Born in Morecambe, Lancashire, on 28 May 1911, Thora Hird is a grand dame of the British theatre and television. Having, (as she puts it) "trod the boards since the age of eight", she was a veteran of show business, respected and widely liked and became an established and much-loved British institution.
Her first known stage performance was at Morecambe's Royalty Theatre in 1931 - it was here that her talent was spotted and she was signed up by the Rank Organisation as a promising young actress.
He film career began in 1948 when she acted in "The Black Sheep of Whitehall" with comedian Will Hay. In a long career she has appeared in more than 80 other films including "The Quatermass Experiment" (1955), "The Entertainer" (1960), "Over the Odds", "A Kind of Loving" (1962), "Terms of Trial", "Rattle of a Simple Man", "Some Will Some Won't", "The Nightcomers" and "Consuming Passions". She had a brief time playing Shakespearean roles, notably as the Nurse in "Romeo & Juliet". She has also made guest appearances in many UK television shows including "Meet the Wife", "Dinner Ladies", "That's Showbusiness", "One Foot In The Past", "All Creatures Great & Small", "Blankety Blank", "Momento Mori" and "The Frank Skinner Show".
She won a BAFTA award for Best TV Actress 1987 in Alan Bennett's "Talking Heads" and a second honorary BAFTA award in 1993. Bennet actually wrote many short plays and monologues specifically with Thora Hird in mind, including "Waiting for the Telegram".
As a devout Christian during the 1970s she was presenter of many BBC Television religious programmes including "Your Songs Of Praise Choice" (later known as "Praise Be!"), "Songs of Praise", and "Hallelujah". She was the subject of BBC1's "This Is Your Life" at Christmas 1996. More recently she has played the role of Edie in "Last of the Summer Wine" for which she is, perhaps, best remembered.
In 1983 she received and OBE (Order of the British Empire) and in 1993 was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire (DBE) for her contributions to the Arts.
She was the mother of actress Janette Scott and thereby ex-mother-in-law of singer Mel Tormé. She was married to James Scott for 59 years until his death in 1994 - he was also her manager for much of that time.
Increasing arthritis had curtailed her activities in her later years and her appearances had been somewhat limited as a result.
After suffering a stroke in the first week of March 2003 she was moved to a nursing home in Twickenham, South West London, where she died a week later on 15th March, aged 91 years
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