Acting
Dora Bryan
EN cinema · 66 credits
Born
7 February 1923
Died
23 July 2014 (aged 91)
Birthplace
Parbold, Lancashire, England, UK
Also known as Дора Брайен · Dora May Broadbent
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.
Known for
Filmography
MirrorMask
as Aunt Nan
Thora Hird Tribute
as Self (archive footage, uncredited)
Bed
as Bosom Lady
Palmer
as Monica
Apartment Zero
as Margaret McKinney
Screamtime
as Emma
Up the Front
as Auntie Cora Crumpington
Hands of the Ripper
as Mrs. Golding
Two a Penny
as Ruby Hopkins
The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery
as Amber Spottiswood
The Sandwich Man
as Mrs. De Vere
A Taste of Honey
as Helen
The Night We Got the Bird
as Julie Skidmore
Hello London
1960
Hello London
as herself
Operation Bullshine
as Pvt. Cox
Desert Mice
as Gay Bennett
Carry On Sergeant
as Norah
The Man Who Wouldn't Talk
as Telephonist
Small Hotel
as (uncredited)
Child in the House
as Cassie
The Green Man
as Lily
The Cockleshell Heroes
as Myrtie
You Lucky People!
as Hortense Tipp
Mad About Men
as Berengaria
Fast and Loose
as Mary Rawlings, the maid
Harmony Lane
as Comedian
The Young Lovers
as Switchboard Operator (uncredited)
The Crowded Day
as Marge
The Fake
as Barmaid
Street Corner
as Prostitute
The Intruder
as Dora Bee
Miss Robin Hood
as Pearl
The Ringer
as Mrs. Hackett
Gift Horse
as Glad Flanagan
13 East Street
as Valerie
Whispering Smith vs. Scotland Yard
as Miss La Fosse
Time, Gentlemen, Please!
as Peggy Stebbins
High Treason
as Mrs. Bowers
Scarlet Thread
as Maggie
The Quiet Woman
as Elsie Tripp
Lady Godiva Rides Again
as Movie Publicist
Circle of Danger
as Bubbles Fitzgerald
No Trace
as Maisie
The Blue Lamp
as Maisie
Something in the City
as Waitress
Now Barabbas
as Winnie
The Interrupted Journey
as the waitress
Once Upon a Dream
as Barmaid
The Cure for Love
as Jenny Jenkins
Adam and Evelyne
as Blonde Sales Assistant (uncredited)
The Perfect Woman
as Model in Shop
Don't Ever Leave Me
as Talkative Hairdresser (uncredited)
The Fallen Idol
as Rose
No Room at the Inn
as The Girl
Odd Man Out
as Girl in Telephone Kiosk (uncredited)