KATHY Staff rose to prominence for her depiction of Nora Batty in Last of the Summer Wine, the long-running comedy series filmed in West Yorkshire, though her life and career encompassed considerably more than this memorable role.
Kathy entered the world as Minnie Higginbottom, a name that could easily have belonged to a comic character.
Minnie was born at 243 Astley Street, Dukinfield, a settlement situated on the southern side of the River Tame merely six miles from Manchester, which then formed part of Cheshire before becoming part of Greater Manchester in 1974.
Her father operated a clothing manufacturing business and served as a lay reader at a mission church, while her mother performed in a vocal quartet. She also had a sister named Constance, who pursued a career teaching English. Her education took place at St Mark’s Church of England Primary School and Lakes Road Secondary School, where she held the position of head girl, though academic pursuits were not her primary interest. During her youth she aspired to become a ballet dancer, though her parents could not afford the necessary training expenses. This seems rather implausible when one considers her later portrayal of Nora Batty.
The performing arts soon captured her enthusiasm, and from childhood she participated in amateur theatrical productions.
Upon leaving school at fourteen, she commenced employment as a shorthand typist and undertook clerical duties in Ashton-under-Lyne.
In 1946, at the age of eighteen, she launched her acting career and altered her name to Katherine or Kathryn Brant, having never been fond of the name Minnie Higginbottom.
The surname Brant accompanied her through most of her early theatrical work. She began performing professionally in 1949 with regional theatre companies in Wales and Scotland, and encountered her future spouse while working in rep at Llanelli.
Kathy wed schoolmaster John Staff (1928-2011) at St Mark’s in Dukinfield in 1951, a marriage that endured for more than fifty years until her passing in 2008.
The couple established their household in Denton and welcomed two daughters, the younger of whom, Susan Jackson (following her marriage in 2002), became a vicar, among the earliest women ordained within the Church of England.
Shortly after welcoming their children into the world (Katherine in 1956 and Susan in 1959), the family relocated to Dukinfield, settling at Crescent Close. Kathy adopted her husband’s surname as her professional identity, thereby becoming Kathy Staff to her countless television admirers.
She stepped away from work to raise her family, though she did undertake work as a background performer with Granada Television during the early 1960s, earning three pounds per day.
Her significant breakthrough on television arrived in 1969 when she portrayed Lorna Everitt in Castle Haven, a brief-lived drama series co-starring Sally James, who later became a television presenter, and Roy Barraclough, who played public house proprietor Alec Gilroy in Coronation Street.
An accidental reunion with a former colleague from her regional theatre days, Gerald Harper, convinced Kathy to pursue opportunities in television, a choice she never regretted.
Regarding politics, Kathy stated in her memoir that she supported the Conservative Party and had previously contested local government elections, approximately in 1971, when a candidate listed as Ms. M. Staff sought to secure the Central ward in the Municipal Borough of Dukinfield. Her campaign proved unsuccessful, placing last among three Conservative candidates, all of whom were outperformed by Labour and Liberal opponents.
Meanwhile, Kathy’s professional trajectory shifted dramatically in 1973 when she featured in the pilot instalment of Last of the Summer Wine and indeed delivered its opening dialogue, with her formidable character Nora Batty rapidly becoming emblematic for her quick temper.
She continued appearing in this enduring programme until 2008, the year of her death, accumulating 245 episodes throughout. Set in Yorkshire, the programme followed the escapades of three elderly men who refused to abandon their youth, with one of them, Compo, portrayed by Bill Owen, harbouring improbable romantic inclinations towards Nora, with her wrinkled stockings, apron, hair curlers and all, a woman for whom the epithet battle-axe might have been specifically coined.
Following Bill Owen’s death in July 1999, Kathy departed the series temporarily and observed that circumstances were never quite the same afterward, though she eventually did come back. She never employed a stunt double and performed all her own actions, including tumbling from a bicycle.
