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Thora Hird

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Template:Short description Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox person

Dame Thora Hird (28 May 1911 – 15 March 2003) was an English actress. In a career spanning over 70 years,<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Cbignore</ref> she appeared in more than 100 films, as well as many television roles, becoming a household name and a British institution.<ref name="BBC death">Template:Cite news</ref>

Hird was a three-time winner of the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress, for Talking Heads: A Cream Cracker Under the Settee (1989), Talking Heads: Waiting for the Telegram (1999) and Lost for Words (2000). She also received a BAFTA Special Award in 1994.<ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Her film credits included The Love Match (1955), The Entertainer (1960), A Kind of Loving (1962) and The Nightcomers (1971).<ref name="IMDB">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Early life and careerEdit

Hird was born on 28 May 1911 in the Lancashire seaside town of Morecambe to James Henry Hird and Jane Mary (née Mayor).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":2">Template:Cite news</ref> Her family background was largely theatrical: her mother had been an actress, while her father managed a number of entertainment venues in Morecambe, including the Royalty Theatre, where Hird made her first appearance, and the West End Pier. Thora first appeared on stage in 1911 at the age of two months in a play her father was managing, carried on stage in her mother's arms.<ref name="BBC death"/> She worked at the local Co-operative store before joining the Morecambe Repertory Theatre.<ref name="BBC death"/>

Hird often described her father, who initially did not want her to be an actress, as her sternest critic and attributed much of her talent as an actress and comedian to his guidance.<ref name="BBC death"/> In 1944 she made her West End debut in the Esther McCracken play No Medals.<ref name=":0"/>

Although Hird left Morecambe in the late 1940s, she retained her affection for the town, referring to herself as a "sand grown 'un", the colloquial term for anyone born in Morecambe.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Initially, Hird made regular appearances in films, including the wartime propaganda film Went the Day Well? (1942, known as 48 Hours in the USA), in which she is shown wielding a rifle to defend a house from German paratroopers.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She worked with the British film comedian Will Hay and featured in The Entertainer (1960), which starred Laurence Olivier, as well as A Kind of Loving (1962) with Alan Bates and June Ritchie.<ref name="IMDB"/>

Hird gained her highest profile in television comedy, notably the sitcoms Meet the Wife (1963–66), In Loving Memory (1979–86), Hallelujah! (1983–84) and, for nearly two decades, as Edie Pegden in Last of the Summer Wine (1986–2003). Hird played a variety of roles, including the nurse in Romeo and Juliet, and won BAFTA Best Actress awards for her roles in two of Alan Bennett's Talking Heads monologues.<ref name="BBC death"/>

Hird starred as Captain Emily Ridley in the sitcom Hallelujah! (1983–84) about the Salvation Army, a movement which she supported throughout her life.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Hird also portrayed Mrs Speck, the housekeeper of the Mayor of Gloucester, in The Tailor of Gloucester (1989).

In 1993 she played Annie Longden, mother of Deric Longden in Wide-Eyed and Legless (known as The Wedding Gift outside the UK) and reprised her role in the 1999 TV film Lost for Words, which won her a BAFTA for Best Actress.<ref name=":1"/>

Religious broadcastsEdit

Hird was a committed Christian, hosting the religious programmes Your Songs of Praise Choice (1979–1983) and Praise Be! (1984–1993), a spin-off from Songs of Praise on the BBC.<ref name=":0"/> Her work for charity and on television in spite of old age and ill health made her an institution. Her advertisements for Churchill stairlifts also kept her in the public eye.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

HonoursEdit

She was invested as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1983 Birthday Honours and raised to Dame Commander (DBE) in the 1993 Birthday Honours. She received an honorary D.Litt. from Lancaster University in 1989.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite news</ref>

Later lifeEdit

In December 1998, using a wheelchair, Hird played a brief but energetic cameo role as the mother of Dolly on Dinnerladies, a sarcastic character who was particularly bitter towards her daughter.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Her final acting work was for BBC Radio 7, which was recorded in 2002 and broadcast some months after her death: a monologue written for her by Alan Bennett entitled The Last of the Sun, in which she played a forthright, broad-minded woman, immobile in an old people's home but still able to take a stand against the censorious and politically correct attitudes of her own daughter.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

This Is Your LifeEdit

She was the subject of This Is Your Life on two occasions: in January 1964 when she was surprised by Eamonn Andrews, and in December 1996, when Michael Aspel surprised her while filming on location for Last of the Summer Wine.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Personal lifeEdit

Hird married musician James Scott in 1937. They had a daughter, actress Janette Scott, in 1938. Hird was mother-in-law to jazz singer Mel Tormé for eleven years. Hird was widowed in 1994, having been married for 57 years.<ref name=":2"/>

Hird underwent a heart bypass operation in 1992. She suffered from severe osteoarthritis, had repeated hip replacements and used a wheelchair in her later life.

