
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
.
Career
Bryan made her stage debut as a child in a pantomime in Manchester and, encouraged by her mother, joined the Oldham Repertory while still a teenager. After spending eight years honing her craft there, she headed for London to try her luck on stage, where she became a regular performer in the West EndWest End of London
The West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...
. Cast in a production of Noel Cowards's
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
Private Lives
Private Lives
Private Lives is a 1930 comedy of manners in three acts by Noël Coward. It focuses on a divorced couple who discover that they are honeymooning with their new spouses in neighbouring rooms at the same hotel. Despite a perpetually stormy relationship, they realise that they still have feelings for...
, the actress was encouraged to adopt a stage name by Coward himself. She opted for Dora Bryant but a typographical error left off the last 't' and she became Dora Bryan.
Recognised for her distinctive speaking voice, which became a trademark of her performances, she followed many of her theatre contemporaries into film acting, generally playing supporting roles. She often played women of easy virtue — for example in Ealing's
Ealing Studios
Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever since...
The Blue Lamp
The Blue Lamp
The Blue Lamp is a British crime film released in early 1950 by Ealing Studios, directed by Basil Dearden and produced by Michael Balcon. It stars Jack Warner as police constable George Dixon, Jimmy Hanley and Dirk Bogarde in an early role...
(1950) and The Fallen Idol (1948), one of her earliest films. She appeared in similarly stereotypical female roles in other films, for example The Cockleshell Heroes
The Cockleshell Heroes
The Cockleshell Heroes is a 1955 film with Trevor Howard, Anthony Newley, David Lodge and José Ferrer, who also directed. Set during the Second World War, it is a fictionalised account of Operation Frankton, the December 1942 raid by canoe-borne British commandos on shipping in Bordeaux Harbour...
(1955), The Green Man
The Green Man (film)
The Green Man is a 1956 British comedy-drama film based on the play Meet A Body by Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat, who produced and adapted the big-screen version.-Plot:...
(1956) and Carry On Sergeant
Carry On Sergeant
Carry On Sergeant is the first Carry On film. Its first public screening was on 1 August 1958 at Screen One, London. Actors in this film who went on to be part of the regular team in the series were Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Hattie Jacques, Kenneth Connor and Terry Scott...
(1958).
She appeared in a cameo role in 1955 on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
radio series Hancock's Half Hour
Hancock's Half Hour
Hancock's Half Hour was a BBC radio comedy, and later television comedy, series of the 1950s and 60s written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. The series starred Tony Hancock, with Sid James; the radio version also co-starred, at various times, Moira Lister, Andrée Melly, Hattie Jacques, Bill Kerr...
, in an episode now known as "Cinderella Hancock". In 1961, she appeared in A Taste of Honey
A Taste of Honey (film)
A Taste of Honey is a 1961 British film adaptation of the play of the same name by Shelagh Delaney. Delaney adapted the screenplay herself, aided by director Tony Richardson, who had previously directed the first production of the play...
. The film won four BAFTA awards: Director Tony Richardson
Tony Richardson
Cecil Antonio "Tony" Richardson was an English theatre and film director and producer.-Early life:Richardson was born in Shipley, Yorkshire in 1928, the son of Elsie Evans and Clarence Albert Richardson, a chemist...
won Best British Screenplay (with Shelagh Delaney
Shelagh Delaney
Shelagh Delaney, FRSL was an English dramatist and screenwriter, best-known for her debut work, A Taste of Honey ....
) and Best British Film, while Bryan won Best Actress and co-star Rita Tushingham
Rita Tushingham
-Career:Born in Liverpool, Tushingham began her career as a stage actress at the Liverpool Playhouse. Her screen debut was in A Taste of Honey...
was named Most Promising Newcomer. In 1963 she recorded the Christmas song 'All I want for Christmas is a Beatle'. She played a head mistress in The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery
The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery
The Great St. Trinian's Train Robbery is a British comedy film set in the fictional St Trinian's School, released in 1966, three years after the Great Train Robbery had taken place...
(1966), and in 1968 she starred in her own British TV series According to Dora.
Bryan appeared in the Anglo-Argentine Hitchcockian thriller, Apartment Zero
Apartment Zero
Apartment Zero is a political thriller from Argentina. Directed by Argentine-born screenwriter Martin Donovan and starring Hart Bochner and Colin Firth, the film is suffused with homoerotic overtones and moments of black comedy. The film was produced in 1988 and premiered at film festivals...
