Hylda Baker Video | Celebrity Interview and Paparazzi

Hylda Baker (4 February 1905 – 1 May 1986) was a British comedienne, actress and music hall star. Baker was born in Farnworth, near Bolton, Lancashire, the first of seven children. Her father, Harold Baker, was a painter and signwriter, who also worked part-time in the music halls as a comedian. At ten, Baker made her debut at the Opera House, Tunbridge Wells, and continued to tour as a single variety act—singing, dancing and performing impersonations. By 14, she had started writing, producing and performing her own shows. Her most famous stage act was as a gossip from the North of... MORE

Hylda Baker (4 February 1905 – 1 May 1986) was a British comedienne, actress and music hall star. Baker was born in Farnworth, near Bolton, Lancashire, the first of seven children. Her father, Harold Baker, was a painter and signwriter, who also worked part-time in the music halls as a comedian. At ten, Baker made her debut at the Opera House, Tunbridge Wells, and continued to tour as a single variety act—singing, dancing and performing impersonations. By 14, she had started writing, producing and performing her own shows. Her most famous stage act was as a gossip from the North of England, with a silent, sullen companion named "Big Cynthia", almost always played by a man in drag (and who was played last by Matthew Kelly). Her act was full of malapropisms and her catchphrase, usually after an innuendo, was "She knows, y'know!" It has been suggested by Kelly that Baker's exaggerated vocal delivery had its origins in the mee-mawing required of Lancashire cotton mill workers in the weaving sheds. Fellow comedienne Victoria Wood has described her comedic talent as "peculiarly Northern". Baker came to national attention in BBC television's The Good Old Days in 1955. This led to her LESS