Until I got married, when I used to go out, my mother said good bye to me as though I was emigrating.

Thora Hird gained her highest profile in television comedy notably the sitcoms Meet the Wife (1963–66) In Loving Memory (1979–86) Hallelujah! 1983-1984) and for nearly two decades in Last of the Summer Wine (1986–2003). Hird also portrayed Mrs Speck the housekeeper of the Mayor of Gloucester in The Tailor of Gloucester (1989). However Thora Hird played a variety of roles including the nurse in Romeo and Juliet and won BAFTA Best Actress awards for her roles in two of Alan Bennett's Talking Heads monologues.

Dame Thora Hird DBE (28 May 1911 – 15 March 2003) was an English actress.