. The film was featured in the 1988 Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
and was directed by Martin Donovan (the Argentine aka: Carlos Enrique Varela y Peralta-Ramos) and starred Hart Bochner
Hart Bochner
Hart Matthew Bochner is a Canadian film actor, screenwriter, director, and producer.-Life and career:Bochner was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Ruth , a concert pianist, and actor Lloyd Bochner...
and Colin Firth
Colin Firth
SirColin Andrew Firth, CBE is a British film, television, and theatre actor. Firth gained wide public attention in the 1990s for his portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the 1995 television adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice...
. Bryan plays the role of one of two eccentric characters (the other was played by Liz Smith
Liz Smith (actress)
Liz Smith, MBE is a British actress, best-known for her roles in the sitcoms The Vicar of Dibley and The Royle Family. She also appeared in the 2005 film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.-Early life:...
) described by the Washington Post as two "... tea-and-crumpet gargoyle-featured spinsters who snoop the corridors."
Throughout her career she also remained a versatile and popular stage performer, often appearing in musicals like "Gentleman Prefer Blondes
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (musical)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is a musical with a book by Joseph Fields and Anita Loos, lyrics by Leo Robin, and music by Jule Styne, based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Loos...
" (1962) and "Hello, Dolly!
Hello, Dolly! (musical)
Hello, Dolly! is a musical with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart, based on Thornton Wilder's 1938 farce The Merchant of Yonkers, which Wilder revised and retitled The Matchmaker in 1955....
" (1966–68). She also headlined a number of stage revues such as The Dora Bryan Show (1966) and An Evening with Dora Bryan and Friends (1968). She made her Broadway debut as Mrs. Pierce in Pygmalion
Pygmalion (play)
Pygmalion: A Romance in Five Acts is a play by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. Professor of phonetics Henry Higgins makes a bet that he can train a bedraggled Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, to pass for a duchess at an ambassador's garden party by teaching her to assume a veneer of...
(1987), starring Peter O'Toole
Peter O'Toole
Peter Seamus Lorcan O'Toole is an Irish actor of stage and screen. O'Toole achieved stardom in 1962 playing T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia, and then went on to become a highly-honoured film and stage actor. He has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, and holds the record for most...
and Amanda Plummer. Other notable credits include her first Shakespearean role, Mistress Quickly in The Merry Wives of Windsor
The Merry Wives of Windsor
The Merry Wives of Windsor is a comedy by William Shakespeare, first published in 1602, though believed to have been written prior to 1597. It features the fat knight Sir John Falstaff, and is Shakespeare's only play to deal exclusively with contemporary Elizabethan era English middle class life...
(1984), Mrs. Malaprop in She Stoops to Conquer
She Stoops to Conquer
She Stoops to Conquer is a comedy by the Irish author Oliver Goldsmith, son of an Anglo-Irish vicar, first performed in London in 1773. The play is a great favourite for study by English literature and theatre classes in Britain and the United States. It is one of the few plays from the 18th...
(1985), Carlotta Campion (singing "I'm Still Here") in the 1987 London production of the Stephen Sondheim-James Goldman musical Follies
Follies
Follies is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The story concerns a reunion in a crumbling Broadway theatre, scheduled for demolition, of the past performers of the "Weismann's Follies," a musical revue , that played in that theatre between the World Wars...
, and she appeared in the 1994 revival of Harold Pinter's The Birthday Party
The Birthday Party (play)
The Birthday Party is the first full-length play by Harold Pinter and one of Pinter's best-known and most-frequently performed plays...
.
In 2000 she joined the cast of the long-running BBC comedy series Last of the Summer Wine
Last of the Summer Wine
Last of the Summer Wine is a British sitcom written by Roy Clarke that was broadcast on BBC One. Last of the Summer Wine premiered as an episode of Comedy Playhouse on 4 January 1973 and the first series of episodes followed on 12 November 1973. From 1983 to 2010, Alan J. W. Bell produced and...
as Aunt Roz Utterthwaite; she left the show in 2005 to concentrate on stage work in theatre, though she was not written out. In 1999, she made an appearance in the Victoria Wood
Victoria Wood
Victoria Wood CBE is a British comedienne, actress, singer-songwriter, screenwriter and director. Wood has written and starred in sketches, plays, films and sitcoms, and her live stand-up comedy act is interspersed with her own compositions, which she accompanies on piano...
sitcom Dinnerladies
Dinnerladies
Dinnerladies is a British sitcom written, co-produced by and starring Victoria Wood. It ran on BBC One for 16 episodes from 1998 to 2000.-Plot:...
