Liz Smith (actress)
Encyclopedia
Liz Smith, MBE
(born Betty Gleadle; December 1921)is a British
actress, best-known for her roles in the sitcoms The Vicar of Dibley
and The Royle Family
. She also appeared in the 2005 film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
.
, Lincolnshire
in 1921. When she was two years old, her mother died in childbirth. Her father walked out of her life shortly afterwards, when his new wife did not wish him to have any contact with his previous life. She was brought up by her widowed grandmother. During the Second World War, she served in the Women's Royal Naval Service
of the Royal Navy
.
. They had two children, but then they divorced in 1959 and Smith brought up her son and daughter on her own. She has described this as an extremely difficult period in her life, as she struggled against financial difficulties and social disapproval of single mothers.
Bleak Moments
, part of Play for Today
.
Smith starred in It's A Lovely Day Tomorrow, written by Bernard Kops and directed by John Goldschmidt
, which depicted the real-life drama of the Bethnal Green Tube Disaster during World War II.
A role in another Play for Today
, Hard Labour
, followed and after that she appeared in programmes such as Emmerdale Farm
(as Hilda Semple), Last of the Summer Wine
, Bootsie and Snudge
, Crown Court
, I Didn't Know You Cared
and The Sweeney
. She also appeared as Madame Balls in The Pink Panther Strikes Again
(1976), but her scenes were deleted. She was seen in Curse of the Pink Panther
(1983) in the same role.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Liz Smith appeared in many popular television programmes in the UK, including The Duchess of Duke Street
, Within These Walls
, In Loving Memory
, The Gentle Touch
, Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime
, The Life and Loves of a She-Devil
, One by One
as Gran Turner, and The Lenny Henry Show
. In 1984
, Liz Smith received a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Maggie Smith
's mother in A Private Function
.
in 1980 Smith won a role in Charisma Records
backed: Sir Henry at Rawlinson End
starring Trevor Howard
as Sir Henry. In this Vivian Stanshall
conceived and written cult classic, she played Lady Philippa of Staines. Soon after she appeared in the Trethe Anglo-Argentine Hitchcockian thriller, Apartment Zero
. The film was featured in the 1988 Sundance Film Festival
and was directed by Martin Donovan (born Carlos Enrique Varela y Peralta-Ramos) and starred Hart Bochner
and Colin Firth
. Smith played the role of one of two eccentric characters (the other is Dora Bryan
) described by The Washington Post
as two "... tea-and-crumpet gargoyle-featured spinsters who snoop the corridors."
, in which she had regular roles as Aunt Belle and Bette, Bottom
, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
and Lovejoy
. In 1994, she played the lead role in the Children's BBC series Pirates
and also the supporting role of Letitia Cropley for seven episodes in the popular sitcom The Vicar of Dibley
. This made her a household name, but in the 1996 Easter Special episode the character died. Two years later, Smith starred in another sitcom, The Royle Family
. This aired until 2000, but came back for a special episode in 2006 when her character, Nana, died. In the meantime, she had appeared in The Queen's Nose
, The Bill
and Secrets & Lies. In 1999, she featured in A Christmas Carol
as Mrs Dilber, having played the same character in the 1984 version
, and also appeared in Alice in Wonderland
.
and Doctors
. In 2005 she played Grandma Georgina in the film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
she provided the voice of Mrs Mulch in Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
, and also had small roles in Oliver Twist
and Keeping Mum
.
In 2006, Smith published her autobiography Our Betty and moved into a retirement home in Hampstead
, London
. In 2007, she published a series of short stories entitled Jottings: Flights of Fancy and appeared in the Little Man Tate
music video "This Must Be Love
". On 5 December 2007, Smith won the Best Television Comedy Actress at the British Comedy Awards
for her role in The Royle Family
.
In 2006, she made a cameo appearance in Kenneth Branagh
's film The Magic Flute
, a version in English of the Mozart opera. However, her role did not require her to sing. She portrayed Old Papagena, who later on in the film magically transforms into Young Papagena (played by soprano Silvia Moi) and marries the birdcatcher Papageno (played by baritone Benjamin Jay Davis).
