Victoria Wood

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Victoria Wood, (19 May 1953 – 20 April 2016,) was an English comedian, actor, composer, screenwriter, producer, and film producer.

Wood wrote and appeared in scores of sketches, plays, films, and sitcoms over the decades, and her live comedy act was interspersed with her own compositions, which she performed on the piano.

A large part of her humour was grounded in daily life and included references to sports, attitudes, and products that are thought to exemplify Britain.

She was known for her abilities in investigating culture and in satirizing social class issues. Wood began her career in 1974, appearing on the ATV talent show New Faces.

Victoria Wood (1988) became a comedy actress in the 1980s, winning a BAFTA Television Award in 1986 for the sketch series Victoria Wood as Seen on TV (1985–87), making her second BAFTA entry for An Audience.

She wrote and co-starred in Pat and Margaret (1994), and the sitcom Dinnerladies (1998–2000), which she also produced in the 1990s.

Housewife, 49, is one of two BAFTA TV Awards, including Best Actress for her 2006 ITV1 television film.

Julie Walters, Celia Imrie, Duncan Preston, and Anne Reid were among her long-time collaborators.

In 2006, Wood ranked tenth in ITV's list of the 50 Greatest TV Stars of the United Kingdom.

Early life

Victoria Wood, the youngest child of Stanley Wood, an insurance salesman who also wrote songs for his company's Christmas parties, was the author of the musical play "Clogs" in 1887 and later wrote part time for Coronation Street, Northern Drift, and others; and Ellen "Nellie" Wood (née Mape). She had three siblings: Chris, Chris' brother, and two sisters, Penny and Rosalind.

Wood was born in Prestwich and brought up in Bury's immediate vicinity. She attended Fairfield County Primary School and Bury Grammar School for Girls, where she immediately discovered herself out of her depth.

Wood had eating disorders, but her father gave her a piano for her 15th birthday in 1968. "The good thing about being alone is that you get a good look at what's going on," she later said. I was reading, writing, and playing at the piano all the time. I was doing a lot of other things that helped me to succeed. She joined the Rochdale Youth Theatre Workshop later this year, where she felt she was "in the right place and knew what I was doing" and gave a good impression with her humor and writing skills. She then moved to Birmingham's Department of Drama and Theatre Arts.

Personal life

In March 1980, Wood married stage magician Geoffrey Durham, and they had two children: Grace, born 1 October 1988, and Henry, born 2 May 1992. The couple split in October 2002 and divorced in 2005, but they continued to live near one another and were on good terms. In Victoria Wood's Midlife Christmas, her son Henry made a cameo appearance as a child. He appeared in the accompanying 'behind the scenes' program Victoria Wood: What Larks! Both children were already appearing as extras on Victoria Wood with All the Trimmings in 2000.

Wood attended Quaker meetings with her husband and was vegetarian, once remarking, "I'm all about killing animals and turning them into handbags; I just don't want to have to eat them."

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Career

Wood began her show business career as an undergraduate, appearing on the television talent show New Faces in 1974. It culminated in an appearance in The Summer Show, a sketch show starring the series' winners. A new twist on the BBC's consumer affairs show That's Life was a novelty act. In 1976, the first generation of the United States was born. Julie Walters, a long-serving collaborator, had applied to the Manchester School of Theatre in 1971, then part of Manchester Polytechnic. The two actors appeared in the same theatre revue In 1978 (for which Wood wrote a brief review), coincidentally. Wood's first play Talent (in 1978), starring Hazel Clyne (in a role previously written for Walters), received an award for Most Promising New Writer, thanks to its popularity. Talent and invited Wood to create a television version, according to Peter Eckersley, the head of drama at Granada Television. This time, Julie Walters took the lead role, while Wood reprised her stage role.

Wood's sequel to Nearly a Happy Ending came as a result of the success of Talent's television version. A little later, she wrote a third play for Granada, Happiness Since I Met You, starring Duncan Preston as the male lead. She wrote and appeared in the stage play Good Fun in 1980.

