Lynda Baron

Lilian Baron, known as Lynda Baron (born 24 March 1939^[2]) is a British stage, film and television actress, best known for playing Nurse Gladys Emmanuel in the BBC comedy series Open All Hours which ran from 1976 until 1985 and was reprised for a one-off special in 2013. She has been nominated for a BAFTA.

Between 1993 and 1997, Lynda played Auntie Mabel in the CBeebies programme Come Outside.

Early life

Lilian Baron (born 24 March 1939) in Urmston, Lancashire was originally trained as a dancer at the Royal Academy of Dance.^[2]

Early in her career she appeared in repertory theatre and several West End venues.

Career

Television

Her early television roles included small parts in Crossroads (1964), Up Pompeii (1970), Z-Cars (1971), and the British horror film Hands of the Ripper (1971). Baron appeared on television in BBC Three (1965), a series in the vein of That Was The Week That Was, involving some of the same performers. She also alternated with Annie Ross as the resident singer on Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life (1965). Baron has taken part in the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who three times. She appeared in front of the cameras as Captain Wrack in the 1983 serial Enlightenment, and again in 2011 in Closing Time as Val.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Baron co-starred in the ITV sitcom Oh No, It's Selwyn Froggitt! and the forgotten BBC sitcom A Roof Over My Head. She had small parts in Minder and Last of the Summer Wine. In 1986 she acted with Stanley Lebor in a party political broadcast for the SDP–Liberal Alliance.^[3] Baron also appeared in the 1987 Christmas special of The Two Ronnies. Lynda then went on to appear in the BBC Two comedy series KYTV.^[4]

In the 1990s Baron played Auntie Pat in five episodes of the ITV sitcom The Upper Hand (1992–93). Baron then went on to star in the children's television series Come Outside (1993-97). In that series she played Auntie Mabel, an everyday woman living in a bungalow, set in Denham. She flies round on various adventures in her spotted aeroplane with her dog Pippin.

In 1997 Baron played Renee Turnbull in Coronation Street and took guest roles in Dinnerladies (1998), The Mrs Bradley Mysteries (1998), Sunburn (1999), Nancherrow (1999), and Goodnight Sweetheart (1999).

Baron continued to work regularly on television and the stage in the 2000s, with credits including Fat Friends (2000–2005), The Bill (2000), Doctors (2000, 2006, 2010 and 2011), Peak Practice (2001), Holby City (2002 and 2006), Down to Earth (2005), Rome (2005) and Casualty (2009).

Baron briefly appeared in the BBC One soap opera EastEnders in 2006 as Linda Clarke, the mother of Jane Beale. In September 2008 it was announced that Baron would be returning to EastEnders as Linda Clarke.^[5] She appeared regularly in the series from November 2008 to February 2009.

In August 2010, Baron appeared in an episode of Agatha Christie's Marple on ITV. In September 2010, Baron appeared in a one-off television drama The Road to Coronation Street on BBC Four, a programme which looked back at the early days of the British television soap opera Coronation Street. Baron played the actress Violet Carson who played Ena Sharples in the soap.^[6]

Open All Hours

Baron is best known for playing Nurse Gladys Emmanuel in the popular BBC sitcom series Open All Hours alongside Ronnie Barker and David Jason. The show ran for four series between 1976 and 1985, and was subsequently voted eighth in Britain's Best Sitcom in 2004. At its peak in the late 1970s, when there were only three TV channels, the show drew in an audience of 19 million viewers.

Baron reprised her role as Nurse Gladys Emmanuel in a special one-off episode of Open All Hours, which was shown on BBC One on 26 December 2013. It was entitled Still Open All Hours.^[7] The one-off special was watched by 9.43 million viewers, almost a 40% share in audience figures on Boxing Day.^[8] The following day (27 December 2013), Baron starred in Open All Hours: A Celebration, a programme looking back on the sitcom.

Film

She also appeared in the film Carry On Columbus in 1992. In 2005 Baron appeared in the film Colour Me Kubrick opposite John Malkovich.

Stage

In 1987, Lynda starred in the London production of the musical Follies at the Shaftesbury Theatre.

In 2007 starred in a stage version of In Celebration, opposite Orlando Bloom and Tim Healy.^[9]

In May and June 2009 Baron appeared at the Menier Chocolate Factory in a production of Rookery Nook, a play by Ben Travers.^[10]

From October 2010 to February 2011, Baron starred alongside Maureen Lipman and Roy Hudd in a West End production of When We Are Married by J B Priestley.^[11]

In March 2013, she appeared in a production of D.H. Lawrence's play The Daughter-in-Law at the Sheffield Crucible.^[12] Lynda Baron's other theatre credits include An Inspector Calls, Stepping Out, Entertaining Mr Sloane and The Full Monty.

Other work

She was heard as a singer in the 1966 serial The Gunfighters.

In 1995 Lynda Baron voiced the character of Nanny Ogg in the BBC Radio 4 adaptation of the Terry Pratchett Discworld novel Wyrd Sisters.

In April 2012, Richard Kates released an album entitled "There's Something About You", which featured Lynda Baron performing the track, "A Hard Man Is Good to Find!"^[13]

On 11 May 2012, Baron appeared in the Afternoon Play on BBC Radio 4, Mrs Lowry and Son, playing the mother of artist LS Lowry.^[14]

Awards

Baron was nominated for the 2011 British Academy Television Award for "Best Supporting Actress" for her role in Coronation Street.

Filmography

References

External links

• Lynda Baron at the Internet Movie Database