Laila Morse

Laila Morse
Morse in 2009 at Wendy Richard's funeral service
Born	Maureen Oldman (1945-08-01) 1 August 1945 (age 71) Dorking, Surrey, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1995–present
Television	EastEnders (2000–2016) Dancing on Ice (2012) I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (2013)
Spouse(s)	Gerald Bromfield (m. 1962; div. 1970)
Children	2
Relatives	Gary Oldman (brother)

Maureen "Mo" Oldman (born 1 August 1945), known by her stage name Laila Morse, is an English actress. She is best known for playing the role of Mo Harris in the BBC One soap opera EastEnders from 2000 to 2016. Morse made her last appearance in Eastenders on January 21st 2016 after 16 years in the role.

Morse was married to Gerald Bromfield from 1962 to 1970 and they had two children, Gerry and Tracy Bromfield.

Morse is a breast cancer survivor, having been diagnosed with the illness in May 2001 and recovered within a year. She lives in New Cross, South East London, England.

During 2008, two men called Dano Sonnex and Nigel Farmer attempted to burgle her home, just hours before they murdered two French students at a nearby address.

Morse found fame relatively late in life. She was fifty-one when her first film Nil by Mouth was released in 1997. The BAFTA winning film marked the début of her brother Gary Oldman as a writer and producer. Morse's performance as the matriarch won her the award of 'Most Promising Newcomer in any Category' at the British Independent Film Awards. Although she had no formal acting training, Morse had a natural quality that she brought to the screen, and further roles were forthcoming.

Morse's first job on television was in The Bill for two episodes, which was followed by a regular role as Honky Mum in the BBC comedy series Honky Sausages, and the character Molly in the 1999 TV production of Great Expectations, which starred Ioan Gruffudd and Charlotte Rampling.