DeathEdit

Hird died on 15 March 2003 aged 91, following a stroke.<ref name=":3"/> A memorial service was held on 15 September 2003 at Westminster Abbey attended by more than 2,000 people, including Alan Bennett, Sir David Frost, Melvyn Bragg and Victoria Wood.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In July 2019, a commemorative blue plaque to Thora Hird was installed by The Theatre and Film Guild of Great Britain and America, at the Bayswater home where she lived for over 50 years.<ref>"Dame Thora Hird is Commemorated" Template:Webarchive, the Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America, accessed 7 July 2019</ref>

FilmographyEdit

Film<ref name="IMDB"/>Edit

Year Title Role Notes
1942 The Black Sheep of Whitehall Joyce
1942 Went the Day Well? Ivy Dawking
1942 Go to Blazes Elsie Short
1942 The Next of Kin ATS Driver
1944 Two Thousand Women Mrs. Burtshaw
1947 The Courtneys of Curzon Street Maud
1948 Corridor of Mirrors Visitor in Madame Tussauds
1948 My Brother Jonathan Ada
1948 Template:Sortname Mrs. Gaye
1949 Once a Jolly Swagman Ma Fox
1949 Lost Daughter Mrs. Skinner
1949 Fools Rush In Mrs. Coot
1949 A Boy, a Girl and a Bike Mrs. Bates
1949 Conspirator Broaders
1949 Madness of the Heart Rosa
1949 Maytime in Mayfair Janet
1949 Template:Sortname Mrs. Dorbell
1949 Boys in Brown Mrs. Knowles
1950 Once a Sinner Mrs. James
1950 The Magnet Nanny's Friend
1951 The Galloping Major Tea Stall Proprietress
1952 Template:Sortname Vera
1952 Template:Sortname Mrs. Cornelius
1952 Time Gentlemen, Please! Alice Crouch
1953 Template:Sortname Mrs. Pewsey
1953 Template:Sortname Miss Rawlings
1953 Street Corner Mrs. Perkins
1953 Turn the Key Softly Mrs. Rowan
1953 Personal Affair Mrs. Usher
1953 Background Mrs. Humphries
1953 Template:Sortname Mrs. Trott
1954 Template:Sortname Eunice's mother
1954 Don't Blame the Stork Agnes O'Connor
1954 For Better, for Worse Mrs. Doyle
1954 Tiger by the Tail Mary
1955 Template:Sortname Sal Brown
1955 The Quatermass Xperiment Rosie
1955 Simon and Laura Jessie
1955 One Good Turn Cook
1956 Women Without Men Granny Rafferty
1956 Sailor Beware! Mrs. Lack
1956 Home and Away Margie
1957 Template:Sortname Mrs. Oakroyd
1957 These Dangerous Years Mrs. Larkin
1958 Further Up the Creek Mrs. Galloway
1958 Template:Sortname Vera Watson Short
1960 Template:Sortname Ada Lapford
1961 Over the Odds Mrs. Carter
1962 Template:Sortname Mrs. Rothwell
1962 Term of Trial Mrs. Taylor
1963 Bitter Harvest Mrs. Jessup
1964 Rattle of a Simple Man Mrs. Winthram
1970 Some Will, Some Won't Agnes Russell
1971 Template:Sortname Mrs. Grose
1983 Entry Narrator Short
1988 Consuming Passions Mrs. Gordon
1999 Julie and the Cadillacs Julie's grandmother

