Dora Bryan
Acting
Born February 7, 1923, Parbold, Lancashire, England, UK
Dora May Bryan OBE was an English actress of stage, film and television. Born Dora May Broadbent, her career began in pantomime as a child actor. In World War II she joined the ENSA in Italy to entertain British troops. After having established herself as a versatile stage actress, covering everything from drama and comedy to musicals, she started to appear in film in the late 1940s, and in 1968 she even had her own TV series, "According to Dora". At one point in her career she was Britain's highest-paid star. She was active on stage until the mid 1990s and continued to work in film and television until 2005, when she finally had to give up the acting profession as she could no longer remember her lines. Her autobiography According To Dora was published in 1987. In 1996, she was awarded an OBE in recognition of her services to acting and the same year she was also awarded the Laurence Olivier Award for her role in the West End production of the Harold Pinter play "The Birthday Party". She was married to British cricket player Bill Lawton from 1954 to his death in 2008. She lived in a nursing home in Hove, outside Brighton, until her death in 2014.
Filmography
- 2005MirrorMask — Aunt Nan
- 2003Thora Hird Tribute — Self (archive footage, uncredited)
- Doctors — Lily Anderson
- Hippies — Dame Nelly Fletcher
- dinnerladies — Connie
- 1996Absolutely Fabulous: The Last Shout — Millie
- 1995Bed — Bosom Lady
- Mother's Ruin
- Frank Stubbs Promotes — Molly Bramley
- Absolutely Fabulous — Dolly
- Heartbeat — Jane Thompson
- Virtual Murder — Mrs Mim
- 1991Palmer — Monica
- Performance — Bosom Lady
- 1989Apartment Zero — Margaret McKinney
- Casualty — Hester Blewett
- 1983Screamtime — Emma
- Last of the Summer Wine — Roz
- Both Ends Meet — Dora Page
- 1972Up the Front — Auntie Cora Crumpington
- 1971Hands of the Ripper — Mrs. Golding
- Before the Fringe
- 1967Two a Penny — Ruby Hopkins
- 1966The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery — Amber Spottiswood
- 1966The Sandwich Man — Mrs. De Vere
- World in Action
- 1961A Taste of Honey — Helen
- Happily Ever After — Dora Morgan
- 1960Alice Through the Looking Box — Queen
- 1960Follow That Horse!
- 1960The Night We Got the Bird — Julie Skidmore
- 1959Desert Mice — Gay Bennett
- 1959Operation Bullshine — Pvt. Cox
- 1958Carry On Sergeant — Norah
- Educating Archie
- 1958The Man Who Wouldn't Talk — Telephonist
- 1957Small Hotel — (uncredited)
- Theatre Night — Julie Skidmore
- 1956Child in the House — Cassie
- 1956The Green Man — Lily
- 1955As Long As They're Happy — May
- 1955The Cockleshell Heroes — Myrtie
- 1955You Lucky People! — Hortense Tipp
- 1954Fast and Loose — Mary Rawlings, the maid
- 1954Harmony Lane — Comedian
- 1954Mad About Men — Berengaria
- 1954The Crowded Day — Marge
- 1954The Young Lovers — Switchboard Operator (uncredited)
- 1954You Know What Sailors Are
- 1953Street Corner — Prostitute
- 1953The Fake — Barmaid
- 1953The Intruder — Dora Bee
- 1953The Real Thing — Dora
- 1953Women of Twilight — Olga
- 195213 East Street — Valerie
- 1952Gift Horse — Glad Flanagan
- 1952Miss Robin Hood — Pearl
- 1952Mother Riley Meets the Vampire — Tilly
- 1952The Ringer — Mrs. Hackett
- 1952Time, Gentlemen, Please! — Peggy Stebbins
- 1952Whispering Smith vs. Scotland Yard — Miss La Fosse
- 1951Circle of Danger — Bubbles Fitzgerald
- 1951High Treason — Mrs. Bowers
- 1951Lady Godiva Rides Again — Movie Publicist
- 1951No Highway in the Sky
- 1951Scarlet Thread — Maggie
- 1951The Quiet Woman — Elsie Tripp
- 1950No Trace — Maisie
- 1950Something in the City — Waitress
- 1950The Blue Lamp — Maisie
- 1950Traveller's Joy — Eva
- 1949Adam and Evelyne — Blonde Sales Assistant (uncredited)
- 1949Don't Ever Leave Me — Talkative Hairdresser (uncredited)
- 1949Now Barabbas — Winnie
- 1949Once Upon a Dream — Barmaid
- 1949The Cure for Love — Jenny Jenkins
- 1949The Interrupted Journey — the waitress
- 1949The Perfect Woman — Model in Shop
- 1948No Room at the Inn — The Girl
- 1948The Fallen Idol — Rose
- 1947Odd Man Out — Girl in Telephone Kiosk (uncredited)
- According To Dora
Appearances as themselves (4)
- An Audience with... — Self
- 1964The Dream Machine — Self
- 1960Hello London — herself
- The Sooty Show — Herself