Helen Margaret Lederer (born 24 September 1954) is an English 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 BBC2 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

Helen Lederer was born on 24 September 1954 in

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...

, Wales to an English mother and Czech-Jewish father.''Sunday Telegraph''
13 May 2012 Her father was born in 1926 in

Teplice Teplice () (until 1948 Teplice-Šanov; german: Teplitz-Schönau or ''Teplitz'') is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 49,000 inhabitants. It is the second largest Czech spa town, after Karlovy Vary. The hi ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, and many of her relatives did not survive the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

. Lederer's paternal grandfather, Arnost, worked as a clandestine listener to German

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

Trent Park Trent Park is an English country house, together with its former extensive grounds, in north London. The original great house and a number of statues and other structures located within the grounds (such as the Orangery) are Grade II listed bu ...

in North London during World War II. She was raised in

Eltham Eltham ( ) is a district of South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The thre ...

, south east London 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. She has a BA in applied social science and received an honorary doctorate from

Middlesex University Middlesex University London (legally Middlesex University and abbreviated MDX) is a public research university in Hendon, northwest London, England. The name of the university is taken from its location within the historic county boundaries o ...

Career

Lederer was the only woman to write and perform in

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history fro ...

's '' In One Ear''. Produced by Jamie Rix with

Clive Mantle Clive Andrew Mantle (born 3 June 1957) is an English actor. He played general surgeon Mike Barratt in the BBC hospital drama series '' Casualty'' and ''Holby City'' in the 1990s, and Little John in the 1980s fantasy series '' Robin of Sherwoo ...

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 Benjamin Charles Elton (born 3 May 1959) is an English comedian, actor, author, playwright, lyricist and director. He was a part of London's alternative comedy movement of the 1980s and became a writer on the sitcoms '' The Young Ones'' and ''Bl ...

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 theatre, a monologue (from el, μονόλογος, from μόνος ''mónos'', "alone, solitary" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes a ...

in each episode from a wine bar. In the 1980s she reprised her Sloane role in a series of television adverts for Warninks Advocaat, with voice-overs by

Stephen Fry Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starrin ...

. In the 1990s, Lederer was recruited by her old contemporaries Mayall and Ade Edmondson to play supporting roles in two episodes of their

sitcom A sitcom, a Portmanteau, portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troup ...

'' 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 Dawn Roma French (born 11 October 1957) is a British actress, comedian, presenter and writer. French is known for writing and starring on the BBC comedy sketch show '' French and Saunders'' with her best friend and comedy partner, Jennifer Sau ...

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 ''The Baldy Man'' is a television series starring Gregor Fisher, a Scottish comedian. It was broadcast in two series comprising thirteen episodes on ITV, screening in 1995 and 1998, and produced for Carlton Television by Working Title Films. B ...

''. 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 has appeared on numerous radio panel games including '' Quote... Unquote'', '' The News Quiz'' and '' Just a Minute'' and writes columns for newspapers and magazines. She wrote 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 was one of eight celebrities who spent a week learning Welsh in an eco-friendly chic campsite in Pembrokeshire for the

S4C S4C (, ''Sianel Pedwar Cymru'', meaning ''Channel Four Wales'') is a Welsh language free-to-air public broadcast television channel. Launched on 1 November 1982, it was the first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speaking ...

television series cariad@iaith:love4language shown 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 CBeebies is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 years and under. Its sister channel CBBC is aimed at older chil ...

channel. This role was alongside veteran actor Bernard Cribbins, playing the role of Jack, and supporting actors Freema Agyeman and Janine Duvitski. In January 2013 she was a contestant on ITV celebrity diving show '' Splash!'', but was eliminated in the first round. In October 2013 she played the midwife Mariam in ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside''. Since 2005, episodes have been aired on sister channel E4 a da ...