In 2008, she starred in the first series of the period drama Lark Rise to Candleford
. That same year she was a castaway on BBC Radio 4
's Desert Island Discs
and was in the film City of Ember
, which was released in October 2008. In July 2009 she featured in a one-hour BBC Four
documentary called Liz Smith's Summer Cruise, where she joined a group of like-minded individuals on a cruise from Croatia
to Venice
. That same month, having suffered a stroke a few months earlier, she announced her retirement from acting at the age of 87.
In 2009, Smith received the Member of the Order of the British Empire
.
In 2010, she took part in BBC's The Young Ones, in which six celebrities in their 70s and 80s attempt to overcome some of the problems of ageing by harking back to the 1970s.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born Betty Gleadle; December 1921)is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
actress, best-known for her roles in the sitcoms The Vicar of Dibley
The Vicar of Dibley
The Vicar of Dibley is a British sitcom created by Richard Curtis and written for its lead actress, Dawn French, by Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer, with contributions from Kit Hesketh-Harvey. It aired from 1994 to 2007...
and The Royle Family
The Royle Family
The Royle Family is a popular, BAFTA award-winning television comedy drama produced by Granada Television for the BBC, which ran for three series between 1998 and 2000, and specials from 2006 onwards...
. She also appeared in the 2005 film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (film)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a 2005 film adaptation of the 1964 book of the same name by Roald Dahl. The film was directed by Tim Burton. The film stars Freddie Highmore as Charlie Bucket and Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka...
.
Early life
Liz Smith was born Betty Gleadle in the Crosby area of ScunthorpeScunthorpe
Scunthorpe is a town within North Lincolnshire, England. It is the administrative centre of the North Lincolnshire unitary authority, and had an estimated total resident population of 72,514 in 2010. A predominantly industrial town, Scunthorpe, the United Kingdom's largest steel processing centre,...
, Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
in 1921. When she was two years old, her mother died in childbirth. Her father walked out of her life shortly afterwards, when his new wife did not wish him to have any contact with his previous life. She was brought up by her widowed grandmother. During the Second World War, she served in the Women's Royal Naval Service
Women's Royal Naval Service
The Women's Royal Naval Service was the women's branch of the Royal Navy.Members included cooks, clerks, wireless telegraphists, radar plotters, weapons analysts, range assessors, electricians and air mechanics...
of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
.
Marriage
In 1945, she married Jack Thomas, whom she met while on service in IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. They had two children, but then they divorced in 1959 and Smith brought up her son and daughter on her own. She has described this as an extremely difficult period in her life, as she struggled against financial difficulties and social disapproval of single mothers.
Becomes an actress
In 1971, aged 48, she got her big break when she appeared as the downtrodden mother in Mike Leigh'sMike Leigh
Michael "Mike" Leigh, OBE is a British writer and director of film and theatre. He studied theatre at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and studied further at the Camberwell School of Art and the Central School of Art and Design. He began as a theatre director and playwright in the mid 1960s...
Bleak Moments
Bleak Moments
Bleak Moments is a 1971 British film, the first film of Mike Leigh. It began as a stage play in March 1970 at the Open Space Theatre...
, part of Play for Today
Play for Today
Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted...
.
"The moment that my life transformed was when I was standing in Hamleys one Christmas, flogging toys, and I got a message from this young director named Mike Leigh. I was nearly 50 at the time, but he wanted a middle-aged woman to do improvisations. I went to an audition and I got the job of the mother in this improvised film – Bleak Moments, his first film – and it changed my life.
Smith starred in It's A Lovely Day Tomorrow, written by Bernard Kops and directed by John Goldschmidt
John Goldschmidt
John Goldschmidt is a film director and producer. Goldschmidt was born in London, but grew up in Vienna leaving at the age of 16 to return to London. Goldschmidt has both Austrian and British nationality...
, which depicted the real-life drama of the Bethnal Green Tube Disaster during World War II.
A role in another Play for Today
Play for Today
Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted...
