Hird was born on 28 May 1911 in the
Lancashire seaside town of
Morecambe to James Henry Hird and Jane Mary (née Mayor). Her family background was largely theatrical: her mother had been an actress, while her father managed a number of entertainment venues in Morecambe, including the Royalty Theatre, where Hird made her first appearance, and the
West End Pier. Thora first appeared on stage in 1911 at the age of two months in a play her father was managing, carried on stage in her mother's arms. Initially, Hird made regular appearances in films, including the wartime propaganda film
Went the Day Well? (1942, known as
48 Hours in the USA), in which she is shown wielding a rifle to defend a house from
German paratroopers. She worked with the British film comedian
Will Hay and featured in
The Entertainer (1960), which starred
Laurence Olivier, as well as
A Kind of Loving (1962) with
Alan Bates and
June Ritchie. Hird gained her highest profile in
television comedy, notably the
sitcoms Meet the Wife (1963–66),
In Loving Memory (1979–86),
Hallelujah! (1983–84) and, for nearly two decades, as Edie Pegden in
Last of the Summer Wine (1986–2003). Hird played a variety of roles, including the nurse in
Romeo and Juliet, and won
BAFTA Best Actress awards for her roles in two of
Alan Bennett's
Talking Heads monologues. Hird also portrayed Mrs Speck, the housekeeper of the Mayor of
Gloucester, in
The Tailor of Gloucester (1989). In 1993 she played Annie Longden, mother of
Deric Longden in
Wide-Eyed and Legless (known as
The Wedding Gift outside the UK) and reprised her role in the 1999 TV film
Lost for Words, which won her a BAFTA for Best Actress. == Religious broadcasts ==