Helen Lederer

Helen Lederer
Born (1954-09-24) 24 September 1954
Carmarthen, South Wales
Residence London, England
Children Hannah Lederer-Alton
Website http://www.helenlederer.co.uk/

Helen Lederer (born 24 September 1954[1]) is an English[2][3] comedian, writer and actress who emerged as part of the alternative comedy boom at the beginning of the 1980s. Among her television credits are the BBC Two sketch series Naked Video and BBC One's Absolutely Fabulous, in which she played the role of Catriona.

In 2015 her comedy novel Losing It was published by Pan Macmillan. It was nominated for the P. G. Wodehouse Comedy Literary Award and the Edinburgh Book Festival First Book Award.

Early life

Born in Carmarthen[4] to an English mother and Czech father, Lederer grew up in Eltham, south east London[5] and was educated at Blackheath High School (then a direct grant grammar school) and the Central School of Speech and Drama. She also studied at University of Hertfordshire.[6]

She has a BA in applied social science and received a doctorate from Middlesex University.

Career

Helen was the only woman to write and perform in BBC Radio 4 ‘In One Ear’ Produced by Jamie Rix with Clive mantle and Nick Wilton, it won the Sony Award for best comedy and progressed to the TV version called Hello Mum.

Lederer established a stand-up act at the Comedy Store in London and then won minor parts in episodes of The Young Ones, which had been written by her Comedy Store contemporaries Ben Elton and Rik Mayall. She would be linked with this scene for the rest of the 1980s, with a supporting role as housemaid Flossie in Happy Families and numerous appearances in related shows and live performances.

Lederer broke from the Comedy Store wing of the alternative scene in 1986 to take part in the BBC2 sketch show Naked Video, which had originated without Lederer on the radio in Scotland. Lederer played various roles, including that of a newsreader linking spoof headlines into clips which acted as punchlines, and a drunk Sloane who performed a monologue in each episode from a wine bar.

In the 1990s, Lederer was recruited by her old contemporaries Mayall and Adrian Edmondson to play supporting roles in two episodes of their sitcom Bottom, including a memorable part as a fallen millionairess on the make. Simultaneously, she played Catriona in Absolutely Fabulous, joining forces again with Jennifer Saunders. She had previously worked with Saunders and her comedy partner Dawn French in their sketch show French and Saunders, as well as Happy Families and the ITV sitcom Girls on Top. She also guest-acted in the Gregor Fisher sitcom The Baldy Man.

Lederer has always been a guest or supporting actress on programmes devised by or starring her alternative comedy contemporaries and as such has made a good, consistent career. She was one of the first female stand-up comedians to feature on ITV's Saturday Night Live with her own stand up set. She then took part in The Vagina Monologues on the West End stage. Following ‘The House of Blue leaves’ at the Lilian Baylis Theatre with the late Denis Quilley. ‘Having a Ball’ by Alan Bleasdale at the Comedy Theatre, she then appeared in The Killing of Sister George at the Arts Theatres and Calendar Girls with Kelly Brook at the Wyndham's Theatre.

As a presenter, Lederer has hosted and voiced lifestyle, religious and children's programmes. She guested appeared on numerous radio panel games and writes columns for newspapers and magazines, including Quote Unquote, The News Quiz and Just a Minute and writes columns for newspapers and magazines.

She has written and starred in radio shows Life with Lederer and All Change at BBC Radio 4.

In December 2009, Lederer appeared on Eggheads and went head-to-head against Kevin Ashman.

Lederer is also one of eight celebrities chosen to participate in a week learning Welsh in an eco-friendly chic campsite in Pembrokeshire in the series cariad@iaith:love4language shown on S4C in July 2011.

She appeared in the 2011 British live-action 3D family comedy film Horrid Henry: The Movie, as the title character's aunt Rich Aunt Ruby.

In 2013, Lederer played Miss Bowline-Hitch in the children's television series Old Jack's Boat on the CBeebies channel. This role was alongside veteran actor Bernard Cribbins, playing the role of Jack, and supporting actors Freema Agyeman and Janine Duvitski.[7]

In January 2013 she was a contestant on ITV celebrity diving show Splash!, but was eliminated in the first round.

In February 2015 Lederer appeared, as grieving widow Safia, in the BBC soap series Doctors.[8]

She also appeared on Celebrity MasterChef, Loose Women and Countdown.

Titles

Personal life

Helen's father was born in 1926 in Teplice, Czechoslovakia; many of her relatives were murdered in the Holocaust.[9]

Lederer has married twice and has a daughter, Hannah Lederer-Alton, with her first husband, journalist and The Observer editor Roger Alton. Her second husband is Chris Browne, a GP.[10] Helen Lederer is an ambassador for the Prince's Trust and the Eve Appeal Gynecological Cancer Charity.

Her daughter Hannah Lederer played the lead Abi (Jason Donavon’s daughter) in Echo Beach.

References

  1. ↑ "Ms Helen Lederer Authorised Biography – Debrett's People of Today". debretts.com. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  2. ↑ http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/what-s-on/preview-helen-lederer-at-the-book-festival-1-3861852
  3. ↑ http://www.scotsman.com/news/now-or-never-1-1396369
  4. ↑ "Helen Lederer". BFI. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  5. ↑ "Interview: Helen Lederer – My doc's my rock says funnygirl Helen; COMEDIENNE HELEN LEDERER TELLS SHARON FEINSTEIN HOW SHE `GIRDLED' HER LOINS AND WAS SWEPT OFF HER FEET BY A DASHING DOCTOR WHO PROPOSED WITH A pounds 30 RING. – Free Online Library". Thefreelibrary.com. 2000-05-07. Retrieved 2014-07-29.
  6. ↑ "University of Hertfordshire". http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/. The Complete University Guide. Retrieved 15 September 2015. External link in |website= (help)
  7. ↑ "Media Centre – Old Jack’s Friends". BBC. 2013-01-14. Retrieved 2014-01-20.
  8. ↑ "Doctors: Helen Lederer to appear as grieving widow Safia". Digital Spy. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  9. ↑ Sunday Telegraph 13 May 2012
  10. ↑ . The Daily Express http://www.express.co.uk/expressyourself/350705/Now-I-m-slim-my-daughter-steals-my-clothes-says-Helen-Lederer. Retrieved 8 February 2015. Missing or empty |title= (help)

External links

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