Dora Bryan
Dora May Bryan OBE was an English actress of stage, film and television. Born Dora May Broadbent, her career began in pantomime as a child actor. In World War II she joined the ENSA in Italy to entertain British troops.
After having established herself as a versatile stage actress, covering everything from drama and comedy to musicals, she started to appear in film in the late 1940s, and in 1968 she even had her own TV series, "According to Dora". At one point in her career she was Britain's highest-paid star.
She was active on stage until the mid 1990s and continued to work in film and television until 2005, when she finally had to give up the acting profession as she could no longer remember her lines.
Her autobiography According To Dora was published in 1987. In 1996, she was awarded an OBE in recognition of her services to acting and the same year she was also awarded the Laurence Olivier Award for her role in the West End production of the Harold Pinter play "The Birthday Party".
She was married to British cricket player Bill Lawton from 1954 to his death in 2008. She lived in a nursing home in Hove, outside Brighton, until her death in 2014.
Known For | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 12.523 |
Birthday | 1923-02-07 |
Place of Birth | Parbold, Lancashire, England, UK |
Also Known As | Дора Брайен, Dora May Broadbent, |
1989
Apartment Zero
6.8/48
In a rundown area of Buenos Aires, at the dawn of the 1980s, Adrian LeDuc owns both a struggling movie theater and a shabby apartment building filled...
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Apartment Zero
1961
A Taste of Honey
7/95
While out to avoid spending time with her narcissistic and promiscuous mother, sixteen-year-old Jo has a brief affair that leaves her pregnant and aba...
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A Taste of Honey
1958
Carry On Sergeant
6.4/63
Fall in for the first ever film in the highly successful Carry On comedy series—now an acclaimed British institution. Kenneth Connor and Charles Hawtr...
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Carry On Sergeant
1966
The Great St. Trinian's Train Robbery
5.8/20
The all-girl school foil an attempt by train robbers to recover two and a half million pounds hidden in their school.
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The Great St. Trinian's Train Robbery
2005
MirrorMask
6.434/318
In a fantasy world of opposing kingdoms, a 15-year old girl must find the fabled MirrorMask in order to save the kingdom and get home.
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MirrorMask
1955
The Cockleshell Heroes
5.8/26
During WW2, German ships are "safely" docked upriver at Bordeaux, but the British send a team of kayakers to attack them.
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The Cockleshell Heroes
1972
Up the Front
4.1/15
In Frankie Howerd's third Up... film it's World War I and he plays Lurk, an absolute cowerd, er coward. He's evading the call-up for all he's worth. B...
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Up the Front
1950
No Trace
6.5/4
A famous mystery writer uses his own plot tricks to murder a blackmailer in this British thriller.
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No Trace
1971
Hands of the Ripper
6.2/65
A series of murders occur that mirror those committed by the Whitechapel Ripper. Through his experiments with psychoanalysis Dr Pritchard discovers a...
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Hands of the Ripper
1950
The Blue Lamp
6.6/48
P.C. George Dixon is a long-serving traditional copper who is due to retire shortly. He takes a new recruit under his aegis and introduces him to the...
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The Blue Lamp
1966
The Sandwich Man
6.1/7
A man with a sandwich-board (advert) wanders around London meeting many strange characters.
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The Sandwich Man
1958
The Man Who Wouldn't Talk
6/7
American scientist Dr. Frank Smith is brought to Britain to help the C.I.A. There is a defecting East block scientist they want him to debrief. The co...
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The Man Who Wouldn't Talk
1953
The Fake
5.6/9
Someone is stealing priceless paintings from the great museums of the world and replacing them with nearly flawless forgeries. Leonardo da Vinci's "Ma...
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The Fake
1954
Mad About Men
6.1/16
Flirtatious mermaid Miranda swaps places with a schoolteacher who has gone on holiday. All is well until she falls in love with a human.
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Mad About Men
1949
Now Barabbas
6.5/2
A prison governor deals with a variety of different prisoners, including a charming murderer.
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Now Barabbas
1954
Fast and Loose
5.8/2
An unmarried couple are forced to adopt a series of pretexts when they stay at a country inn together with only one spare room.
