Hylda Baker
| Hylda Baker | |
|---|---|
Baker in 1966
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| Born |
Hilda Baker 4 February 1905 Farnworth, Lancashire, England |
| Died | 1 May 1986 (aged 81) Epsom, Surrey, England |
| Occupation | music hall performer, comedian, actress |
| Years active | 1914–1978 |
Hylda Baker (4 February 1905 – 1 May 1986) was an English comedian, actress and music hall performer. Born and brought up in Farnworth, Lancashire, she is perhaps most well known for her role as Nellie Pledge in the ITV sitcom Nearest and Dearest (1968–73) and for her role in the 1960 film Saturday Night and Sunday Morning.
Baker was born in Farnworth, Lancashire, the first of seven children. Her father, Harold Baker, was a painter and signwriter, who also worked part-time in the music halls as a comedian. At ten, Baker made her debut at the Opera House, Tunbridge Wells, and continued to tour as a single variety act—singing, dancing and performing impersonations. By 14, she had started writing, producing and performing her own shows. Her most famous stage act was as a gossip from the North of England, with a silent, sullen companion named "Big Cynthia", almost always played by a man in drag (most famously by Victor Graham, and last by Matthew Kelly). Her act was full of malapropisms and catchphrases that had become part of her public persona, the most famous of which were "She knows, y'know!" and, when asked the time "It's quarter past ... I must get a little hand put on this watch."
Fellow comedian Victoria Wood described her comedic talent as "peculiarly Northern".
Baker came to national attention in BBC television's The Good Old Days in 1955. This led to her television series, Be Soon (named after another of her catchphrases), in 1957 and a supporting part in the sitcom Our House in 1960, followed by her own sitcom, The Best of Friends, in 1963.
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