Dame Thora Hird (28 May 1911 – 15 March 2003) was an English actress. In a career spanning over 70 years, she appeared in more than 100 films, as well as many television roles, becoming a household name and a British institution.
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. Her film credits included The Love Match (1955), The Entertainer (1960), A Kind of Loving (1962) and The Nightcomers (1971).
Early life and career Hird was born on 28 May 1911 in the Lancashire seaside town of Morecambe to James Henry Hird and Jane Mary (née Mayor). 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. She worked at the local Co-operative store before joining the Morecambe Repertory Theatre.
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. In 1944 she made her West End debut in the Esther McCracken play No Medals.
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.
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. 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.
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.
Hird starred as Captain Emily Ridley in the sitcom Hallelujah! (1983–84) about the Salvation Army, a movement which she supported throughout her life. 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.
Religious broadcasts 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. 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.
Honours 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.
Later life 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.
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 attitude of her own daughter.
This Is Your Life 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.
Personal life 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.
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.
Death Hird died on 15 March 2003 aged 91, following a stroke. 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.
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."Dame Thora Hird is Commemorated" , the Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America, accessed 7 July 2019
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes1942The Black Sheep of WhitehallJoyce1942Went the Day Well?Ivy Dawking1942Go to BlazesElsieShort1942The Next of KinATS Driver1944Two Thousand WomenMrs. Burtshaw1947The Courtneys of Curzon StreetMaud1948Corridor of MirrorsVisitor in Madame Tussauds1948My Brother JonathanAda1948Mrs. Gaye1949Once a Jolly SwagmanMa Fox1949Lost DaughterMrs. Skinner1949Fools Rush InMrs. Coot1949A Boy, a Girl and a BikeMrs. Bates1949ConspiratorBroaders1949Madness of the HeartRosa1949Maytime in MayfairJanet1949Mrs. Dorbell1949Boys in BrownMrs. Knowles1950Once a SinnerMrs. James1950The MagnetNanny's Friend1951The Galloping MajorTea Stall Proprietress1952Vera1952Mrs. Cornelius1952Time Gentlemen, Please!Alice Crouch1953Mrs. Pewsey1953Miss Rawlings1953Street CornerMrs. Perkins1953Turn the Key SoftlyMrs. Rowan1953Personal AffairMrs. Usher1953BackgroundMrs. Humphries1953Mrs. Trott1954Eunice's mother1954Don't Blame the StorkAgnes O'Connor1954For Better, for WorseMrs. Doyle1954Tiger by the TailMary1955Sal Brown1955The Quatermass XperimentRosie1955Simon and LauraJessie1955One Good TurnCook1956Women Without MenGranny RaffertyU.S. title Blonde Bait1956Sailor Beware!Mrs. Lack1956Home and AwayMargie1957Mrs. Oakroyd1957These Dangerous YearsMrs. Larkin1958Further Up the CreekMrs. Galloway1958A Clean SweepVera WatsonShort1960The EntertainerAda Lapford1961Over the OddsMrs. Carter1962Mrs. Rothwell1962Term of TrialMrs. Taylor1963Bitter HarvestMrs. Jessup1964Rattle of a Simple ManMrs. Winthram1970Some Will, Some Won'tAgnes Russell1971Mrs. Grose1983EntryNarratorShort1988Consuming PassionsMrs. Gordon1999Julie and the CadillacsJulie's grandmother
