From Wikipedia Victoria Wood CBE 19 May 1953 20 April 2016 was an English comedian actress singer and songwriter screenwriter and director Wood wrote and starred in sketches plays films and sitcoms and her live comedy act was interspersed with her own compositions which she accompanied on piano Wood also composed and performed the theme music for her award winning BBC sitcom Dinnerladies Much of her humour was grounded in everyday life and included references to popular British media and brand names of quintessentially British products She was noted for her skills in observing culture and in satirising social classes She started her career in 1974 by winning the ATV talent show New Faces It wasnt until the 1980s that she began to establish herself as a comedy star with the awardwinning television series Victoria Wood As Seen on TV and became one of Britains most popular standup comics In 1998 she wrote and starred in the again awardwinning sitcom Dinnerladies In 2006 she won two BAFTA awards for her oneoff drama for ITV1 Housewife 49 Wood frequently worked with longterm collaborators Julie Walters Duncan Preston and Celia Imrie Victoria Wood died on 20 April 2016 after a short battle with cancer She was 62