Eckersley welcomed Wood with a sketch display, but Wood was unsure about the venture; she only agreed to go forward if Walters received equal compensation. Eckersley was given the obvious name – Wood and Walters – and the pilot episode was shot. Duncan Preston and a supporting cast were central to a complete story. Eckersley died in the period between the pilot's completion and the series's shooting. Wood credited him with giving her her first big break and believed Wood and Walters were victims as a result of their deaths. She was not impressed by Brian Armstrong, his replacement, and she was concerned that he had recruited unsuitable supporting actors.

In a remake of Derek Griffiths' original script of the series, Wood appeared as a host in Yorkshire Television's 1984 schools television show for hearing-impaired children, Insight. On BBC Radio 4's Just a Minute in 1982 and 1983, she appeared as a panelist.

In a five-week run at the King's Head Theatre in Islington in October 1983, Wood performed her first solo stand-up show, Lucky Bag. In February 1984, the show was moved to the Ambassadors Theatre for a 12-night run. Lucky Bag went on a short UK tour in November and December 1984 and was also released as a live album at the Edinburgh Festival in 1983.

Wood left Granada in 1984 for the BBC, giving her greater creative control over projects. Victoria Wood, a sketch show that appeared on television, was born later this year. Wood chose the actors: Julie Walters and Duncan Preston starred once more, as did Duncan Preston. Celia Imrie, Susie Blake, and Patricia Routledge were among Wood's co-stars. The Acorn Antiques collection of sketches, parodying the low-budget soap opera Crossroads, was seen on television, and it was rumored to be named after an antiques store in her birthplace. Acorn Antiques is best known for their characters such as "Mrs Overall" (played by Walters), the intentionally bad camera angles and wobbling sets, and Celia Imrie's sarcastic tone as "Miss Babs." "The Ballad of Barry and Freda," one of Wood's most popular comedy tunes, "Let's Do It" appeared on this program. It tells the tale of Freda (an introverted man afraid of intimate relationships) and Barry (an introvert man afraid of intimate affairs), while simultaneously avoiding all tabophors.

Wood went on tour with Lucky Bag in March 1985 following the success of the first series of Victoria Wood: As Seen on television. Scene, a BBC2 documentary later this year, featured a video of Wood preparing for the tour.

Victoria Wood's second series: As Seen on TV was released in 1986. Wood went on a short 23-date tour of England and Scotland in March and April before filming began in the summer. In 1987, As Seen on television's last 'Special' 40-minute episode was released and later that year.

Wood went on the road in 1987 for what was to be her biggest tour ever. The tour included a sell-out two-week run at the London Palladium, as well as a second leg in 1988.

Victoria Wood for ITV appeared in the BAFTA-winning An Audience in 1988. At the time of recording, the woman was six months pregnant. Victoria Wood Live, a British Broadcasting Company, appeared in 1988 at the Brighton Dome for her second live performance.

Wood began moving away from the sketch show format to more self-contained works, many with a bittersweet note. Wood was featured in many individual stories, including "We'd Quite Like To Apologise," set in an airport departure lounge, and "Over to Pam," based on a fictional talk show.

Wood began a large tour of the United Kingdom in May 1990, which was followed by a ten-week stint at the Strand Theatre in London called Victoria Wood Up West. Wood performed the show on the road again in March and April 1991, where it was first seen at the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton and then released as Victoria Wood Sold Out in 1991.

She appeared on the Comic Relief single "The Smile Song," the flipside to "The Stonk" (a film produced by ITV comedians Gareth Hale and Norman Pace with charity supergroup The Stonkers). On March 23, 1991, a UK number one single became the country's 22nd-best-selling single of the year. However, even though it was a joint-single (with "The Smile Song" credited on the front of the single cover and listed as track 2 rather than as B-side), the UK singles chart compilers (now the Official Charts Company) did not mention her as a top-one in a situation resembling "Should I Stay or Should I Go" by The Clash in a situation similar to BAD II's "Understand" in sing

Victoria Wood's All Day Breakfast, 1992, Victoria Wood's All Day Breakfast, and later developed into a children's film, voicing all the characters in the CBBC's Puppydog Tales series.

