Victoria Wood
Actor
Biography
Victoria Wood CBE (19 May 1953 – 20 April 2016) was an English comedian, actress, singer and songwriter, screenwriter and director. Wood wrote and starred in sketches, plays, films and sitcoms, and her live comedy act was interspersed with her own compositions, which she accompanied on piano. Wood also composed and performed the theme music for her award winning BBC sitcom Dinnerladies. Much of her humour was grounded in everyday life, and included references to popular British media and brand names of quintessentially British products. She was noted for her skills in observing culture, and in satirising social classes.
She started her career in 1974 by winning the ATV talent show New Faces. It wasn't until the 1980s that she began to establish herself as a comedy star, with the award-winning television series Victoria Wood As Seen on TV and became one of Britain's most popular stand-up comics. In 1998, she wrote and starred in the (again, award-winning) sitcom Dinnerladies. In 2006, she won two BAFTA awards for her one-off drama for ITV1, Housewife, 49. Wood frequently worked with long-term collaborators Julie Walters, Duncan Preston and Celia Imrie. Victoria Wood died on 20 April 2016 after a short battle with cancer. She was 62.
As Director
Filmography
Ballet Shoes
as Nana 2008
The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse
as Queen Mary II 2005
The Borrowers
as Granny Driver 2011
The Wind in the Willows
as The Tea Lady 1996
Dying Laughing
as Self 2017
Housewife, 49
as Nella Last 2006
Pat and Margaret
as Margaret 1994
Eric & Ernie
as Sadie Bartholomew 2011
Victoria Wood with All the Trimmings
as Self/Various Characters 2000
The Secret Policeman's Other Ball
as Self 1982
An Audience With Victoria Wood
as Self 1988
Fungus The Bogeyman
2015
Victoria Wood - Live
as Herself 1997
Victoria Wood's Midlife Christmas
2009
Victoria Wood's All Day Breakfast
1992
Victoria Wood: What Larks! Or... What I Did on My Holidays
as Self 2009
Parkinson at 50
as Self (archive footage) 2021