HILDA BRAIDHilda Braid, who died on 6 November, 2007, aged 78, was a much-loved actress on British television during the last 50 years.Her first break came when she appeared as a recurring character in the BBC sitcom Citizen Smith alongside Robert Lindsay.And in 2002 her career was revived when she joined the cast of EastEnders as Nana Moon.She was born in Northfleet, Kent on 3 March, 1929, and trained as an actress and ballet dancer at RADA and went on to perform with the Royal Shakespeare Company.She began her television career at the start of the 1960s and had small roles in such series as Z Cars, Play for Today, Crossroads and Emmerdale Farm.It wasn’t until middle-age that she landed her first notable role, playing the kind but confused mother of Wolfie Smith’s love interest in Citizen Smith, a cult comedy about the hopeless revolution leader of the "Tooting Popular Front".Her character, Florence, would exasperate her upstanding middle-class husband with her dotty nature and baffle Wolfie by calling him "Foxy".The role was effectively reprised more than 20 years later when she joined the EastEnders cast as part of the Moon family, who were centred around Alfie, played by Shane Richie. She appeared in the soap for four years until Richie’s departure resulted in her character being killed off by an aneurysm.During her spell on EastEnders, her plotlines included her character suspected of suffering Alzheimer's disease and almost marrying conman Wilfred Atkins. One episode, in which Nana Moon visited the grave of her late husband in Normandy, won a British Soap Award for 'Best Single Episode' in May 2006.Unfortunately, by the time she left the soap, its producers were beginning to become concerned for Hilda herself due to her age – she was reported to be having difficulty remembering lines and what times she was supposed to be filming.Her other television credits include Brookside, One Foot in the Grave, Goodnight Sweetheart, Dangerfield, The Bill, Casualty and a reunion with Robert Lindsay on My Family. She also appeared briefly in the 1996 Disney movie 101 Dalmatians.She has also worked with and befriended several other EastEnders cast members prior to joining the show, including June Brown (Dot Cotton) and Gretchen Franklin (Ethel Skinner). She was known for being a fan of the Beatles and also the comedy duos Morecambe & Wise and the Two Ronnies.An EastEnders spokesman said: "She was a lovely actress who brought her great humour and wit to the role of Nana Moon which earned her many fans, young and old alike. She was a much-loved member of our cast."A friend announced that she had died peacefully at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton. She had spent the last year of her life at a nursing home in Hove and had been suffering from dementia.
Keep me informed of updates
