I might as well have said I was going to go on the streets

From Catherine of Aragon to Queen Victoria, from Margaret Lloyd George to Margaret Meldrew, Annette Crosbie has been a staple of our screens for seven decades, and is quite rightly regarded as a "national treasure".

Happy 80th birthday today, Miss Crosbie! Here is one of those classic moments of comedy for which she is most famous, playing the ever-patient stooge to the irascible Victor Meldrew:

The Valley of Fear: Frozen cat

Facts about Miss Crosbie:

• Her parents were horrified at her choice of acting as a career: "I might as well have said I was going to go on the streets! In those days, acting was a profession that involved men putting on your make-up. It was a huge bombshell for them," she said.
• As a young woman, she had a fling with none other than Richard Burton.
• Her daughter Selina Griffiths played the drunken daughter of old Noreen in Benidorm
• Nowadays she is a dedicated campaigner for the welfare of retired racing greyhounds, as well as president of the League Against Cruel Sports.

Annette Crosbie OBE (born 12th February 1934)