, Hard Labour
Hard Labour (film)
Hard Labour is a 1973 television film, directed by Mike Leigh and produced by Tony Garnett which aired as part of the BBC anthology series Play for Today. The film stars Liz Smith in her first major role. The film is the most clearly drawn in all Leigh's work from the background in Higher and...
, followed and after that she appeared in programmes such as Emmerdale Farm
Emmerdale
Emmerdale, is a long-running British soap opera set in Emmerdale , a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, Emmerdale was first broadcast on 16 October 1972...
(as Hilda Semple), Last of the Summer Wine
Last of the Summer Wine
Last of the Summer Wine is a British sitcom written by Roy Clarke that was broadcast on BBC One. Last of the Summer Wine premiered as an episode of Comedy Playhouse on 4 January 1973 and the first series of episodes followed on 12 November 1973. From 1983 to 2010, Alan J. W. Bell produced and...
, Bootsie and Snudge
Bootsie and Snudge
Bootsie and Snudge was a British television situation comedy series written, in the early days, by Barry Took and Marty Feldman, later writers were John Antrobus, Jack Rosenthal, ventriloquist Ray Alan and Harry Driver. The show featured Clive Dunn, more famous as Corporal Jones in Dad's Army, as...
, Crown Court
Crown Court (TV series)
Crown Court was an afternoon television courtroom drama produced by Granada Television for the ITV network that ran from 1972, when the Crown Court system replaced Assize courts and Quarter sessions in the legal system of England and Wales, to 1984....
, I Didn't Know You Cared
I Didn't Know You Cared
I Didn't Know You Cared is a British television comedy set in a working class household in South Yorkshire in the 1970s, written by Peter Tinniswood and loosely based upon his books A Touch Of Daniel, I Didn't Know You Cared and Except You're A Bird...
and The Sweeney
The Sweeney
The Sweeney is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London...
. She also appeared as Madame Balls in The Pink Panther Strikes Again
The Pink Panther Strikes Again
The Pink Panther Strikes Again is the fifth film in the Pink Panther series and picks up where The Return of the Pink Panther leaves off...
(1976), but her scenes were deleted. She was seen in Curse of the Pink Panther
Curse of the Pink Panther
Curse of the Pink Panther is a 1983 comedy film, the eighth installment of the The Pink Panther series of films started by Blake Edwards in the early 1960s....
(1983) in the same role.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Liz Smith appeared in many popular television programmes in the UK, including The Duchess of Duke Street
The Duchess of Duke Street
The Duchess Of Duke Street is a BBC television drama series set in London between 1900 and 1935. It was created by John Hawkesworth, the former producer of the highly successful ITV period drama Upstairs, Downstairs...
, Within These Walls
Within These Walls
Within These Walls is a British television drama programme made by London Weekend Television for ITV and shown between 1974 and 1978. It portrayed life in HMP Stone Park, a fictional women's prison...
, In Loving Memory
In Loving Memory (TV series)
In Loving Memory is a British period sitcom set in an undertakers business that starred Thora Hird and Christopher Beeny. A pilot was transmitted in 1969 by Thames Television who rejected the idea before it was finally accepted by Yorkshire Television in 1979 where it further ran for five series...
, The Gentle Touch
The Gentle Touch
The Gentle Touch is a British police drama television series made by London Weekend Television for ITV which ran from 1980-1984. Commencing transmission on 11 April 1980, the series is notable for being the first British series to feature a female police detective as its leading character, ahead of...
, Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime
Partners in Crime (novel)
Partners in Crime is a short story collection written by Agatha Christie and first published by Dodd, Mead and Company in the US in 1929 and in the UK by William Collins & Sons on September 16 of the same year...
, The Life and Loves of a She-Devil
The Life and Loves of a She-Devil
The Life and Loves of a She-Devil is a 1983 novel by British feminist author Fay Weldon about a highly unattractive woman who goes to great lengths to take revenge on her husband and his attractive lover...
