Dora Bryan

Born: 1923-02-07

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. 


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MirrorMask

as Aunt Nan
Released: 2005-01-25

In a fantasy world of opposing kingdoms, a 15-year old girl must find the fabled MirrorMask in...

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A Taste of Honey

as Helen
Released: 1961-10-01

While out to avoid spending time with her narcissistic and promiscuous mother, sixteen-year-old...

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Mother Riley Meets the Vampire

as Tilly
Released: 1952-07-11

The legendary Bela Lugosi as "the Vampire" teams up with Britain's much-loved "Mother Riley" in...

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Odd Man Out

as Girl in Telephone Kiosk (uncredited)
Released: 1947-01-30

Belfast police conduct a door-to-door manhunt for an IRA gunman wounded in a daring robbery.

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No Highway in the Sky

as uncredited
Released: 1951-06-28

James Stewart plays aeronautical engineer Theodore Honey, the quintessential absent-minded...

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The Fallen Idol

as Rose
Released: 1948-09-30

Phillipe, the son of an ambassador in London, idolizes Baines, his father's butler, a kind of...

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Hands of the Ripper

as Mrs. Golding
Released: 1971-10-17

A series of murders occur that mirror those committed by the Whitechapel Ripper. Through his...

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Carry On Sergeant

as Norah
Released: 1958-08-31

Fall in for the first ever film in the highly successful Carry On comedy series—now an acclaimed...

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Apartment Zero

as Margaret McKinney
Released: 1989-09-02

In a rundown area of Buenos Aires, at the dawn of the 1980s, Adrian LeDuc owns both a struggling...

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Absolutely Fabulous: The Last Shout

as Millie
Released: 1996-11-06

Eddy and Patsy prepare to go on a skiing holiday to hopefully indulge in the jet-setting...

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The Interrupted Journey

as the waitress
Released: 1949-10-11

When John North, a budding author, pulls the communication cord of a late night train that is...

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The Great St. Trinian's Train Robbery

as Amber Spottiswood
Released: 1966-03-11

The all-girl school foil an attempt by train robbers to recover two and a half million pounds...

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The Cockleshell Heroes

as Myrtie
Released: 1955-11-16

During WW2, German ships are "safely" docked upriver at Bordeaux, but the British send a team of...

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The Blue Lamp

as Maisie
Released: 1950-01-19

P.C. George Dixon is a long-serving traditional copper who is due to retire shortly. He takes a...

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Miss Robin Hood

as Pearl
Released: 1952-11-12

In this delightful fantasy adventure, a mild-mannered writer of adventure stories for girls...

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The Fake

as Barmaid
Released: 1953-09-25

Someone is stealing priceless paintings from the great museums of the world and replacing them...

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Desert Mice

as Gay Bennett
Released: 1959-01-05

A World War II farce that follows the antics of an ENSA (Entertainment National Service...

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The Intruder

as Dora Bee
Released: 1953-10-18

When Ex Colonel Merton discovers a burglar ransacking his home, he is shocked to find out that...

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The Green Man

as Lily
Released: 1956-12-21

Unknown to everyone but his shady Middle Eastern bosses, watchmaker Hawkins is actually a...

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Two A Penny

as Ruby Hopkins
Released: 1967-12-31

Set in London's Swiinging Sixties, Cliff Richard plays Jamie Hopkins, an art student whose...

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Scarlet Thread

as Maggie
Released: 1951-05-01

Tale of Cambridge college exploits of two smash-and-grab thieves on the run.

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The Perfect Woman

as Model in Shop
Released: 1949-05-23

In need of cash, Roger Cavendish and his valet take a job escorting the perfect woman for a...

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Gift Horse

as Glad Flanagan
Released: 1952-06-01

Compton Bennett's war drama The Gift Horse follows the fortunes of ageing destroyer The...

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As Long as They're Happy

as May
Released: 1955-03-15

The suburban peace of the Bentley household is shattered when John Bentley is informed by his...

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Circle of Danger

as Bubbles Fitzgerald
Released: 1951-04-17

An American comes to Britain to investigate the murky circumstances of his brother's death that...

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Screamtime

as Emma
Released: 1983-01-01

Compilation of three short horror films: "That's The Way To Do It", "Dreamhouse" and "Do You...

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Child in the House

as Cassie
Released: 1956-08-14

A lonely child must stay with her uncaring aunt and uncle after her mother is hospitalized. Her...

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Up the Front

as Cora Crumpington
Released: 1972-01-01

In Frankie Howerd's third Up... film it's World War I and he plays Lurk, an absolute cowerd, er...

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The Ringer

as Mrs. Hackett
Released: 1952-11-24

An underhand solicitor receives threatening notes, and the police are called in to protect him.

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High Treason

as Mrs. Bowers
Released: 1951-11-13

Men from Scotland Yard and military intelligence build a dossier on a sabotage ring.

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No Trace

as Maisie
Released: 1950-09-08

A famous mystery writer uses his own plot tricks to murder a blackmailer in this British thriller.

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Whispering Smith Vs. Scotland Yard

as Miss La Fosse
Released: 1952-01-01

Mystery directed by Francis Searle.

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Lady Godiva Rides Again

as Movie Publicist
Released: 1951-10-25

Marjory Clark wins a competition in her Midland town and finds herself in a Festival of Britain...

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The Quiet Woman

as Elsie Tripp
Released: 1951-03-01

The former wife of a criminal moves to a coastal town and takes over the running of a bar known...

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Fast and Loose

as Mary Rawlings, the maid
Released: 1954-02-12

An unmarried couple are forced to adopt a series of pretexts when they stay at a country inn...

