Frances Cuka was 83

Frances Cuka, who played ‘nice grandma’, Nelly Buller in Friday Night Dinner, has died aged 83.

The sitcom’s creator, Robert Popper, said the news was ‘terribly sad’, while Sanjeev Bhaskar said she was ‘always such a welcome, warm and hilarious presence’ on the Channel 4 show.

Her cause of death has not been reported, but she previously suffered a stroke and had been diagnosed with cancer.

Cuka had a long career as a character actress on stage and screen, starting with groundbreaking director Joan Littlewood at Stratford East in the 1950s.

She had roles in Crossroads, Coronation Street and briefly played Peggy Mitchell in EastEnders when the character was first introduced in 1991. She filmed several scenes before being fired and her scenes were scrapped. She was replaced by Jo Warne and, later, Barbara Windsor.

Read her obituary in The Guardian. 

Published: 21 Feb 2020