Linda Smith (comedian)

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Linda Smith
Born 29 January 1958(1958-01-29)
Erith, Kent, England
Died 27 February 2006 (aged 48)
Years active 1980s–2006

Linda Smith (29 January 1958 – 27 February 2006) was an English stand-up comic and comedy writer. She was born in Erith in Kent (now part of London), but had no particular fondness for her home town, once joking, "It's not twinned with anywhere, but it does have a suicide pact with Dagenham".[1]

Contents

[edit] Career

Smith was educated at Erith College (now Bexley College), and gained a place at University of Sheffield, graduating in English and Drama. She joined a professional theatre company and turned to comedy. In 1987, she won the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year,[2] then known as the New London Comic Award, and performed on the Edinburgh Fringe before breaking into radio comedy. Her first appearances on national radio were on Radio 5's The Treatment in 1997. She was subsequently a regular panellist on The News Quiz and Just a Minute, and appeared frequently on I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue (from June 2001 onwards), Have I Got News for You, Mock the Week, Countdown and QI. She wrote and starred in her own Radio 4 sitcom, Linda Smith's A Brief History of Timewasting.

In 2002, she was voted "Wittiest Living Person" by listeners to BBC Radio 4's Word of Mouth.[3] During the News Quiz she would often mockingly use Richard Littlejohn's catchphrase "to hell in a handcart". After appearing on Radio 4's Devout Sceptics to discuss her beliefs she was asked by the British Humanist Association (BHA) to become president of the society, a role she occupied with great commitment from 2004 until her death.

On 27 February 2006, Smith died at the age of 48, following a battle with ovarian cancer.[4] Before she died, she insisted that her funeral be conducted in a humanist manner. Her memorial at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East on 10 March,[5] was dedicated to the BHA. Smith's life and work was honoured at the British Academy Television Awards in 2006. The first episode of Dawn French's Girls Who Do: Comedy, was dedicated to the memory of Linda Smith. Her obituaries described her style as beguiling, apparently vulnerable but often waspish. She excelled at deadpan diatribes about everyday irritations. Her most regularly quoted joke was probably her description of former home secretary David Blunkett as being "Satan's bearded folk singer".

Two tribute gigs were held in her memory. The first took place on 14 May 2006, at the Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield, entitled In Praise of an English Radical, the second on 4 June 2006, at the Victoria Palace Theatre, London, entitled Tippy Top: An Evening of Linda Smith's Favourite Things. In August 2006, Andy Hamilton presented a BBC Radio 4 tribute entitled Linda Smith: A Modern Radio Star. An anthology on CD called "I Think the Nurses Are Stealing My Clothes: The Very Best of Linda Smith", as well as a book of the same name were released in November 2006. A tribute show of the same name was aired on BBC Radio 4 on 10 November 2006. Smith's sell-out stage show "Wrap Up Warm" has been available on CD from November 2006.

Linda Smith was working on a third series of A Brief History of Timewasting before she became incapacitated by her illness; as a tribute, digital radio station BBC 7 ran the previous two series, the first all on one day.

[edit] Books

  • Sit-Down Comedy (contributor to anthology, ed Malcolm Hardee & John Fleming) Ebury Press/Random House, 2003. ISBN-10: 0091889243; ISBN-13: 978-0091889241

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Obituary: Linda Smith" The Guardian, 1 March 2006. Retrieved on 11 July 2007.
  2. ^ "Peter Aterman voted New Act of the Year 2004". TheSlant.co.uk. Retrieved on 16 September 2007.
  3. ^ "Press Releases & Press Packs". BBC Radio. 30 May 2002. Retrieved on 16 September 2007.
  4. ^ "President of the British Humanist Association". British Humanist Association. Retrieved on 16 September 2007.
  5. ^ "An Evening of Linda Smith's Favourite Things". TheSlant.co.uk, 12 May 2006. Retrieved on 16 September 2007.

[edit] External links

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[edit] Video

[edit] Audio


Persondata
NAME Smith, Linda
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Comedian
DATE OF BIRTH 29 January 1958(1958-01-29)
PLACE OF BIRTH Erith, Kent, England
DATE OF DEATH 2006-02-27
PLACE OF DEATH