. Her last film appearance was in Gone to the Dogs
Gone to the Dogs
Gone to the Dogs is a 2003 novel by Emily Carmichael.-Plot introduction:Piggy is the reincarnation of a blonde girl named Lydia Keane. She suffers from a diet started by her new owner, Nell Jordan. Piggy searches for morsels of food to eat. When Piggy inherits a fortune from an old man, that she...
(2006) opposite Anthony Booth
Anthony Booth
Antony George Booth is an English actor, best known for his role as Mike Rawlins in the BBC series Till Death Us Do Part. His daughter, Cherie, a prominent Queen's Counsel, is married to former Prime Minister Tony Blair...
.
She twice was a guest star on Absolutely Fabulous
Absolutely Fabulous
Absolutely Fabulous, also known as Ab Fab, is a British sitcom created by Jennifer Saunders, based on an original idea by her and Dawn French, and written by Saunders, who plays the leading character. It also stars Joanna Lumley and Julia Sawalha, along with June Whitfield and Jane Horrocks...
as June Whitfield
June Whitfield
June Rosemary Whitfield, CBE is an English actress, well known in the United Kingdom since the 1950s for roles in radio and television comedy series....
's on-screen friend Dolly (originally called Milly). She received a BAFTA nomination in 2002 for this role. In September 2006, she was due to tour in the comedy There's No Place Like a Home
There's No Place Like a Home
There's No Place Like A Home is a comedy play by Paul Elliott which tells the story of the residents of Stollberg Hall Retirement Home for Theatrical Performers...
but withdrew early in the tour because of her husband's continued ill health.
Awards and testimonials
Her autobiographyAutobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
According To Dora was published in 1987 and has since been updated and republished. In 1996, she was awarded the OBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in recognition of her services to acting and she was awarded a Laurence Olivier Award in 1996 for her role in the West End production of the Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
play, The Birthday Party
The Birthday Party (play)
The Birthday Party is the first full-length play by Harold Pinter and one of Pinter's best-known and most-frequently performed plays...
.
Personal life
She was married to former LancashireLancashire County Cricket Club
Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then...
and Cumberland
Cumberland County Cricket Club
Cumberland County Cricket Club is one of the county clubs which make up the Minor Counties in the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Cumberland and playing in the Minor Counties Championship and the MCCA Knockout Trophy...
cricketer Bill Lawton
Bill Lawton
William 'Bill' Lawton was an English cricketer. Lawton was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm medium pace. He was born in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire....
until his death as a result of Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
in August 2008. The couple met in Oldham
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and were married at Werneth St Thomas, Oldham in 1954. During his final years she reduced her public commitments to enable herself to look after him, as well as suffering with health problems herself, including a serious operation for a hernia.
She once owned Clarges Hotel at 115–119 Marine Parade on Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
's seafront, which was used as an exterior location in the films Carry On Girls
Carry On Girls
Carry On Girls is the 25th Carry On film, released in Britain in 1973. The film is notable for being the first not to feature either Kenneth Williams or Charles Hawtrey. Williams was appearing in a West End play, My Fat Friend. Hawtrey had been dropped from the series the year before...
and Carry On at Your Convenience
Carry On at Your Convenience
Carry On at Your Convenience, released in 1971, is the 22nd film of the Carry On series and was the first box office failure of the series. The failure has been attributed to the film's attempt at exploring the political themes of the trade union movement, crucially portraying the union activists...
. She and her husband were forced to sell the bulk of the building as a result of bankruptcy, but they retained a flat with a sea view on the first floor for many years. Still maintaining its original structure, the rooms of the hotel have been reconverted into flats, which are rented and owned by local residents.
In 2005 Bryan had to leave Last Of The Summer Wine, reportedly because of her forgetfulness and inability to remember her lines.