'' who was responsible for a baby-swap scandal, a role she reprised in 2015 before being killed off by the "Gloved Hand Killer". In February 2015 Lederer appeared, as grieving widow Safia, in the BBC

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

series '' Doctors''. She has also appeared on '' Celebrity MasterChef'', '' Loose Women'' and '' Countdown''. In 2017 she competed in '' Celebrity Big Brother 20'', eventually becoming the 7th housemate to be evicted. In 2018 the BBC launched the comedy podcast series ''Knock Knock'', in which she talks with guest comedians from across the UK. Lederer appears in the 2018 short film To Trend on Twitter in aid of young people with cancer charity CLIC Sargent with fellow comedians Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton, David Baddiel and actor Jason Flemyng. In 2019 she hosted the Women in Comedy panel at Wilderness festival.

Comedy Women in Print award

In 2018, Lederer launched a new literary prize for comic fiction written by women. The 2019 winner of the CWIP award was ''The Exact Opposite of Okay'' by

Laura Steven Laura may refer to: People * Laura (given name) * Laura, the British code name for the World War I Belgian spy Marthe Cnockaert Places Australia * Laura, Queensland, a town on the Cape York Peninsula * Laura, South Australia * Laura Bay, a bay o ...

. The 2020 awards added a humorous graphic novel prize. The award was created because of dissatisfaction with the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize, which was not awarded in 2018 and had up to that point only been won by a woman three times.

Personal life

Lederer has married twice and has a daughter, Hannah Lederer-Alton, with her first husband, journalist and former editor of ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper Sunday editions, published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group, Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. ...

'', Roger Alton. Her second husband is Chris Browne, a GP. Lederer is an

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

for the Prince's Trust, Eve Appeal Gynaecological Cancer Charity and cancer charity GO Girls. Her daughter Hannah Lederer-Alton played Abi ( Jason Donovan’s daughter) in the TV series '' Echo Beach''.

Television and film appearances

*'' Pointless Celebrities'' (2018) *'' Celebrity Big Brother'' (2017) *'' Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie'' (2016) *''

'' (Mariam, 2013, 2015) *'' Old Jack's Boat'' (2013, 2014) *'' Absolutely Fabulous'' (1992–2012) *'' Horrid Henry: The Movie'' (2011) *'' The Kid'' (2010) *'' Agatha Christie's Marple'' (2009) *'' Hotel Trubble'' *'' Big Brother's Bit on the Side'' *''

Fat Slags ''The Fat Slags'' is a British comic strip appearing in the alternative British comic ''Viz''. The characters made their debut in 1989, their first appearance being in issue 36. The eponymous slags are Sandra Burke and Tracey Tunstall, known t ...

'' *'' Casualty'' (1992–2011) *'' Love Soup'' *'' Girls on Top'' *'' The New Statesman'' *''

Iconicles ''Iconicles'' is a live-action/animated television series for pre-schoolers. The series is a British-American co-production between Create Media Ventures (as "Iconicles Limited") and phuuz entertainment, in association with Foothill Entertainme ...

'' *'' Naked Video'' (1986) *'' Sooty Heights'' *'' French and Saunders'' (1988–1998) *'' Heart Beat'' *'' Virtual Murder'' *'' Filthy Rich & Catflap'' *''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serve ...

'' *''

One Foot in the Grave ''One Foot in the Grave'' is a British television sitcom written by David Renwick. There were six series (each consisting of six half-hour shows) and seven Christmas specials over a period of ten years from early 1990 to late 2000. The first fi ...

'' (1993) *'' Bottom'' (1991–1992) *''The Jack Dee Show'' *'' Harry Enfield's Television Programme'' (1992) *''Hello Mum'' (1987) *'' Happy Families'' (1985) *'' The Young Ones'' (1984) *'' Murder Most Horrid'' *''A Day Full of Animals & Songs'' *'' Doctors'' ( Maise Oliver, 2021)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lederer, Helen 1954 births Living people English film actresses English television actresses English soap opera actresses English women comedians English people of Czech-Jewish descent People educated at Blackheath High School Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama Alumni of the University of Hertfordshire Actresses from London British women comedians British comedy writers British comedy actresses People from Carmarthen 20th-century English actresses 20th-century English comedians 21st-century English actresses 21st-century English comedians