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Fast and Loose
1967
Two A Penny
1.5/2
Set in London's Swiinging Sixties, Cliff Richard plays Jamie Hopkins, an art student whose desperate need for money leads him to dabble in the underwo...
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Two A Penny
1955
You Lucky People
5.2/7
Reservist Tommy Smart - who has made his fortune since the war selling army surplus - arrives at an army camp, with his chauffeur/valet, for two weeks...
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You Lucky People
1952
Miss Robin Hood
7.4/5
In this delightful fantasy adventure, a mild-mannered writer of adventure stories for girls (Richard Hearne) finds himself presented with an intriguin...
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Miss Robin Hood
1995
Bed
0/0
Surreal drama about seven old people living in the same bed, by Jim Cartwright.
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Bed
1950
Traveller's Joy
5.7/3
A divorced couple, living hand-to-mouth in Stockholm, must first pay their hotel bill before returning to England. To raise the necessary funds, they...
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Traveller's Joy
1960
The Night We Got the Bird
4.5/2
Good natured comic caper charting the misadventures of a hapless bunch of Brighton based petty crooks dogged with disaster at every turn.
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The Night We Got the Bird
1996
Absolutely Fabulous: The Last Shout
7.4/4
Eddy and Patsy prepare to go on a skiing holiday to hopefully indulge in the jet-setting lifestyle of the international celebrity elite when Saffy is...
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Absolutely Fabulous: The Last Shout
1952
The Ringer
5.8/5
An underhand solicitor receives threatening notes, and the police are called in to protect him.
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The Ringer
1959
Operation Bullshine
5.083/6
During World War II, a Royal Artillery officer is assigned to an anti-aircraft battery that is filled with female soldiers of the Auxiliary Territoria...
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Operation Bullshine
1949
The Interrupted Journey
6/16
When John North, a budding author, pulls the communication cord of a late night train that is taking him away on a weekend with his publishers wife, h...
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The Interrupted Journey
1960
Alice Through the Looking Box
0/0
A Christmas TV special in which Alice does not go through a looking glass, but through a TV set.
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Alice Through the Looking Box
1960
Follow That Horse!
0/0
A race horse swallows a microfilm and is pursued by the major superpowers spy agencies.
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Follow That Horse!
1949
Once Upon a Dream
6/4
An officer's wife has a romantic dream about her husband's man (servant) and comes to believe it is true. Meanwhile the husband has asked his servant...
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Once Upon a Dream
1959
Desert Mice
6/4
A World War II farce that follows the antics of an ENSA (Entertainment National Service Association) group. Fresh from the music halls, they bumble th...
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Desert Mice
1951
Scarlet Thread
4.9/7
Tale of Cambridge college exploits of two smash-and-grab thieves on the run.
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Scarlet Thread
1952
Mother Riley Meets the Vampire
4.2/19
The legendary Bela Lugosi as "the Vampire" teams up with Britain's much-loved "Mother Riley" in this hilarious comedy adventure. The Vampire plans to...
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Mother Riley Meets the Vampire
1950
Something in the City
5.7/3
A man hides the fact that he lost his job from his wife by apparently going off to work each day as normal but runs into trouble when he is tailed by...
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Something in the City
1951
The Quiet Woman
5.8/5
The former wife of a criminal moves to a coastal town and takes over the running of a bar known as The Quiet Woman. She becomes outraged when she disc...
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The Quiet Woman
1952
Gift Horse
6.6/16
Compton Bennett's war drama The Gift Horse follows the fortunes of ageing destroyer The Ballantrae and her crew from the time they come together in 19...
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Gift Horse
1956
Child in the House
5.8/4
A lonely child must stay with her uncaring aunt and uncle after her mother is hospitalized. Her estranged father is a fugitive. For love and companion...
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Child in the House
1952
13 East Street
5.2/4
When police inspector Gerald Blake wants to infiltrate a London stolen-goods gang, he does a thorough job of it. First, he robs a jewelry store, gets...
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13 East Street
1960
Hello London
5/1
Hello London is a 1958 documentary film starring Sonja Henie and Michael Wilding.
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Hello London
1953
Street Corner
5.6/10
London policewomen handle rescues and larceny as they go about their work in Chelsea.
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Street Corner
1956
The Green Man
6.953/32
Unknown to everyone but his shady Middle Eastern bosses, watchmaker Hawkins is actually a professional hired assassin with a predilection for killing...
