Liza Goddard

Liza Goddard (born 20 January 1950) is an English television and stage actress, best known for her work in the 1970s and 1980s.

Early life

Goddard was born in Smethwick, West Midlands, England. She is the daughter of British producer David Goddard and attended Farnham Girls' Grammar School, before he moved the family to Australia when she was 15 upon his appointment as Head of Drama at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Career

Goddard made early television appearances in Australia, including episode 100 of Homicide ("The Traveller", 1966), and the ABC drama play "Romanoff & Juliet" (1967), and a brief (non-speaking, non-credited) appearance in the feature film They're A Weird Mob (1966). However, she is best remembered in Australia for her role as Clarissa "Clancy" Merrick in Skippy the Bush Kangaroo in which she appeared in the first two series and 48 episodes.^[1][2][3]

After returning to the UK in 1969 as an adult, she was cast as Victoria Edgecombe, the character created by Terence Brady and Charlotte Bingham in Take Three Girls (1969),^[2] and then its sequel Take Three Women (1982). She also had a supporting role in the 1972 movie Ooh… You Are Awful. Her career breakthrough was as April in The Brothers (1972–76), which also featured her first husband, Colin Baker. She appeared as Jocelyn in National Pelmet, the Series 2 opener of critically acclaimed drama Minder.

A comedy role alongside Donal Donnelly in Yes, Honestly (1976–77), by Terence Brady and Charlotte Bingham followed, as did a role, with Christopher Biggins, in an unsuccessful BBC1 sitcom Watch This Space (1980), by Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe. This was followed by Pig in the Middle (1980–83) also written by Terence Brady and Charlotte Bingham in which she co-starred with Joanna Van Gyseghem, Terence Brady and John Quayle. Goddard was one of the 'explorers' who were evaporated in a (now missing) episode of the BBC science fiction quiz programme The Adventure Game (1980), played a space pirate in the Doctor Who story Terminus (1983), and appeared in Roll Over Beethoven (1985). Goddard appeared in Woof!, a Children's ITV programme first broadcast in 1989. This long-running series told the adventures of a schoolboy who turned into a dog at any given time; his efforts to conceal his secret from his parents were aided by his teacher Mrs Jessop, played by Goddard. Her third husband, producer and director David Cobham, created this series. She had earlier appeared in the TV adaptation of Brendon Chase, also produced and directed by Cobham.

For many years, she was also the female team leader on long-running quiz/panel show Give Us A Clue, replacing Una Stubbs in the role.

She appeared as Laurel Manasotti, who had an affair with Jimmy Mulville's character Donald, in the ITV sitcom That's Love.

She later had a recurring role as Philippa Vale in Bergerac and alongside Dawn French and Catherine Tate in Wild West (2002). In 2007 she appeared in the Midsomer Murders episode "A Picture of Innocence", reuniting her with Bergerac star John Nettles. In 2013 she toured with the official Agatha Christie Theatre Company in Go Back for Murder, an adaptation of the book Five Little Pigs.

She was the president of the Hawk and Owl Trust from 2001 to 2010,^[4] and her husband David Cobham was vice-president.^[5]

Personal life

• Goddard was first married to former Doctor Who actor Colin Baker (who played the Sixth Doctor), and then to 1970s pop star Alvin Stardust; she is now married to producer and director David Cobham.
• In the 1980s, Goddard was reported to be in a relationship with British television executive Michael Grade who, as controller of BBC1, was responsible for firing Colin Baker from Doctor Who in 1986. Former Doctor Who production manager Gary Downie has claimed that Grade fired Baker for personal reasons: "There's a history between Michael Grade and Colin. Liza Goddard was Colin's wife. And she was Michael Grade's best friend. The divorce was acrimonious and she moved into Michael Grade's house while she was getting over the divorce. And I'll say no more. Michael Grade was determined. He did not want Colin working for the BBC."^[6]
• Goddard lives near Dereham,^[7] Norfolk, with her husband and a home full of rescued animals. Goddard also works with the RSPCA amongst other charities.
• She suffered and recovered from breast cancer in 1997.^[8]
• Her first child, Thom Goddard, is a film and television producer. He owns All Star Media International and All Star Films and lives in London.
• Her second child, Sophie Jewry, runs a graphic design and printing business and lives in Norfolk.

References