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Mad About Men

as Berengaria
Released: 1954-11-16

Flirtatious mermaid Miranda swaps places with a schoolteacher who has gone on holiday. All is...

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The Young Lovers

as Switchboard Operator (uncredited)
Released: 1954-08-24

A young employee of the British State Department falls in love with the daughter of a top...

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Women of Twilight

as Olga
Released: 1953-01-16

When a nightclub singer is arrested for murder, his pregnant girlfriend moves into a boarding...

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Now Barabbas

as Winnie
Released: 1949-05-24

A prison governor deals with a variety of different prisoners, including a charming murderer.

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Something in the City

as Waitress
Released: 1950-09-01

A man hides the fact that he lost his job from his wife by apparently going off to work each day...

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Once Upon a Dream

as Barmaid
Released: 1949-02-01

An officer's wife has a romantic dream about her husband's man (servant) and comes to believe it...

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You Lucky People!

as Hortense Tipp
Released: 1955-01-01

Reservist Tommy Smart - who has made his fortune since the war selling army surplus - arrives at...

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The Man Who Wouldn't Talk

as Telephonist
Released: 1958-01-21

American scientist Dr. Frank Smith is brought to Britain to help the C.I.A. There is a defecting...

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The Cure for Love

as Jenny Jenkins
Released: 1949-12-29

Sergeant Jack Hardacre returns from the war to his contemptible fiancée Janey Jenkins intending...

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Street Corner

as Prostitute
Released: 1953-03-17

A pseudo-documentary focusing on the daily work and routine of women police officers built...

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Traveller's Joy

as Eva
Released: 1950-12-25

A divorced couple, living hand-to-mouth in Stockholm, must first pay their hotel bill before...

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Operation Bullshine

as Pvt. Cox
Released: 1959-06-30

During World War II, a Royal Artillery officer is assigned to an anti-aircraft battery that is...

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The Crowded Day

as Marge
Released: 1954-10-01

One day in the lives and loves of the staff in a large department store.

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The Night We Got the Bird

as Julie Skidmore
Released: 1960-11-03

Good natured comic caper charting the misadventures of a hapless bunch of Brighton based petty...

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The Sandwich Man

as Mrs. De Vere
Released: 1966-07-01

A man with a sandwich-board (advert) wanders around London meeting many strange characters.

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You Know What Sailors Are

as uncredited
Released: 1954-02-09

The best of British humor is on display in this satirical cold war romp! Donald Sinden plays...

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13 East Street

as Valerie
Released: 1952-03-01

When police inspector Gerald Blake wants to infiltrate a London stolen-goods gang, he does a...

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Palmer

as Monica
Released: 1991-01-05

Eddie Palmer attempts to run a private investigation bureau while coping with eccentric staff,...

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Time, Gentlemen, Please!

as Peggy Stebbins
Released: 1952-07-01

Because of its high productivity and "almost" 100 per cent employment, the town of Hayhoe,...

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Small Hotel

as (uncredited)
Released: 1957-10-14

The dining room of the Jolly Fiddler has long been presided over by Albert, an aged but very...

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Adam and Evelyne

as Blonde Sales Assistant (uncredited)
Released: 1949-05-31

A handsome gambler unwittingly becomes guardian of an orphaned, teenaged girl.

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Don't Ever Leave Me

as Talkative Hairdresser (uncredited)
Released: 1949-07-19

Elderly crook Harry Denton, when challenged to prove he is "not past it," decides to kidnap...

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Bed

as Bosom Lady
Released: 1995-10-20

Surreal drama about seven old people living in the same bed, by Jim Cartwright.

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Alice Through the Looking Box

as uncredited
Released: 1960-12-25

A Christmas TV special in which Alice does not go through a looking glass, but through a TV set.

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No Room at the Inn

as The Girl
Released: 1948-11-22

A group of children are evacuated during world war two into the care of an alcoholic woman.

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Harmony Lane

as Comedian
Released: 1954-11-20

The first British 3D short, this delightful 27 minute short is like spending a night at the...

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Casualty

as Hester Blewett
First aired: 1986-09-06

Drama series about the staff and patients at Holby City Hospital's emergency department,...

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Heartbeat

as Jane Thompson
First aired: 1992-04-10

Set during the 1960s in the fictional North Yorkshire village of Aidensfield, this enduringly...

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Doctors

as Lily Anderson
First aired: 2000-03-27

Set in the fictional Midlands town of Letherbridge, defined as being close to the city of...

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Last of the Summer Wine

as Roz
First aired: 1973-01-04

Unencumbered by wives, jobs or any other responsibilities, three senior citizens who've never...

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Last of the Summer Wine

as Ros
First aired: 1973-01-04

Unencumbered by wives, jobs or any other responsibilities, three senior citizens who've never...

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Absolutely Fabulous

as Dolly
First aired: 1992-11-12

Set in the world of fashion and PR, immature fun-loving mother Edina Monsoon and her best friend...

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The Sooty Show

as Herself
First aired: 1955-01-16

The Sooty Show is a British children's Puppet series which aired on the BBC from 1955 to 1967...

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An Audience with...

as Self
First aired: 1978-01-08

An Audience with... is a British entertainment television show produced by London Weekend...

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Performance

as Bosom Lady
First aired: 1991-02-22

An anthology series of various plays and dramatic performances.

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Dinnerladies

as Connie
First aired: 1998-11-12

Dinnerladies is a BBC sitcom written by and starring Victoria Wood that chronicles the antics of...

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On the Up

as uncredited
First aired: 1990-09-04

On the Up is a British sitcom written by Bob Larbey about a self-made millionaire and his staff...

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Virtual Murder

as uncredited
First aired: 1992-07-24

John Cornelius (called JC) is a university don who also works for his city police force as a...

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