She also featured in the soap opera Crossroads between 1978 and 1984, returning briefly during 2001 and 2002, in the capacity of cleaner Doris Luke.
Some viewers’ inability to distinguish between reality and fiction became apparent when Kathy received messages of recovery following her character’s illness (Kathy was occupied filming elsewhere, which explained her Crossroads character’s temporary absence from the programme).
She secured appearances in Coronation Street as Vera Hopkins between 1973 and 1975, featured in Open All Hours as Mrs Blewett in 1976, and also enjoyed appearances on The Benny Hill Show. In 1984, Kathy Staff received recognition when selected as the subject for This Is Your Life, receiving a surprise visit from presenter Eamonn Andrews while browsing at Harrods.
The assembled guests comprised comic performer Stan Stennett, Paul Henry (who played Benny in Crossroads), Susan Hanson (Benny’s companion Miss Diane), Peter Sallis and Bill Owen from Last of the Summer Wine, Roy Barraclough, Carry On film actress Barbara Windsor and Gerald Harper (from Adamant Lives and Hadleigh). She featured as a celebrity contestant on Blankety Blank during Lily Savage’s tenure as host, namely Paul O’Grady’s alter ego Lily Savage. Her recorded television roles number ten, with a guest appearance in Emmerdale in 1975 as Winnie Purvis.
She also distinguished herself as a stage actress, taking the role of Lady Bracknell in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest at Birmingham Repertory Theatre, and portraying Mrs Malaprop, the most celebrated character in Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s The Rivals. She also contributed to several film productions: A Kind of Loving (1962), The Family Way (1966), The Dresser (1983), Camille (1984), Little Dorrit (1988) and Mary Reilly (1996). She made her pantomime debut in 1982 and subsequently became a regular presence in this genre, appearing in no fewer than eighteen pantomimes overall. Kathy’s autobiography, My Story – Wrinkles and All, co-written with Liz Barr, was released in 1997.
Kathy Staff succumbed to a brain tumour in Ashton-under-Lyne on December 13, 2008, at the age of eighty, and was interred in her hometown at Dukinfield Crematorium and Cemetery, following a funeral service at St Mark’s where she had been a devoted lifelong congregation member, sung in the choir and is memorialised with a screen tribute. Her Christian faith was genuine and unwavering. She signed the temperance pledge at the age of fourteen and abstained from alcohol throughout her existence; she also never smoked. Her memorial stone describes her as a loving wife and mother but also as the actress for: the actress rests.
A commemoration ceremony was conducted in her honour at St Paul’s Church, Covent Garden, on April 24, 2009. A blue heritage plaque was revealed at St Mark’s in Dukinfield during March 2011 to honour Kathy’s life and accomplishments, with the unveiling performed by her close friend and colleague Roy Barraclough.
Kathy Staff bore similarities to Nora Batty yet remained distinctly different. Both were formidable working-class women from the north of England, though Kathy enjoyed afternoon tea at the Ritz and frequented Liberty’s, establishments that would have exceeded the reach of the weathered old lady, as Kathy characterised Nora. She nearly missed securing the role when she attended preliminary discussions appearing too elegantly turned out. She possessed a pleasant disposition, common sense and composed temperament.
CHRONOLOGY
1928 – Birth of Minnie Higginbottom (July 12) in Dukinfield.
1946 – Commences acting career and changes name to Kathy Brant.
1949 – Undertakes professional acting positions, performing in regional theatres across Scotland and Wales.
1951 – Weds schoolteacher John Staff at St Mary’s, Dukinfield.
1969 – Kathy’s major television breakthrough portraying Lorna Everitt in Castle Haven.
1973 – Delivers the inaugural line of Last of the Summer Wine as the memorable Nora Batty.
1978 – Makes initial appearance in Crossroads as cleaner Doris Luke.
1984 – Receives surprise visit from Eamonn Andrews at Harrods for This Is Your Life.
2008 – Passing of Kathy Staff (December 13) in Ashton-under-Lyne aged eighty.