Wood began a seven-month tour of the United Kingdom in April 1993. The 104-date tour set box office records, including 15 sell out shows at London's Royal Albert Hall, Birmingham, Bristol, Nottingham, Manchester, Leicester, Leicester, Manchester, Liverpool, Bournemouth, Oxford, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Leeds, and Hull.

Pat and Margaret (1994), starring Wood and Julie Walters as long-lost sisters with very different lifestyles, continues to be her go back to stand-alone performances with a poignant undercurrent to the comedy.

Wood appeared in the one-off BBC 50-minute programme based on her 1993/1994 stage play Victoria Wood's Live in Your Own Home. The special featured stand-up routines, character monologues, and songs. On VHS, an extended 80-minute version was released.

Wood began exploring the United Kingdom in May 1996, performing at Leicester, Sheffield, Ipswich, Blackpool, Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, Newcastle, Newcastle, Bournemouth, Nottingham, Nottingham, Manchester, Manchester, and Cambridge. In the fall, the tour came to an end with another 15 sell-out shows at Royal Albert Hall in London. In April 1997 in Liverpool, the tour returned to Australia and New Zealand in the summer. It was later revealed as Victoria Wood Live 1997.

Victoria Wood, Real Life The Songs, Wood released a collection of 14 of her songs in October 1997.

Her first sitcom dinnerladies (1998) maintained her now established community of mainly female, predominantly middle-aged characters, but with a counterpoint to sadder themes.

Victoria Wood of All the Trimmings was featured on her regular cast members as well as a group of special guest stars including Hugh Laurie, Angela Rippon, Bob Monkhouse, Delia Smith and Roger Moore in December 2000.

Wood began her last stand-up tour in 2001, Victoria Wood at It Again, but Wood had to cancel a little due to Wood's inability to do an emergency hysterectomy right before the tour was scheduled to begin. She rewrote the entire first half of the production and integrated the operation into her performance. In 2002, the 62-date tour took place at the Royal Albert Hall for 12 nights and a further 23 dates.

Wood tended to shift away from comedy to drama during this time. Victoria Wood's Sketch Show Story (2002) and Victoria Wood's Big Fat Documentary (2005) continued to produce one-off specials, including Victoria Wood's Sketch Show Story (2002) and Victoria Wood's Big Fat Documentary (2005).

Wood wrote Acorn Antiques: The Musical!, which opened in 2005 at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London, and was directed by Trevor Nunn. It starred several of the original cast members, with Sally Ann Triplett playing Miss Berta (played in the series by Wood). For Monday and Wednesday matinee performances, Wood played Julie Walters, in the lead role of Mrs Overall.

Wood wrote the one-off ITV serious drama Housewife, 49 (2006), an extension of Nella Last's diaries, and played the central role of an introverted middle-aged woman who finds new hope and friendships in Lancashire during the Second World War. Wood, a 49-year-old housewife, was lauded for both her acting and writing for this drama, a rare double. Stephanie Cole and David Threlfall were also featured in the film, as well as Sue Wallace, in a small role, who had worked before and studied with Wood at Birmingham.

Wood directed Acorn Antiques: The Musical in November 2006. This time with a new cast. In December, the musical appeared at the Lowry in Salford and toured the United Kingdom from January to July 2007.

In January 2007, she made an appearance in a string of commercials starring famous people working for Asda. Wood was featured in the bakery and introduced a catchphrase – "There's no place like ASDA." Wood appeared in a South Bank Show in March 2007, and she is the only female subject of two South Bank programmes (the previous event was in September 1996).

Wood appeared in a three-part travel documentary on BBC One called Victoria's Empire, in which she travelled around the world in search of the British Empire's past, cultural significance, and customs in which it ruled. In the first program, she left Victoria Station, London, for Calcutta, Hong Kong, and Borneo. She travelled to Ghana, Jamaica, and Newfoundland, as part of the final program, New Zealand, Australia, and Zambia, finishing at the Victoria Falls.

