Creator / Liz Smith

The Queen of Cordon Bleugh.

"The moment that my life transformed was when I was standing in Hamleys one Christmas, flogging toys and I got a message from this young director named Mike Leigh. I was nearly 50 at the time, but he wanted a middle-aged woman to do improvisations. I went to an audition, and I got the job of the mother in this improvised film – Bleak Moments, his first film – and it changed my life."

Liz Smith, MBE, born Betty Gleadle, (11 December 1921 — 24 December 2016), was a British actress best known for playing Mrs. Cropley in The Vicar of Dibley and Nana in The Royle Family.

In 1971, she made her film debut in Bleak Moments, which started her acting career a little later than most - at the age of 49. Following this she starred in It's a Lovely Day Tomorrow. She appeared as Madame Balls in The Pink Panther Strikes Again but was cut from the film. Her scenes were reused for Trail of the Pink Panther, and she went on to reprise the role in Curse of the Pink Panther and Son of the Pink Panther.

At the start of The '90s, Smith had a recurring role in 2point4 Children as Bette, Bill's mother. In 1994, she was cast as Mrs. Cropley (the Trope Namer for Cordon Bleugh Chef) in The Vicar of Dibley and remained with the programme until she was Killed Off for Real in the 1996 Easter Episode, "The Easter Bunny".

In 1998, she was given another starring sitcom role as Nana in The Royle Family. She was a frequent face in the series throughout the original run and (much like in Dibley) was killed off in a special, the 2006 episode "The Queen of Sheba").

Her acting career ended in 2009 due to ill health after a series of strokes but she was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire that same year.

She died at the age of 95.

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Works on TV Tropes she appeared in:

Films

• Leo the Last (1970) — Raving Tenant (Uncredited Role)
• The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976) — Madame Marta Balls (Deleted Role)
• The Duellists (1977) — Fortune Teller
• The Monster Club (1981) — Villager (Uncredited Role)
• The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981) — Mrs. Fairley
• Trail of the Pink Panther (1982) — Madame Marta Balls
• Curse of the Pink Panther (1983) — Madame Marta Balls
• A Christmas Carol (1984) — Mrs. Dilber
• Little Dorrit (1987) — Mrs. Bangham
• Apartment Zero (1988) — Mary Louise McKinney
• High Spirits (1988) — Mrs. Lavinia Plunkett
• The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989) — Grace
• Son of the Pink Panther (1993) — Madame Marta Balls
• Secrets & Lies (1996) — Cat Owner
• The Revengers' Comedies (1998) — Winnie
• Alice in Wonderland (1999) — Miss Lory
• A Christmas Carol (1999) — Mrs. Dilber
• Donovan Quick (2000) — Granny
• A Christmas Carol (2000) — Joyce
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) — Grandma Georgina
• The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) — Mrs. Mulch
• Oliver Twist (2005) — Old Woman
• Keeping Mum (2005) — Mrs. Parker
• The Magic Flute (2006) — Old Papagena
• City of Ember (2008) — Granny

Series

• Play for Today, 7 episodes:
  • "Hard Labour" (1973) — Mrs. Thornley
  • "Jack Point" (1973) — Mrs. Mathews
  • "Taking Leave" (1974) — Woman
  • "Breath" (1975) — Mrs. Pritchett
  • "Keep an Eye on Albert" (1976) — Mrs. Oxfam
  • "Spend Spend Spend" (1977) — Keith's Granny
  • "Murder Rap" (1980) — Elfie
• Last of the Summer Wine, episode "Compo's Suit" (1973) — Housekeeper
• The Sweeney, episode "Hit and Run" (1975) — Mrs. Davies
• Emmerdale, 4 episodes (1975) — Hilda Semple
• Ripping Yarns, episode "The Testing of Eric Olthwaite" (1977) — Mrs. Bag
• The Bill, 5 episodes:
  • "The Drugs Raid" (1984) — Maggie
  • "Dead Man's Boots" (1991) — Mrs. West
  • "Sucking Eggs" (1998) — Edna Finch
  • 2 episodes^{show list} "Jeopardy", "Gone Native" (2002) — Harriet "Tatsie" Wright
• Rainbow, episode "Overhelpfuls" (1985) — Auntie Liz
• The Life and Loves of a She-Devil, 3 episodes (1986) — Mrs. Fisher
• Screen Two, 3 episodes:
  • "On the Palm" (1987) — Mrs. Slatterthwaite
  • "Words of Love" (1989) — Gran
  • "Drowning in the Shallow End" (1990) — Agent
• A Bit of Fry and Laurie, 1 episode (1990) — Woman Returning Suits
• 2point4 Children, 12 episodes:
  • 11 episodes (1991-99) — Bette
  • 2 episodes^{show list} "The Secret Diary of David Porter", "Vertigo" (1993-96) — Aunt Belle
• Bottom, episode "Apocalypse" (1991) — Fortune Teller
• The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, episode "Barcelona, May 1917" (1992) — Delfina
• Lovejoy, episode "God Helps Those" (1993) — Florence
• Cluedo, 6 episodes^{show list} "Finders Keepers", "Seven Deadly Sinners", "The Word, the Flesh and the Devil", "The Hanged Man", "Where There's a Will", "Publish & Be Damned" (1993) — Mrs. Blanche White
• The Vicar of Dibley, 7 episodes^{show list} "The Arrival", "Songs of Praise", "Community Spirit", "The Window & the Weather", "Election", "Animals", "The Easter Bunny" (1994-96) — Mrs. Letitia Cropley
• Screen One, episode "Doggin' Around" (1994) — Mrs. Thompson
• CASUAL+Y, episode "Hit and Run" (1995) — Tillie
• The Queen's Nose, 7 episodes (1996-99) — Grandma
• The Royle Family, 11 episodes (1998-2006) — Nana Norma Speakman
• The Canterbury Tales, episode "Leaving London" (1998) — Hag
• Animated Tales of the World , episode "A Story from Taiwan: Aunt Tiger" (2002) — Aunt
• Doctors, episode "An English Woman's Home" (2003) — Agatha Clifford
• Lark Rise to Candleford, 10 episodes (2008) — Zillah
• The Tunnel, 2 episodes (2013) — Harriet Stone

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