, One by One
One By One (TV series)
One By One is a British television series made by the BBC between 1984 and 1987.The series, created by Anthony Read, followed the career of international veterinarian David Taylor and his work caring for exotic animals at zoos in Britain, from the 1950s to the 1970s...
as Gran Turner, and The Lenny Henry Show
The Lenny Henry Show
The Lenny Henry Show is a comedy sketch show featuring Lenny Henry. In its first incarnation it ran for two seasons on BBC 1, in 1984 and 1985. Each season had six episodes. A 40-minute special was aired in December 1987...
. In 1984
38th British Academy Film Awards
The 38th British Film Awards, given by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 1985, honoured the best films of 1984.-Best Film: The Killing Fields *Paris, Texas*A Private Function*The Dresser-Best Actor: Haing S...
, Liz Smith received a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Maggie Smith
Maggie Smith
Dame Margaret Natalie Smith, DBE , better known as Maggie Smith, is an English film, stage, and television actress who made her stage debut in 1952 and is still performing after 59 years...
's mother in A Private Function
A Private Function
A Private Function is a 1984 British comedy film starring Michael Palin and Maggie Smith. The film was predominantly filmed in Ilkley and Ben Rhydding, West Yorkshire. The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival....
.
in 1980 Smith won a role in Charisma Records
Charisma Records
Charisma was a record label founded by former journalist Tony Stratton-Smith in 1969. Manager for The Nice, the Bonzo Dog Band and Van der Graaf Generator at the time, Stratton-Smith was unable to find a record company willing to release an album by one of his favourite groups so he founded his own...
backed: Sir Henry at Rawlinson End
Sir Henry at Rawlinson End (film)
Sir Henry at Rawlinson End is a 1980 British film based on the eponymous character created by Vivian Stanshall. It starred Trevor Howard as Sir Henry and Stanshall himself as Henry's brother Hubert. Unusually, the film was released in sepia-toned monochrome. After a long wait, while the film...
starring Trevor Howard
Trevor Howard
Trevor Howard , born Trevor Wallace Howard-Smith, was an English film, stage and television actor.-Early life:...
as Sir Henry. In this Vivian Stanshall
Vivian Stanshall
Vivian Stanshall was an English singer-songwriter, painter, musician, author, poet and wit, best known for his work with the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, for his surreal exploration of the British upper classes in Sir Henry at Rawlinson End, and for narrating Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells.-The great...
conceived and written cult classic, she played Lady Philippa of Staines. Soon after she appeared in the Trethe Anglo-Argentine Hitchcockian thriller, Apartment Zero
Apartment Zero
Apartment Zero is a political thriller from Argentina. Directed by Argentine-born screenwriter Martin Donovan and starring Hart Bochner and Colin Firth, the film is suffused with homoerotic overtones and moments of black comedy. The film was produced in 1988 and premiered at film festivals...
. The film was featured in the 1988 Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
and was directed by Martin Donovan (born Carlos Enrique Varela y Peralta-Ramos) and starred Hart Bochner
Hart Bochner
Hart Matthew Bochner is a Canadian film actor, screenwriter, director, and producer.-Life and career:Bochner was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Ruth , a concert pianist, and actor Lloyd Bochner...
and Colin Firth
Colin Firth
SirColin Andrew Firth, CBE is a British film, television, and theatre actor. Firth gained wide public attention in the 1990s for his portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the 1995 television adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice...
. Smith played the role of one of two eccentric characters (the other is Dora Bryan
Dora Bryan
Dora May Bryan OBE is an English actress of stage, film and television.-Early life:Bryan was born as Dora May Broadbent in Southport, Lancashire, England. Her father was a salesman and she attended Hathershaw County Primary School in Oldham, Lancashire...
) described by The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
as two "... tea-and-crumpet gargoyle-featured spinsters who snoop the corridors."
The 1990s
Liz Smith started the 1990s by appearing in 2point4 children2point4 children
2point4 Children is a 1990s British sitcom that was created and written by Andrew Marshall. It follows the lives of the Porter family; an average family that is persistently faced with surreal situations and sheer bad luck....
