ATV Icon: Kathy Staff

The next name in the ATV Icons hall of fame is actress Kathy Staff…

​Kathy Staff was born Minnie Higginbottom on the 12th of July 1928 and became known for two long television roles – one on the BBC and the other over on ITV.

Kathy is undoubtedly best known for her portrayal of Nora Batty in the long-running BBC sitcom Last of the Summer Wine and as cleaner Doris Luke in ITV soap opera Crossroads. However, these roles were only a small part of a career that spanned over six decades, encompassing television, theatre, and film.

Born in Dukinfield, Cheshire, Staff began her acting career in 1946 with touring repertory companies, initially performing under the name Katherine Grant.

Castle Haven is launched by YTV outside their Leeds studios in 1969. Cast pictured include Sally James, Gretchen Franklin and Kathy Staff / Yorkshire Television

After marrying John Staff in 1951, she adopted his surname professionally. She took a break from acting to raise her family but returned to the industry in the 1960s, working as an extra for Granada Television in Manchester. In her autobiography, My Story: Wrinkles and All, she revealed her involvement in local politics, having stood as a Conservative candidate in the 1971 local elections.

Her most iconic role was as Nora Batty in Last of the Summer Wine, a character she played from the show’s pilot in 1973 until 2008. Nora, with her distinctive curlers and wrinkled stockings, became a cultural icon, symbolizing the quintessential Northern English matriarch. Staff briefly left the show following the death of co-star Bill Owen in 1999 but returned to continue her role until her own passing.

Beyond Last of the Summer Wine, Staff had a long running role in Crossroads as the kind, but outspoken, cleaner Doris Luke from 1978 to 1984 and again from 2001 to 2002. It wasn’t her first time in the Kings Oak based soap, which was set around a motel. She first appeared as an unhappy guest back in 1971.

Motel dramas: Kathy as Doris Luke in Crossroads / ATV

Other soap roles include Castle Haven, a short-lived serial from Yorkshire Television by Kevin Laffan who went on to create Emmerdale Farm,​ it was set in a Leeds block of flats. A life-long friendship however was formed with Roy Barraclough who went on to play Alec Gilroy in Coronation Street. Kathy herself would also appear in both Emmerdale Farm and Corrie. She played Weatherfield’s Vera Hopkins between 1973 and 1975 and later in 75′ was The Woolpack cleaner Winnie Purvis.

While celebrated for serious parts Kathy was also greatly respected within the industry for her comedy work. She played the sharp-tongued Mrs. Blewett from 1976 to 1981 in Ronnie Barker shop sitcom Open All Hours, worked with Les Dawson and Benny Hill on their sketch shows and featured as Molly Bickerstaff in No Fills. In 1983 she was celebrated by This Is Your Life when the Crossroads cast surprised her while she was out shopping in London.

Kathy with a host of comedy stars in 1988 Thames Television’s Mr. H is Late

Other work included in the television adaptation of Separate Tables in 1983 and Kathy’s film credits include roles in A Kind of Loving (1962), The Family Way (1966), The Dresser (1983), Little Dorrit (1988), and Mary Reilly (1996).

Her theatre work was equally impressive, with performances as Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest, Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit, and Mrs. Malaprop in The Rivals. She also appeared in West End productions like Two into One and When We Are Married, as well as numerous pantomimes.

In 1997, Staff published her autobiography, My Story: Wrinkles and All, offering insights into her personal life, career, and experiences in the entertainment industry. In the early 80s there was also an odd venture into the world of music with a Crossroads and Last of the Summer Wine. The latter saw her singing about her famous wrinkled stockings as Nora Batty alongside co-star Bill Owen, who played Compo who was obsessed with her legs. The pair even performed it on live children’s magazine show Saturday Superstore. The Crossroads record saw her as Doris talking about her dear friend Benny, played by Paul Henry. It was entitled ‘Benny‘.

No Frills: Kathy in the BBC sitcom about a mother who heads to live in London with her daughters / BBC

Staff passed away on 13 December 2008 at the Willow Wood Hospice in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, after being diagnosed with a brain tumour earlier that year. She was 80 years old. Her funeral was held at St Mark’s Church in Dukinfield, where she had been a lifelong member and choir singer. She is interred at Dukinfield Cemetery.

In the years that followed a blue plaque was unveiled by Roy Barraclough on the church’s community hall building celebrating her life, and a stained-glass window was also later created in her memory.

Festive Fun: The Last of the Summer Wine Christmas 1987 special / BBC