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
—
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