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The Green Man
1952
Whispering Smith Vs. Scotland Yard
6/1
Mystery directed by Francis Searle.
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Whispering Smith Vs. Scotland Yard
1953
Women of Twilight
5.3/6
When a nightclub singer is arrested for murder, his pregnant girlfriend moves into a boarding house for women, but the mother-to-be soon discovers tha...
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Women of Twilight
1954
Harmony Lane
0/0
The first British 3D short, this delightful 27 minute short is like spending a night at the Palladium with several variety acts. They include dancing...
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Harmony Lane
1954
The Young Lovers
5.8/5
A young employee of the British State Department falls in love with the daughter of a top Russian diplomat, much to the panic of their respective coun...
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The Young Lovers
1951
Lady Godiva Rides Again
5.9/8
Marjory Clark wins a competition in her Midland town and finds herself in a Festival of Britain procession as Lady Godiva - though not in the buff. Th...
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Lady Godiva Rides Again
1953
The Intruder
7.2/6
When Ex Colonel Merton discovers a burglar ransacking his home, he is shocked to find out that the thief is a former soldier from his tank regiment. W...
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The Intruder
1948
The Fallen Idol
7.2/163
Phillipe, the son of an ambassador in London, idolizes Baines, his father's butler, a kind of hero in the eyes of the child, whose perception changes...
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The Fallen Idol
1983
Screamtime
4.3/16
Compilation of three short horror films: "That's The Way To Do It", "Dreamhouse" and "Do You Believe In Fairies?" plus some new linking material.
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Screamtime
1951
Circle of Danger
6.5/18
An American comes to Britain to investigate the murky circumstances of his brother's death that occurred during a WW2 commando raid.
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Circle of Danger
1949
The Cure for Love
0/0
Sergeant Jack Hardacre returns from the war to his contemptible fiancée Janey Jenkins intending to reconcile with her against all odds. But he falls i...
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The Cure for Love
1952
Time, Gentlemen, Please!
8/4
Because of its high productivity and "almost" 100 per cent employment, the town of Hayhoe, England is expecting a visit from the Prime Minister. The "...
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Time, Gentlemen, Please!
1954
The Crowded Day
5.4/7
One day in the lives and loves of the staff in a large department store.
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The Crowded Day
1955
As Long as They're Happy
8/2
The suburban peace of the Bentley household is shattered when John Bentley is informed by his wife Stella that their two married daughters, Pat and Co...
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As Long as They're Happy
1951
No Highway in the Sky
7/55
James Stewart plays aeronautical engineer Theodore Honey, the quintessential absent-minded professor: eccentric, forgetful, but brilliant. His studies...
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No Highway in the Sky
1948
No Room at the Inn
7/1
A group of children are evacuated during world war two into the care of an alcoholic woman.
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No Room at the Inn
1957
Small Hotel
6.5/2
The dining room of the Jolly Fiddler has long been presided over by Albert, an aged but very shrewd waiter. A past master of the gentle art of fiddlin...
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Small Hotel
1947
Odd Man Out
7.347/183
Belfast police conduct a door-to-door manhunt for an IRA gunman wounded in a daring robbery.
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Odd Man Out
1949
Adam and Evelyne
6.6/7
A handsome gambler unwittingly becomes guardian of an orphaned, teenaged girl.
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Adam and Evelyne
1949
The Perfect Woman
5.8/5
In need of cash, Roger Cavendish and his valet take a job escorting the perfect woman for a night on the town. She is in fact the robotic creation of...
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The Perfect Woman
1954
You Know What Sailors Are
4.2/4
The best of British humor is on display in this satirical cold war romp! Donald Sinden plays Lieutenant Green, a radar expert in the Royal Navy. One n...
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You Know What Sailors Are
1951
High Treason
5.2/9
Men from Scotland Yard and military intelligence build a dossier on a sabotage ring.
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High Treason
1953
The Real Thing
0/0
The World's First Three Dimensional Advertising Film In Colour for Capstan cigarettes.
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The Real Thing
1991
Palmer
0/0
Eddie Palmer attempts to run a private investigation bureau while coping with eccentric staff, an acrimonious divorce and a wayward daughter.
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