Plan B Forum

Comedian, singer and writer Victoria Wood has died after "a short but brave" battle with cancer aged 62.



Her publicist said the star "died peacefully at her north London home with family" on Wednesday.

Wood's long-time comedy partner Julie Walters said she was "too heart sore to comment - the loss of her is incalculable".

Wood found fame in the 1980s and was best known for her BBC sketch Acorn Antiques and comedy Dinnerladies.

She won five Baftas including two for her one-off ITV drama Housewife, 49.



Wood got her first break on the TV talent show New Faces in 1974, while still a student at Birmingham University.

She established herself as a comedy star with her hit show Victoria Wood: As Seen On TV and went on to create the popular BBC comedies Acorn Antiques and Dinnerladies, featuring her long-time collaborator Julie Walters.

The pair became friends in the 1970s and first worked together on TV in 1981 on the comedy sketch show Wood and Walters.

Acorn Antiques also spawned a musical, which Wood wrote and was directed by Trevor Nunn in 2005.

Entertainer Michael Ball, who was a friend of Wood's and worked with her on the musical That Day We Sang, told the BBC she was a "trailblazer" for other female comedians.

The Radio 2 DJ said: "She gave inspiration to other women because she wasn't having to be sexy and rude, although she was all of those things. She was just brilliant.

"She made it seem to other women, you can do this. You just need to look at the various social media feeds to see the people she's influenced."

'Raymond's' Doris Roberts has died



Doris Roberts, celebrated for her portrayal of a loving but meddling mom on Everybody Loves Raymond, died Sunday.

Roberts' son, Michael Cannata, confirmed the news in a statement issued Monday that says his mother "died peacefully in her sleep of natural causes."

The 90-year-old actress, whose celebrated career spanned six decades, won four Emmys for her portrayal of Marie Barone on the top-rated, long-running CBS comedy series (1996-2005). She won an Emmy earlier in her career for supporting actress for her role on NBC's medical drama St. Elsewhere.

Raymond star Ray Romano remembered the actress who played his title character's mother in a statement:

"Doris Roberts had an energy and a spirit that amazed me. She never stopped. Whether working professionally or with her many charities, or just nurturing and mentoring a young, green comic trying to make it as an actor, she did it all with such a grand love for life and people and I will miss her dearly."

Besides Raymond, Roberts had memorable roles in other TV series, including Remington Steele [that's the show I remember her best for...that and some of her commercials..."for lather and protection, I'll take my SafeGuard"...I was never an Everybody Loves Raymond fan...]

Early in her career, she appeared on such classic shows as The Naked City and Ben Casey and more recently she was featured in ABC's Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy and The Middle, which stars Heaton.

Roberts' feature film roles include Barefoot in the Park (1967), The Heartbreak Kid (1972) and The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) and Madea's Witness Protection (2012).

Roberts' passion for cooking was reflected in her 2005 book, Are You Hungry, Dear? Life, Laughs and Lasagna, which she co-wrote with Danielle Morton.

In addition to son Michael, Roberts is survived by her daughter-in-law, Jane, and three grandchildren: Kelsey, Andrew and Devon Cannata.