From Chapel in Cheapside to Westminster Abbey in 92 years!

With a flourish from a band of the Salvation Army  the life and work of our favourite leading lady Dame Thora Hird was celebrated at Westminster Abbey, London, on Monday 15th September 2003 .   Outside was glorious sunshine and although this made the Thames sparkle it was nothing to the glittering effect of so many stars of the stage, film and television world who gathered along with us lesser mortals.  There were even some representatives from the Royal Family present!

It would take too long to list all those famous folk who were present but the Abbey was filled to the brim of those paying their own tribute to this amazing lady. Mentioning just those who actually spoke at the service gives a flavour as to the status in which Dame Thora  is held in her modest way:  comedienne Victoria Wood OBE read from the Preface to Thora’s book Nothing Like a Dame commenting beforehand that “if only she could have been here, she might have used a chair-lift to enter the place”!   Alan Bennett gave a memorable address using all his best talents as an actor/writer etc and reminded us that Thora liked to be known as an “actress” (she couldn’t be doing with political correctness!)  and mentioned a selection of her many stage, film and television triumphs reminding us all that she could be equally brilliant in serious roles as well as comedy.  He also recalled  the scene she played with Alan Bates in the film “a Kind of Loving” in which the director called on Thora to improvise whilst Alan was being sick behind a settee – a task she rose to with aplomb and at some length!   Alan said that unlike most of us Thora had some of her best successes in her seventies and eighties even if she couldn’t always bother to remember the names of the many Directors she worked with.   She was, he concluded simply “ a lass un-paralleled” ………

Summer wine stars were there in force and fans were later able to secure autographs and photographs;   I spoke to “Glenda”  in passing and we agreed how much we shall all miss those immortal words  “drink your coffee”.   Although Last of the Summer Wine was not specifically mentioned being almost over-shadowed by Thora’s other achievements there was a moment just before the service started when the organist played “Going Home” from Dvorak’s New World Symphony (also known in the UK as the “Hovis advertisement”) and all those sitting around me started thinking of her in that context and reflected that like fine music and wine she quite simply got better as she got older.   Her choice of favourite hymns will not surprise fans at all as they reflected her life as a strong Christian believer and follower:  Onward Christian Soldiers, What a Friend we have in Jesus and Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory of the Coming of the Lord (Battle Hymn of the Republic).  The Salvation Army  Band and the Abbey organ played alternately with the Westminster Abbey Special Service Choir leading the singing.

Other contributions were from her cherished grand-children Daisy Torme and James Torme  ( maybe some reading this do not realise that her daughter Jan - Janette Scott was married at one time to the great US performer Mel!)  and also Greg Dyke from the BBC.

Apart from still creating some of the best television in the world we Brits can still produce the finest tributes and ceremonies possible and this thanksgiving for the life and work of a unique and much-loved First Lady was superb in arguably the best venue.  In the words of the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr Wesley Carr   “Westminster  Abbey is a national institution for other national institutions.  And few would argue that Thora was not one such. So we remember her with gratitude………..........................”  

Indeed we do; as my grandfather once said “good people are scarce – there’s not many of us left”!

Gerald D Hayne
Member of Summer Wine Appreciation Society
15 September 2003

Original Report and Comments from Fans following her Sad Death


Many thanks for all your heartwarming messages of  sympathy following the sad death of Dame Thora Hird - our Edie from Last of the Summer Wine. 

Dame Thora suffered a stroke at her London nursing home, aged 91.  She was well known on both sides of the Atlantic for the delightful and much-loved character in Summer Wine. 

But she was also known  for her stage acting and in classic TV favourites including Meet the Wife and In Loving Memory, which was also set in the North of England, and screened in the US. 

Alan JW Bell, producer of Last of the Summer Wine, told Summer Wine Online: that Dame Thora was "a joy to work with". "She had a magnificent life and we all benefited from her being with us." he said. 

Dame Thora's famous comments about not to stop doing things just because of age have been included on the home page of Summer Wine Online for sometime. They are "Don't Stop Doing Things Because You're Growing Old. You Will Only Grow Old If You Stop Doing Things" 




Messages of Sympathy From Fans 

We received scores of messages from fans all over the World - thank you. 

We are sorry we could not respond to each one. A sample of the messages are published below. 

Some have been edited for space reasons. 





Stuart Clapham 
Bradford,UK

mc014e7089@blueyonder.co.uk

I would just like to pass on the sympathy to Dame Thora's family at their sad loss, she will be sadly missed and from Summer wine's point of view, I think she will leave as big a void as Bill Owen. I am glad we have our video's to watch. We really enjoyed the banter between her and Dora Bryan,
Good Night, God Bless Dame Thora, you were a true English Treasure. 

Mary Hutchings, England

 
Andrew Hampel, 29
Hull, UK

Brian Lucas

BrianLucas@lucasb.fslife.co.uk

Dame Thora we will all miss you, you were a great lady, a great actress and will be greatly missed

Tony Dowden

apxi26@dsl.pipex.com

MANDY BAIRD

ABKC7@aol.com 

Angela

ACAPPER@NSPCC.org.uk

...I just wanted to write, and say goodbye to Thora, and to say a big thank you for all the laughs she has provided us with in Summer Wine, and in everything else she has appeared in. I loved her in the Talking Heads series and in Lost For Words she was brilliant. She was a fantastic actress, and an amazing Christian woman. My Grandma saw in a stage play in the 1950s at The Oldham Coliseum, and she brought the house down every night. My only regret is not getting to see her live on stage as well. She excelled in her field, and very few actors will meet her amazingly high standard. God Bless Thora. 


Graham
grahamcoult@yahoo.com

I saw the notice of the funeral arrangements for Dame Thora, and the fact that it is to be strictly private ceremony. As well as sending donations to charity, might I suggest (although I'm sure many others have thought of this) that Dame Thora's fans light a candle on that day, to focus our prayers, and to symbolise the way that she lit up the lives of many, in many ways, and by way of offering thanks for her life.

Russ G

Yes, it is a sad day. But we have all enjoyed her as Edie. I can still
hear her shouting, "Stop that our Glenda!" when Glenda kissed Barry in
public. She had a way of delivery her lines that no one else could have done
as Edie. Her comments were the highlight of every coffee morning.

Goodbye Thora, we'll miss you.

Pat Carling

Goodbye Thora, we will miss you. Thank you for giving us the pleasure of Edie's company for so many years and for the joy and laughter and sometimes tears we shared -  you introduced us to so many of us the products of your own heart and insight. But in our loss and sadness we hold one thought - that you are, once more, with your darling 'Scottie'. Our hearts go out to your family, including your lovely daughter Janette, and to the many devoted friends who will miss you so much - and to all those fans who will also miss you - but will keep your memory warm in their hearts, along with those of Bill Owen, Gordon Wharmby, John Comer and Joe Gladwin - and not forgetting Michael Bates and Blake Butler. Let the last words of Thora be a lesson for us all - "Don't Stop Doing Things Because You're Growing Old. You Will Only Grow Old If You Stop Doing Things" On behalf of myself, my family and all her fans.


Helen Lentz
Seven Valleys, PA USA 

...I sit here with a heavy heart and think of all the laughter and tears she has brought to me through the years.  This wonderful lady had an incredible talent that will surely be missed.  Although she was 91, to me Dame Thora Hird was ageless.  My prayers and condolences go out to her family and the actor's and actresses on Last of Summer Wine.  She will be greatly missed both in Britain and in the USA.  
Rest in Peace Dame Thora Hird. 

Twgdwyer25@aol.com