Kathy Staff, born Minnie Higginbottom, (12 July 1928 — 13 December 2008), was a British actress best known for playing Nora Batty in Last of the Summer Wine.
1946 saw the beginning of her career in acting with time spent touring repertory companies. Staff was never fond of her birth name, and around this time changed her name to Katherine Brant. In 1951, she married John Staff and so went on with Kathy Staff as her Stage Name. She had planned to give up acting at this point to spend more time with her family but took up work appearing as an extra in many series by Granada Television.
In 1973, she was cast as battleaxe Nora Batty in the pilot of Last of the Summer Wine. Nora - and by extension, Staff - were some of the most recognisable faces from the series. A frequent Running Gag was Compo (played by Bill Owen) pointing out her wrinkled stockings, much to Nora's annoyance. When Owen died midway through Series 21, Staff was heartbroken to lose such a dear friend and colleague and left the series for a period. She later returned however and remained a fixture of Summer Wine until her death.
Other TV roles for Staff included Doris Luke in Crossroads (both the original '70s-'80s run and the 2000s Revival), Vera Hopkins in Coronation Street, and Mrs. Blewitt in Open All Hours - a role which even Staff herself admitted was basically the same as Nora Batty.
She died of a brain tumor at the age of 80.
Works on TV Tropes she appeared in:
Film- The War Game (1966) — Interviewee (Uncredited Role)
- The Dresser (1983) — Bombazine Woman
- Little Dorrit (1987) — Mrs. Tickit
- Mary Reilly (1996) — Mrs. Kent
- Coronation Street, 36 episodes (1962-75):
- 1 episode (1962) — Woman in Audience (Uncredited Role)
- 1 episode (1963) — Customer
- 1 episode (1968) — Mrs. Thacker
- 1 episode (1971) — Mrs. Helliwell
- 32 episodes (1973-75) — Vera Hopkins
- The Brontës of Haworth, episode "Delusion's Song" (1973) — Bessy Hardacre
- Last of the Summer Wine, 245 episodes (1973-2008) — Nora Batty
- Emmerdale, 2 episodes (1975) — Winnie Purvis
- Open All Hours, 7 episodesshow list (1976-81) — Mrs. Blewett
- Crossroads, 640 episodes (1978-2002) — Doris Luke
- The Benny Hill Show, 3 episodesshow list (1983-86) — Various
- Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV, 1 episode (1985) — Woman (Uncredited Role)
- Noel's House Party, 1 episode (1992) — Noel's Housekeeping Applicant
- Doctors, episode "Your Very Good Health" (2005) — Edith Dawes