Television<ref name="IMDB"/>Edit

Year Title Role Notes
1947 Mary Rose Mrs. Otery TV film
1949 Template:Sortname Violet TV film
1951 Sunday Night Theatre Anna Priashkina Episode: "The Bachelor"
1951 What Happens to Love Mrs. Rowbotham TV film
1955 Template:Sortname Emmie Slee TV film
1955 Template:Sortname Ada Episode: "A Husband for Marian"
1956 Armchair Theatre Momma Brodsky Episode: "The Same Sky"
1958 Saturday Playhouse Aggie Thompson Episode: "So Many Children"
1959 Blackpool Show Parade Mrs. McTaggart Episode: "Happy Days"
1960 Bootsie and Snudge Emily Episode: "Johnson's Retirement"
1961 ITV Playhouse Helen Curvis Episode: "Hi Diddle Diddle"
1963 Z-Cars Mrs. Edwards Episode: "Nothing Serious"
1963 Drama 61-67 Mrs. Hope Episode: "Drama '63: Albert Hope"
1963 Comedy Playhouse Thora Blacklock Episode: "The Bed"
1963–1966 Meet the Wife Thora Blacklock Main role
1964 First Night Queenie Episode: "All Things Bright and Beautiful"
1964 Festival Mrs. Baines Episode: "Say Nothing"
1965 My Perfect Husband Thora TV film
1966 Template:Sortname Blanche Hoskins Episode: "Who's a Good Boy Then?"
1966 Dixon of Dock Green Alice Leggett Episode: "Face at the Window"
1966 Jackanory Storyteller 5 episodes
1967, 1975 Play of the Month Nurse, Clara Soppitt Episodes: "Romeo and Juliet", "When We Are Married"
1968–69 Template:Sortname Sarah Danby Main role
1969 ITV Sunday Night Theatre Mrs. Ogden Episode: "It Calls for a Great Deal of Love"
1969–70 Ours Is a Nice House Thora Parker TV series
1971 Seasons of the Year Widow Butley Episode: "The Three Graces"
1971 Stage 2 Mrs. Hardcastle Episode: "She Stoops to Conquer"
1971–72, 1977, 1982 Play for Today Gwen, Doris, Olive Major, Aunty Kitty Episodes: "The Fox Trot", "The Villa Maroc", "The Mayor's Charity", "Intensive Care"
1974 Billy Liar Miss Duggins Episode: "Billy and the Bed-Sit"
1975 Softly, Softly: Task Force Mary Meegan Episode: "Dorothy's Birthday"
1977 Template:Sortname Mrs. Battley TV short
1977 Young at Heart Ethel Collyer Episode: "Pilot"
1978 Me! I'm Afraid of Virginia Woolf Mrs. Hopkins TV film
1979 Thomas & Sarah Mrs. Entwistle Episode: "Made in Heaven"
1979–86 In Loving Memory Ivy Unsworth Main role
1980–82 Flesh and Blood Mabel Brassington TV series
1983 Objects of Affection Elizabeth Mary Rhodes Episode: "Say Something Happened"
1983–84 Hallelujah! Capt. Emily Ridley Main role
1986–2003 Last of the Summer Wine Edie Pegden Regular role
1988, 1998 Talking Heads Doris, Violet Episodes: "A Cream Cracker Under the Settee", "Waiting for the Telegram"
1989 Template:Sortname Mrs. Speck TV film
1989–90 All Creatures Great and Small Mrs. Clarke Episodes: "The Best Time", "Promises to Keep"
1990 Template:Sortname Old Betsy TV film
1991 Perfect Scoundrels Martha Episode: "Grandmother's Footsteps"
1992 Template:Sortname Edna Wood Episode: "Her Finest Hour"
1992 Memento Mori Jean Taylor Screen Two series 8
1993 Wide-Eyed and Legless
(known as The Wedding Gift outside the UK) 		Annie Longden
1993 Goggle Eyes Mrs. Harrington Episode: "1.1"
1994 Pat and Margaret Jim's mother
1994 Under the Hammer Nanny Tucker Episode: "The Spectre at the Feast"
1994 Heartbeat Hannah Stockdale Episode: "Lost and Found"
1995, 1999 Template:Sortname Postmistress Episodes: "1.1", "1.4", "Harmony's Return"
1998 Dinnerladies Enid Episode: "Moods"
1999 Template:Sortname Ida Episode: "Philosophy of a Hairdresser"
1999 Hilltop Hospital Gracey Greyshell Episode: "Gracey Greyshell's Last Day"
1999 Lost for Words Annie Longden TV film

BibliographyEdit

  • Dame Thora Hird's autobiography, Scene And Hird (1976), Template:ISBN

ReferencesEdit

Template:Reflist

External linksEdit

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Template:British Academy Television Award for Best Actress 1980–1999 Template:RTS Programme Award for Best Performance by a Female Actor

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