She is wheel-chair bound and resides in a nursing home in Hove
Hove
Hove is a town on the south coast of England, immediately to the west of its larger neighbour Brighton, with which it forms the unitary authority Brighton and Hove. It forms a single conurbation together with Brighton and some smaller towns and villages running along the coast...
in frail health.
According to the Daily Mail (19 May 2009): "Sir Cliff Richard is doing a great act of kindness for his 85-year-old friend, the ailing Dora Bryan, who is languishing in a council-funded bed in a Hove nursing home ... Cliff appeared at an all-star fundraiser for Dora on 31 May at Her Majesty's Theatre in London. Plans to transport Dora to London look precarious. 'She is extremely frail and hardly eating at all,' reveals organiser Tony Hardman."
The Dora Bryan Charity Gala was held at Her Majesty's Theatre London on 31 May 2009. The show was ticketed in order to benefit Dora's two nominated charities, the Variety Club and the Alzheimer’s society and all celebrity guests and performers donated their time to these causes.
Television roles
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | My Wifes Sister | Dora | (4 episodes) |
| 1961-1964 | Happily Ever After | Dora Morgan | (12 episodes) |
| 1972 | Both Ends Meet Dora |
Dora Page | (13 episodes) |
| 1985 | Victoria Wood As Seen On TV Victoria Wood As Seen On TV Victoria Wood As Seen On TV was a British comedy sketch series starring comedienne Victoria Wood, with Julie Walters, Celia Imrie, Duncan Preston, Susie Blake and Patricia Routledge... |
Pams Mother | (1 episode) |
| 1994 | Mothers Ruin | Kitty Flitcroft | (6 episodes) |
| 1996 to 2001 | Absolutely Fabulous Absolutely Fabulous Absolutely Fabulous, also known as Ab Fab, is a British sitcom created by Jennifer Saunders, based on an original idea by her and Dawn French, and written by Saunders, who plays the leading character. It also stars Joanna Lumley and Julia Sawalha, along with June Whitfield and Jane Horrocks... |
Millie/Dolly | (3 episodes) |
| 1999 | Dinnerladies Dinnerladies Dinnerladies is a British sitcom written, co-produced by and starring Victoria Wood. It ran on BBC One for 16 episodes from 1998 to 2000.-Plot:... |
Jeans Mother | (1 episode) |
| 2000 to 2005 | Last of the Summer Wine Last of the Summer Wine Last of the Summer Wine is a British sitcom written by Roy Clarke that was broadcast on BBC One. Last of the Summer Wine premiered as an episode of Comedy Playhouse on 4 January 1973 and the first series of episodes followed on 12 November 1973. From 1983 to 2010, Alan J. W. Bell produced and... |
Ros Utterthwaite | (50 episodes) |
Selected filmography
- Once Upon a DreamOnce Upon a Dream (1949 film)Once Upon a Dream is a 1949 British comedy romance film directed by Ralph Thomas in his debut and starring Googie Withers, Griffith Jones, Guy Middleton, and Maurice DenhamTime: 1 hour 30 minutes-Plot:...
(1949) - The Perfect WomanThe Perfect WomanThe Perfect Woman is a comedy, 1949 British film directed by Bernard Knowles and written by George Black, Jr and J. B. Boothroyd, based upon a play by Wallace Geoffrey and Basil Mitchell. A scientist creates what he considers the perfect woman in his lab...
(1949) - The Interrupted JourneyThe Interrupted JourneyThe Interrupted Journey is a 1949 British thriller film directed by Daniel Birt and Valerie Hobson, Richard Todd, Christine Norden and Tom Walls. A man fleeing with his mistress narrowly escapes a train crash after he pulls the emergency chord and is wracked with guilt...
(1949) - Circle of DangerCircle of DangerCircle of Danger is a 1951 British thriller film directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Ray Milland, Patricia Roc and Naunton Wayne. An American travels to England to discover the truth behind his brother's death during the Second World War...
(1951) - High TreasonHigh treasonHigh treason is criminal disloyalty to one's government. Participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state are perhaps...
(1951) - Scarlet ThreadScarlet ThreadScarlet Thread is a 1951 British drama film directed by Lewis Gilbert.-Cast:* Kathleen Byron as Josephine* Laurence Harvey as Freddie* Sydney Tafler as Marcon* Arthur Hill as Shaw* Dora Bryan as Maggie* Eliot Makeham as Jason* Harry Fowler as Sam...