, in which she had regular roles as Aunt Belle and Bette, Bottom
Bottom (TV series)
Bottom was a British sitcom television series that originally aired on BBC2 between 1991 and 1995. It was written by comic duo Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson who star as Richie and Eddie, two flatmates living on the dole in Hammersmith, London...
, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles is an American television series that aired on ABC from March 4, 1992, to July 24, 1993. The series explores the childhood and youth of the fictional character Indiana Jones and primarily stars Sean Patrick Flanery and Corey Carrier as the title character, with...
and Lovejoy
Lovejoy
Lovejoy is a TV series about the adventures of Lovejoy, a British antiques dealer and faker based in East Anglia, a less than scrupulous yet likeable rogue. The episodes were based on a series of picaresque novels by John Grant...
. In 1994, she played the lead role in the Children's BBC series Pirates
Pirates (TV series)
Pirates is a British children's television sitcom about a family of pirates living in a council house. It featured a number of bizarre characters, such as the "Man in a Sack" and a baby in a pram which was never seen, but gave off a mysterious green glow. The series ran from 1994 to 1997 on...
and also the supporting role of Letitia Cropley for seven episodes in the popular sitcom The Vicar of Dibley
The Vicar of Dibley
The Vicar of Dibley is a British sitcom created by Richard Curtis and written for its lead actress, Dawn French, by Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer, with contributions from Kit Hesketh-Harvey. It aired from 1994 to 2007...
. This made her a household name, but in the 1996 Easter Special episode the character died. Two years later, Smith starred in another sitcom, The Royle Family
The Royle Family
The Royle Family is a popular, BAFTA award-winning television comedy drama produced by Granada Television for the BBC, which ran for three series between 1998 and 2000, and specials from 2006 onwards...
. This aired until 2000, but came back for a special episode in 2006 when her character, Nana, died. In the meantime, she had appeared in The Queen's Nose
The Queen's Nose
The Queen's Nose is a book, written by Dick King-Smith, that was adapted into a successful BBC television series.-The book:The book by Dick King Smith features the story of Harmony Parker, a 10 year old girl who wants an animal of her own but is not allowed by her parents who think they are dirty...
, The Bill
The Bill
The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
and Secrets & Lies. In 1999, she featured in A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol (1999 film)
A Christmas Carol is a 1999 television film adaptation of Charles Dickens's famous novel A Christmas Carol. It was directed by David Hugh Jones and stars Patrick Stewart as Ebenezer Scrooge and Richard E. Grant as Bob Cratchit...
as Mrs Dilber, having played the same character in the 1984 version
A Christmas Carol (1984 film)
A Christmas Carol is a 1984 made-for-television film adaptation of Charles Dickens' famous 1843 novella of the same name. The film is directed by Clive Donner who had been an editor of the 1951 film Scrooge and stars George C. Scott as Ebenezer Scrooge...
, and also appeared in Alice in Wonderland
Alice in Wonderland (1999 film)
Alice in Wonderland is a television film first broadcast in 1999 on NBC and then shown on British television on Channel 4. It is based upon Lewis Carroll's books Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass....
.
Since 2000
Smith has continued to act and has appeared in TV programmes such as Trial & Retribution VTrial & Retribution
Trial & Retribution is a feature-length ITV police proceduraltelevision drama series that began in 1997. It was devised and written by Lynda La Plante as a follow-on from her successful television series Prime Suspect. Each episode of the Trial & Retribution series is broadcast over two nights. The...
and Doctors
Doctors (BBC Soap Opera)
Doctors is a British daytime television soap opera, set in the fictional Midland town of Letherbridge, defined as being close to the City of Birmingham. It was created by Chris Murray; Mal Young drove its development, and Carson Black was the original producer. The first episode was broadcast on...
. In 2005 she played Grandma Georgina in the film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (film)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a 2005 film adaptation of the 1964 book of the same name by Roald Dahl. The film was directed by Tim Burton. The film stars Freddie Highmore as Charlie Bucket and Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka...
she provided the voice of Mrs Mulch in Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is a 2005 British clay-mation animated comedy horror film, the first feature-length Wallace and Gromit film. It was produced by DreamWorks Animation and Aardman Animations, and released by DreamWorksPictures...
