Our Betty - Liz Smith

I absolutley loved this book. Best known as Nana Royle from the Royle family, Liz Smith's career goes much further back though she did come to her chosen career later in life. Filled with amusing anecdotes and reminiscences, she does not attempt to cover every aspect of her life and career, rather the high and low points. Very accessible and warmly written, I loved the fact that she had also done the illustrations, wispy little drawings that convey much in a few strokes (very Tracey Emin!) Smith comes across beautifully in the book, as she does in interviews. As you would expect, there is no sermonising or thinly disguised bragging and ...  Read the complete review

I’ve been reading a lot of factual books lately, especially biographies and autobiographies. Amongst my ‘to read’ pile and alongside biographies on Marilyn Monroe, Diana Dors and Jean Harlow, there was the autobiography of actress Liz Smith – a rather different kind of actress from the afore-mentioned blonde bombshells. Liz Smith is one of those actresses whose name you might not know, but you would definitely recognise her face. She was born in 1921 and will be 86 in December and is still working well. Her CV at IMDB.com has credits from over a hundred TV programmes and films. She has also done plenty of stage work too. She credits Mike Leigh with ...  Read the complete review