Television Year Title Role Notes1947Mary RoseMrs. OteryTV film1949VioletTV film1951Sunday Night TheatreAnna PriashkinaEpisode: "The Bachelor"1951What Happens to LoveMrs. RowbothamTV film1955Emmie SleeTV film1955AdaEpisode: "A Husband for Marian"1956Armchair TheatreMomma BrodskyEpisode: "The Same Sky"1958Saturday PlayhouseAggie ThompsonEpisode: "So Many Children"1959Blackpool Show ParadeMrs. McTaggartEpisode: "Happy Days"1960Bootsie and SnudgeEmilyEpisode: "Johnson's Retirement"1961ITV PlayhouseHelen CurvisEpisode: "Hi Diddle Diddle"1963Z-CarsMrs. EdwardsEpisode: "Nothing Serious"1963Drama 61-67Mrs. HopeEpisode: "Drama '63: Albert Hope"1963Comedy PlayhouseThora BlacklockEpisode: "The Bed"1964–1966Meet the WifeThora BlacklockMain role1964First NightQueenieEpisode: "All Things Bright and Beautiful"1964FestivalMrs. BainesEpisode: "Say Nothing"1965My Perfect HusbandThoraTV film1966Blanche HoskinsEpisode: "Who's a Good Boy Then?"1966Dixon of Dock GreenAlice LeggettEpisode: "Face at the Window"1966JackanoryStoryteller5 episodes1967, 1975Play of the MonthNurse, Clara SoppittEpisodes: "Romeo and Juliet", "When We Are Married"1968–69Sarah DanbyMain role1969ITV Sunday Night TheatreMrs. OgdenEpisode: "It Calls for a Great Deal of Love"1969–70Ours Is a Nice HouseThora ParkerTV series1971Seasons of the YearWidow ButleyEpisode: "The Three Graces"1971Stage 2Mrs. HardcastleEpisode: "She Stoops to Conquer"1971–72, 1977, 1982Play for TodayGwen, Doris, Olive Major, Aunty KittyEpisodes: "The Fox Trot", "The Villa Maroc", "The Mayor's Charity", "Intensive Care"1974Billy LiarMiss DugginsEpisode: "Billy and the Bed-Sit"1975Softly, Softly: Task ForceMary MeeganEpisode: "Dorothy's Birthday"1977Mrs. BattleyTV short1977Young at HeartEthel CollyerEpisode: "Pilot"1978Me! I'm Afraid of Virginia WoolfMrs. HopkinsTV film1979Thomas & SarahMrs. EntwistleEpisode: "Made in Heaven"1979–86In Loving MemoryIvy UnsworthMain role1980–82Flesh and BloodMabel BrassingtonTV series1983Objects of AffectionElizabeth Mary RhodesEpisode: "Say Something Happened"1983–84Hallelujah!Capt. Emily RidleyMain role1986–2003Last of the Summer WineEdie PegdenRegular role1988, 1998Talking HeadsDoris, VioletEpisodes: "A Cream Cracker Under the Settee", "Waiting for the Telegram"1989Mrs. SpeckTV film1989–90All Creatures Great and SmallMrs. ClarkeEpisodes: "The Best Time", "Promises to Keep"1990Old BetsyTV film1991Perfect ScoundrelsMarthaEpisode: "Grandmother's Footsteps"1992Edna WoodEpisode: "Her Finest Hour"1992Memento MoriJean TaylorScreen Two series 81993Wide-Eyed and Legless(known as The Wedding Gift outside the UK)Annie Longden1993Goggle EyesMrs. HarringtonEpisode: "1.1"1994Pat and MargaretJim's mother1994Under the HammerNanny TuckerEpisode: "The Spectre at the Feast"1994HeartbeatHannah StockdaleEpisode: "Lost and Found"1995, 1999PostmistressEpisodes: "1.1", "1.4", "Harmony's Return"1998DinnerladiesEnidEpisode: "Moods"1999IdaEpisode: "Philosophy of a Hairdresser"1999Hilltop HospitalGracey GreyshellEpisode: "Gracey Greyshell's Last Day"1999Lost for WordsAnnie LongdenTV film
Bibliography Dame Thora Hird's autobiography, Scene And Hird (1976),
References
External links
"Actress Dame Thora Hird dies" – BBC News article, last updated 15 March 2003 "Obituary: Dame Thora Hird" – BBC News obituary, last updated 15 March 2003 Dame Thora Hird – obituary from The Guardian, by Veronica Horwell, dated 17 March 2003