Liz Smith

  1. Eileen Essell, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, 2004. There were two grannies in the script and director Tim Burton obviously called on the UK’s favourite grandmother. Not acting until she was 50, Liz – who had a fine line in aged dottiness – rang up 128 screen roels in 42 years. At age 83, she read for both parts. Asked to choose, she passed Grandma Josephine to Essell and signed on as Grandma Georgina. Why? “Because she’s the one who had to kiss Johnny Depp. And it was lovely!”

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