, and also had small roles in Oliver Twist
Oliver Twist (2005 film)
Oliver Twist is a 2005 British drama film directed by Roman Polanski. The screenplay by Ronald Harwood is based on the 1838 novel of the same title by Charles Dickens....
and Keeping Mum
Keeping Mum
Keeping Mum is a 2005 British black comedy film starring Rowan Atkinson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Maggie Smith and Patrick Swayze.-Plot:In the opening scene, as pregnant young Rosie Jones rides on a train, her very large trunk starts leaking blood...
.
In 2006, Smith published her autobiography Our Betty and moved into a retirement home in Hampstead
Hampstead
Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. In 2007, she published a series of short stories entitled Jottings: Flights of Fancy and appeared in the Little Man Tate
Little Man Tate (band)
Little Man Tate were a four-piece indie rock band from Sheffield, England who formed in 2005. They broke up in 2009. The band quickly began attracting interest from several record labels and in March 2006 signed to V2 Records, later parting ways in November 2007...
music video "This Must Be Love
This Must Be Love
"This Must Be Love" was the sixth single to be released by Little Man Tate. It was released on 26 March 2007 and reached #33 in the UK singles chart...
". On 5 December 2007, Smith won the Best Television Comedy Actress at the British Comedy Awards
British Comedy Awards
The British Comedy Awards is an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom celebrating notable comedians and entertainment performances of the previous year.-History:...
for her role in The Royle Family
The Royle Family
The Royle Family is a popular, BAFTA award-winning television comedy drama produced by Granada Television for the BBC, which ran for three series between 1998 and 2000, and specials from 2006 onwards...
.
In 2006, she made a cameo appearance in Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from Northern Ireland. He is best known for directing and starring in several film adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays including Henry V , Much Ado About Nothing , Hamlet Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from...
's film The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute (2006 film)
The Magic Flute is Kenneth Branagh's English-language film version of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's singspiel Die Zauberflöte. The film is a co-production between France & the UK, produced by Idéale Audience and in association with UK's The Peter Moores Foundation.In November 2005, it was announced...
, a version in English of the Mozart opera. However, her role did not require her to sing. She portrayed Old Papagena, who later on in the film magically transforms into Young Papagena (played by soprano Silvia Moi) and marries the birdcatcher Papageno (played by baritone Benjamin Jay Davis).
In 2008, she starred in the first series of the period drama Lark Rise to Candleford
Lark Rise to Candleford (TV series)
Lark Rise to Candleford is a British television costume drama series, adapted by the BBC from Flora Thompson's trilogy of semi-autobiographical novels about the English countryside, published between 1939 and 1943. The first episode aired on 13 January 2008 on BBC One and BBC HD in the UK. In the...
. That same year she was a castaway on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
's Desert Island Discs
Desert Island Discs
Desert Island Discs is a BBC Radio 4 programme first broadcast on 29 January 1942. It is the second longest-running radio programme , and is the longest-running factual programme in the history of radio...
and was in the film City of Ember
City of Ember
City of Ember is a 2008 science fiction-fantasy film based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Jeanne DuPrau. It was directed by Gil Kenan from a screenplay by Caroline Thompson, and stars Saoirse Ronan, Harry Treadaway, Bill Murray, Mackenzie Crook, Martin Landau and Tim Robbins.-Plot:In the...
, which was released in October 2008. In July 2009 she featured in a one-hour BBC Four
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
documentary called Liz Smith's Summer Cruise, where she joined a group of like-minded individuals on a cruise from Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
to Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
. That same month, having suffered a stroke a few months earlier, she announced her retirement from acting at the age of 87.
In 2009, Smith received the Member of the Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
.
In 2010, she took part in BBC's The Young Ones, in which six celebrities in their 70s and 80s attempt to overcome some of the problems of ageing by harking back to the 1970s.