The UK lost one of it’s much loved comedian/writers today with the untimely death today of the multi-talented Victoria Wood at the age of 62. Since she burst on to British television in 1974 by winning the ATV talent show New Faces, Wood became one of the most popular award-winning comic performers of her generation. Her success was grounded in the fact that she had this real talent in observing the absurdity in everyday life, and her populist humor was also steep in references to brand names of quintessentially British products.
‘Victoria Wood As Seen on TV’ her hit TV series in the 1980’s which she wrote and appeared in, made her one of the country’s most favorite performers. She was a very generous writer always giving the best and funniest lines to the coterie of remarkable talent who starred alongside her like Duncan Preston, Celia Imrie, Patricia Routledge and most notably Julie Walters with whom she did some of her funnest work ever. Even after Walters established herself as a major international movie star with 2 Oscar Nominations under her belt, she never stopped working with Wood on the small screen.
After her sketch series ended, Wood continued to write and perform in her own work : notable in the sitcom series Dinnerladies and with Walters in the camp classic ‘Pat and Margaret’ that every gay man of a certain age can always quote large chunks off.
For a couple of decades Wood added to the rich culture of British humor and satire in her own inimitable style that was never crude or cutting, and we loved her for that. (If you have never seen her low-budget soap opera parody ‘Acorn Antiques’ then you really haven’t lived.) The only consoling factor about her passing is the legacy of some of her funniest moments that can be revisited thanks to You Tube, and queerguru has spent the best part of today doing just that. Here are just two of our favorites ……..
Victoria Wood CBE (19 May 1953 – 20 April 2016) R.I.P.