(1951) - Lady Godiva Rides AgainLady Godiva Rides AgainLady Godiva Rides Again is a 1951 British comedy film starring Diana Dors, about a small-town English girl who wins a beauty contest and heads for greater fame. It features Joan Collins in her movie debut as an uncredited beauty contestant...
(1951) - Time Gentlemen, Please!Time Gentlemen, Please!Time Gentlemen, Please! is a 1952 British comedy film directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Eddie Byrne, Hermione Baddeley, Raymond Lovell and Sid James.-Cast:* Eddie Byrne as Dan Dance* Jane Barrett as Sally* Robert Brown as Bill Jordan...
(1952) - The RingerThe Ringer (1952 film)The Ringer is a 1952 British mystery film directed by Guy Hamilton and starring Herbert Lom, Denholm Elliot, William Hartnell and Mai Zetterling.-Synopsis:An underhand solicitor receives threatening notes, and the police are called in to protect him....
(1952) - Street CornerStreet Corner (1953 film)Street Corner is a 1953 British drama film. It was written by Muriel and Sydney Box and directed by Muriel. It was marketed as Both Sides of the Law in the United States. While not quite a documentary, the film depicts the daily routine of women in the police force from three different angles...
(1953) - You Know What Sailors Are (1954)
- Fast and LooseFast and Loose (1954 film)Fast and Loose is a 1954 British comedy film directed by Gordon Parry and starring Stanley Holloway, Kay Kendall and Brian Reece. It was based on a play by Ben Travers, in the farcical style of his Aldwych farces...
(1954) - As Long as They're HappyAs Long as They're HappyAs Long as They're Happy is a 1955 British musical comedy film directed by J. Lee Thompson.-Cast:* Jack Buchanan as John Bentley* Janette Scott as Gwen Bentley* Jeannie Carson as Pat Bentley* Brenda De Banzie as Stella Bentley...
(1955) - See How They RunSee How They Run (1955 film)See How They Run is a 1955 British comedy film directed by Leslie Arliss and starring Ronald Shiner as Wally Winton.-Cast:* Ronald Shiner as Wally Winton* Greta Gynt as Penelope Toop* James Hayter as Bishop of Lax...
(1955) - The Man Who Wouldn't TalkThe Man Who Wouldn't TalkThe Man Who Wouldn't Talk is a 1958 British drama film directed by Herbert Wilcox. It starred Anna Neagle, Anthony Quayle, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Dora Bryan, John Le Mesurier and Lloyd Lamble.-Synopsis:...
(1958) - Carry On SergeantCarry On SergeantCarry On Sergeant is the first Carry On film. Its first public screening was on 1 August 1958 at Screen One, London. Actors in this film who went on to be part of the regular team in the series were Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Hattie Jacques, Kenneth Connor and Terry Scott...
(1958) - Operation BullshineOperation BullshineOperation Bullshine is a 1959 British colour comedy film directed by Gilbert Gunn and starring Donald Sinden, Barbara Murray and Carole Lesley. The working title of the film was Girls in Arms that features in the film as a marching song. Gunn had filmed Girls at Sea the previous year...
(1959) - Follow That Horse!Follow That Horse!Follow That Horse! is a 1960 British comedy film directed by Alan Bromly from a screenplay by William Douglas-Home. It starred David Tomlinson, Cecil Parker, Richard Wattis, Mary Peach and Dora Bryan.-Cast:* David Tomlinson as Dick Lanchester...
(1960) - A Taste of HoneyA Taste of Honey (film)A Taste of Honey is a 1961 British film adaptation of the play of the same name by Shelagh Delaney. Delaney adapted the screenplay herself, aided by director Tony Richardson, who had previously directed the first production of the play...
(1961) - The Great St Trinian's Train RobberyThe Great St Trinian's Train RobberyThe Great St. Trinian's Train Robbery is a British comedy film set in the fictional St Trinian's School, released in 1966, three years after the Great Train Robbery had taken place...
(1966) - Two A PennyTwo a PennyTwo a Penny is a British film released in 1967, featuring singer Cliff Richard. The film was directed by James F. Collier and produced by Frank R. Jacobson for Billy Graham's film distribution and production company World Wide Pictures...
(1967)