Victoria Wood Live and Dinnerladies, as Seen on Television, as her first screening on British television since 1995, marking Wood's contribution to her work with a weekend marathon of programs from 3 to 4 November 2007.

Wood performed on stand-up comedy in the Best Birthday BAFTA show on October 28, 2007, as well as other household names. On Wednesday, the show was broadcast on ITV1 beginning on Wednesday, November 7th. In the Granada dramatization of Noel Streatfeild's book Ballet Shoes, she appeared as "Nana" on Boxing Day 2007.

Wood, a host on the radio show Desert Island Discs, said she was about to make her first film appearance, writing a script titled as a middle-aged comedy. Wood appeared on the celebrity guest panel on the show The Apprentice: You're Fired! On BBC Two, the show is based on BBC Two. She appeared as a panelist on the first two episodes of a series of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue.

Wood played God for Liberace in 2009. Live From Heaven by Julian Woolford at London's Leicester Square Theatre in 2009. Wood's First For Nine Years, Victoria Wood's Midlife Christmas Special, a one-off Christmas sketch-show special, was broadcast on BBC One at 21:00 on Christmas Eve 2009. Following Bo Beaumont's spoof of BBC period dramas, Wood and Julie Walters reunited Wood with Julie Walters in Lark Pies; Beyond the Marigolds, a commentary on personal injury claims; and a reprise of Wood's most well-known song "The Ballad of Barry and Freda" ("Let's Do It"), a musical number with tap-dancers and a band; a spoof BBC period dramas Beyond the a Victoria Wood: On TV, a 90-minute documentary looking back on her career, was broadcast on BBC Two on December 21, while Victoria Wood, What Larks!, a behind-the-scenes special on Midlife Christmas, was broadcast on BBC One on December 30th.

Wood appeared in a BBC drama Eric Morecambe's mother, Sadie Bartholomew, on New Year's Day 2011.

Wood wrote, produced, and directed That Day We Sang, a musical set in 1969 with flashbacks to 1929. It tells the tale of a middle-aged couple who find love after watching on a television show about a choir they both performed in 40 years ago. Despite the fact that the characters are fictional, the choir performed with the Hallé Youth Orchestra in Manchester's Free Trade Hall, a record that has sold more than a million copies. Wood wrote the musical's score, apart from the pieces on the 1929 film (Purcell's "Nymphs and Shepherds" and Hansel and Gretel's Evening Benediction). She narrated The Talent Show Story, the 2012 miniseries.

Wood appeared on BBC Radio Two's Saturday morning Graham Norton Show on December 22, 2012. Loving Miss Hatto, a documentary written by Wood about concert pianist Joyce Hatto's life and her role in the controversies over her music and her role in the hoax, aired on December 23rd. Wood's Nice Cup of Tea, a series about tea, was released in April 2013. In BBC Scotland's Case Histories starring Jason Isaacs, she played former constable-turned-security guard Tracy in 2013. She appeared in an episode of QI on December 13, 2013, and around the same time, she appeared on I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue during the show's 60th season, singing the Bob the Builder theme "Can We Fix It?" "I Dreamed a Dream" was the theme of the movie. Wood appeared in the television commercial for the tour of Coronation Street's old set in March 2014. On December 5, 2014, Wood appeared on BBC's The Graham Norton Show as a guest. On December 26, 2014, BBC Two's television movie version of That Day We Sang, starring Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton, was shown on December 26, 2014.

Wood appeared in a celebrity version of The Great British Bake Off for Comic Relief in early 2015 and was named Star Baker in her episode. She appeared with Timothy Spall in Sky television's three-part television version of Fungus the Bogeyman, which was first seen on December 28, 2014, and was her last acting role.

Wood was known for using several of the same actors in her projects, which comedian Tiff Stevenson later described as "this core group of people she knew she worked well with, and why would [she] want to leave that?" "I wouldn't say that we were her favourite actors; I think we were like a company that she owned," Duncan Preston said about these recurring appearances. Wood's "team" strategy, Celia Imrie said, "meant that we could work together really quickly." An summary of these recurring cast members is given below:

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