Betty Smith, MBE (born 11 December 1921) is a BAFTA Award-winning English actress, known as Liz Smith, best known for her roles in the sitcoms The Vicar of Dibley and The Royle Family, and who also appeared in the 2005 film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Liz Smith was born Betty Gleadle in the Crosby area of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire in 1921. Her mother died in childbirth when Smith was just two years old. Her father walked out of her life sho...
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Betty Smith, MBE (born 11 December 1921) is a BAFTA Award-winning English actress, known as Liz Smith, best known for her roles in the sitcoms The Vicar of Dibley and The Royle Family, and who also appeared in the 2005 film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Liz Smith was born Betty Gleadle in the Crosby area of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire in 1921. Her mother died in childbirth when Smith was just two years old. Her father walked out of her life shortly afterwards, following his second marriage to a woman who did not want him to have any contact with his previous life or with his young daughter. She was raised by her widowed grandmother. During the Second World War, she chose to serve as a WREN in the Royal Navy because she liked the uniform. In 1945, she married Jack Thomas, whom she met while on service in India, and they had two children. However, Smith and Thomas divorced in 1959 and Smith brought up her son and daughter on her own. She has described this as an extremely difficult...
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