
Dora Bryan
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.
87 acting credits
Acting · 87

Casualty
1986

Heartbeat
1992

Doctors
2000

Last of the Summer Wine
1973

An Audience with...
1978

Absolutely Fabulous
1992

Performance
1991

The Sooty Show
1955

World in Action
1963

dinnerladies
1998

Frank Stubbs Promotes
1993

Theatre Night
1957

Virtual Murder
1992

On the Up
1990

Hippies
1999

MirrorMask
2005

The Fallen Idol
1948

A Taste of Honey
1961

The Cockleshell Heroes
1955

The Blue Lamp
1950

Odd Man Out
1947

Carry On Sergeant
1958

No Highway in the Sky
1951

The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery
1966
Both Ends Meet
1972

Adam and Evelyne
1949

The Interrupted Journey
1949

Lady Godiva Rides Again
1951

Apartment Zero
1989

The Green Man
1956

Miss Robin Hood
1952

Hands of the Ripper
1971

Absolutely Fabulous: The Last Shout
1996

Now Barabbas
1949

The Ringer
1952
Educating Archie
1958

Gift Horse
1952
Before The Fringe
1967

The Man Who Wouldn't Talk
1958

Desert Mice
1959

The Fake
1953

The Sandwich Man
1966

Screamtime
1983

The Young Lovers
1954

Traveller's Joy
1950

Circle of Danger
1951

High Treason
1951

Mad About Men
1954
Happily Ever After
1961

Palmer
1991

The Cure for Love
1949

No Room at the Inn
1948

Time, Gentlemen, Please!
1952

The Crowded Day
1954

Scarlet Thread
1951

Two a Penny
1967

13 East Street
1952

As Long as They're Happy
1955
According To Dora
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Whispering Smith vs. Scotland Yard
1952

You Know What Sailors Are
1954

The Intruder
1953

Something in the City
1950

The Night We Got the Bird
1960

Street Corner
1953

Women of Twilight
1953

The Perfect Woman
1949

Child in the House
1956

Operation Bullshine
1959

Fast and Loose
1954

Once Upon a Dream
1949
Hello London
1960

Mother Riley Meets the Vampire
1952

Up the Front
1972
Mother's Ruin
1994

The Quiet Woman
1951

Small Hotel
1957

No Trace
1950

Alice Through the Looking Box
1960

Don't Ever Leave Me
1949

Bed
1995

Thora Hird Tribute
2003

You Lucky People!
1955
Follow That Horse!
1960
The Dream Machine
1964

Harmony Lane
1954
The Real Thing
1953