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Wood voted Britain's funniest woman

Last updated at 11:43am on 18th August 2005

Comedy star Victoria Wood has been voted Britain's funniest woman.

Wood, 52, famed for her one-woman shows and for TV comedies Dinnerladies and Acorn Antiques, beat Vicar of Dibley star Dawn French to second place in the poll.

Former psychiatric nurse Jo Brand, known for her acerbic gags about men after landing her own comedy show Jo Brand Through the Cakehole, is third.

Jennifer Saunders, French's comedy partner in French and Saunders, and star of Absolutely Fabulous, is fourth in the survey of 4,021 adults, carried out for the Reader's Digest magazine.

Julie Walters, who made her name with Educating Rita before following up with a range of stage and screen roles, is fifth.

The late Joyce Grenfell, famous as policewoman Ruby Gates in St. Trinian's, is sixth, followed by Hattie Jacques, who was best known as the Carry On films' formidable matron before dying of a heart attack in 1980.

Ab Fab beauty Joanna Lumley is eighth, eclipsing Maureen Lipman, who found TV fame with the comedy series Agony, into ninth place.

Actress-turned director Kathy Burke is tenth, followed by the late diminutive star Hylda Baker, whose career took off after appearing on TV show The Good Old Days.

Patricia Routledge - whose most famous TV character Hyacinth Bucket would not be content in 12th place - is next.

Barbara Windsor, who made her name in the Carry On films before reviving her career in EastEnders, is 13th, while the late Marti Cane, dubbed the clown queen of comedy during the 1980s, is joint fourteenth with 1930s' star Gracie Fields, and entertainer and poet Pam Ayres.

Dame Thora Hird, whose career lasted almost a century, and the Kumars star Meera Syal are both 17th, followed by Penelope Keith, best known for her roles in To The Manor Born and The Good Life, and Caroline Aherne, star and creator of the The Royle Family and Mrs Merton.

Paul O'Grady's alter-ego Lily Savage even got two votes in the nationwide poll, conducted by BMRB.

Simon Hemelryk, an editor at the Reader's Digest, said: "Comedy has traditionally been a man's world and the poll highlights how recently female comics have cracked the mainstream.

"Of the top 10, only two are not current performers, comedienne and raconteur Joyce Grenfell and Carry On star Hattie Jacques.

"There was notable lack of really new talent in the poll, even with the younger respondents - Linda Smith and Gina Yashere each scored a measly five votes and rising star Catherine Tate didn't feature at all."

The Reader's Digest annual humour issue is on sale from August 25.

Top 20 Female Comediennes

1. Victoria Wood

2. Dawn French

3. Jo Brand

4. Jennifer Saunders

5. Julie Walters

6. Joyce Grenfell

7. Hattie Jacques

8. Joanna Lumley

9. Maureen Lipman

10. Kathy Burke

11. Hylda Baker

12. Patricia Routledge

13. Barbara Windsor

14. Marti Caine

15. Gracie Fields

16. Pam Ayres

17. Thora Hird

18. Meera Syal

19. Penelope Keith

20. Caroline Aherne

Special thanks to Vicky Anderson from `The Liverpool Daily Post´

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THE life of comedy heroine Hylda Baker is the subject of a new play premiering this week at The Actors Studio.

Pauline Daniels takes the title role in The Hylda Baker Show, which spans events behind and in front of the camera during the filming of a fictional final episode of Nearest and Dearest, the 1960s sitcom that made her name.

Alongside the laughs of the programme, the play studies her fears of life after the show and her famously sour relationship with co-star Jimmy Jewel.

The play began as a five-minute radio sketch last year, a collaboration between Pauline and writer Dhanil Ali that worked so well he created a full theatre piece.

She said: “As a child, I used to do impressions of Hylda Baker, and then being a comedienne she was one of our early role models.

“She was just such a funny woman.

“I thought she was hysterically funny, but quite tragic – she had never had a stable family life and was treading the boards from the age of 12.

“When Nearest and Dearest came along, she was an overnight star after 40 years.”

She describes Baker as one of comedy’s “monsters” – a talented comic actress, but with a tumultuous life behind the scenes.

Dhanil Ali, who is also directing the show, said Baker’s life followed the tragic comic pattern, but he had always found her iconic.

It’s a theme, and a period of time, that resonates with the Dingle-based writer, whose other plays include An Evening with Tony Hanock and Alan (with its main character of Alan Bennett).

He said: “There was total hatred between Hylda and Jimmy Jewel, and they would lock horns but then they knew they had to go out and make people laugh.

“She was so funny on stage, but the curse of comedy was just waiting to happen.

“The Actors Studio is the perfect place to do this, especially to break it, as it has got the right feel for this sort of piece.”

The three-man play also stars Richard Helm as Jimmy Jewel and Albert Hastings.

The Hylda Baker Show starts on Thursday, with performances on October 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20 and 21, including Sunday afternoon matinees.

FOR tickets and information, contact The Actors Studio (Liverpool)
 0151 709 9034.