Liz Smith (actress)
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Liz Smith MBE |
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|---|---|
| Born |
Betty Gleadle 11 December 1921 Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England |
| Died | 24 December 2016 (aged 95) Worthing, West Sussex, England |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1970–2013 |
| Spouse(s) | Jack Thomas (1945–1959; divorced) |
| Children | 2 |
Betty Gleadle, MBE (11 December 1921 – 24 December 2016), known by the stage name Liz Smith, was an English character actress, known for her roles in BBC sitcoms, including as Annie Brandon in I Didn't Know You Cared (1975–79), Bette and Aunt Belle in 2point4 Children (1991–99), Letitia Cropley in The Vicar of Dibley (1994–96), and Norma Speakman ("Nana") in The Royle Family (1998–2006). She also played Zillah in Lark Rise to Candleford (2008), and won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for the 1984 film A Private Function.
Liz Smith was born Betty Gleadle in 1921 in the Crosby area of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire. When she was two years old, her mother died in childbirth. Her father walked out of her life shortly afterwards, when his new wife did not wish him to have any contact with his previous life. She was brought up by her widowed grandmother and attended Crosby Junior School and the Scunthorpe Modern and Day Commercial Schools in Cole Street. During the Second World War, she served in the Women's Royal Naval Service of the Royal Navy.
In 1971, aged 49, she had a career breakthrough when she appeared as the downtrodden mother in Mike Leigh's Bleak Moments, part of Play for Today:
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