Editing Thora Hird (section)

== Early life and career ==
Hird was born on 28 May 1911 in the [[Lancashire]] seaside town of [[Morecambe]] to James Henry Hird and Jane Mary (née Mayor).<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/mar/17/guardianobituaries.media|title=Obituary: Dame Thora Hird|date=17 March 2003|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=29 May 2020}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1424810/Dame-Thora-Hird.html|title=Dame Thora Hird|date=17 March 2003|access-date=29 May 2020|newspaper=The Telegraph}}</ref> Her family background was largely theatrical: her mother had been an actress, while her father managed a number of entertainment venues in Morecambe, including the Royalty Theatre, where Hird made her first appearance, and the [[West End Pier, Morecambe|West End Pier]]. Thora first appeared on stage in 1911 at the age of two months in a play her father was managing, carried on stage in her mother's arms.<ref name="BBC death"/> She worked at the local [[The Co-operative Group|Co-operative store]] before joining the Morecambe Repertory Theatre.<ref name="BBC death"/>

Hird often described her father, who initially did not want her to be an actress, as her sternest critic and attributed much of her talent as an actress and comedian to his guidance.<ref name="BBC death"/> In 1944 she made her [[West End theatre|West End]] debut in the [[Esther McCracken]] play ''[[No Medals]]''.<ref name=":0"/>

Although Hird left Morecambe in the late 1940s, she retained her affection for the town, referring to herself as a "sand grown 'un", the colloquial term for anyone born in Morecambe.<ref>{{cite web |last=DEM |date=9 March 2021 |title=Women in Lancaster & Morecambe – Day 2 |url=https://www.lancastercivicsociety.uk/2021/03/09/women-in-lancaster-morecambe-day-2/ |access-date=24 December 2023 |website=Lancaster Civic Vision }}</ref>

Initially, Hird made regular appearances in films, including the wartime propaganda film ''[[Went the Day Well?]]'' (1942, known as ''48 Hours'' in the USA), in which she is shown wielding a rifle to defend a house from [[Fallschirmjäger (Nazi Germany)|German paratroopers]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Patterson |first=John |date=3 July 2010 |title=Thora Hird takes on the Nazis, as directed by a Brazilian surrealist |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/jul/03/went-day-well-patterson |access-date=24 December 2023 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> She worked with the British film comedian [[Will Hay]] and featured in ''[[The Entertainer (1960 film)|The Entertainer]]'' (1960), which starred [[Laurence Olivier]], as well as ''[[A Kind of Loving (film)|A Kind of Loving]]'' (1962) with [[Alan Bates]] and [[June Ritchie]].<ref name="IMDB"/>

Hird gained her highest profile in [[television comedy]], notably the [[situation comedy|sitcoms]] ''[[Meet the Wife (TV series)|Meet the Wife]]'' (1963–66), ''[[In Loving Memory (TV series)|In Loving Memory]]'' (1979–86), ''[[Hallelujah! (TV series)|Hallelujah!]]'' (1983–84) and, for nearly two decades, as Edie Pegden in ''[[Last of the Summer Wine]]'' (1986–2003). 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 (British TV series)|Talking Heads]]'' monologues.<ref name="BBC death"/>

Hird starred as Captain Emily Ridley in the sitcom ''[[Hallelujah! (TV series)|Hallelujah!]]'' (1983–84) about the [[Salvation Army]], a movement which she supported throughout her life.<ref>{{cite web |date=16 September 2003 |title=Dame Thora Hird Family and friends celebrate life of enduring star of stage and screen |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12532560.dame-thora-hird-family-and-friends-celebrate-life-of-enduring-star-of-stage-and-screen/ |access-date=24 December 2023 |website=The Herald }}</ref> Hird also portrayed Mrs Speck, the housekeeper of the Mayor of [[Gloucester]], in ''[[The Tailor of Gloucester (Television Film)|The Tailor of Gloucester]]'' (1989).

In 1993 she played Annie Longden, mother of [[Deric Longden]] in ''[[Wide-Eyed and Legless]]'' (known as ''The Wedding Gift'' outside the UK) and reprised her role in the 1999 TV film ''[[Lost for Words (1999 film)|Lost for Words]]'', which won her a BAFTA for Best Actress.<ref name=":1"/>