Louise Elizabeth Goddard (born 20 January 1950), professionally known as Liza Goddard, is an English television and stage actress, best known for her work in the 1970s and 1980s.
Early life
Goddard was born in Smethwick, Staffordshire.[1] She is the daughter of David Goddard (1925–1992), who produced and directed numerous TV shows and programmes.
He met his wife Clare in Germany. Her sister is Maria. Clare trained in rep, and appeared in television adverts. They lived at Heath End, Surrey then at 10 Weybourne Rd in Weybourne, Surrey, and in Frensham, then 'Huffins' in Tilford. Maria and Lisa performed in the Junior Tilford Players.[2]
Goddard made early television appearances in Australia, including episode 100 of Homicide ("The Traveller", 1966), and the ABC drama play Romanoff & Juliet (1967), and a brief (non-speaking, uncredited) appearance in the feature film They're A Weird Mob (1966). However, she is best remembered in Australia for her role as Clarissa "Clancy" Merrick in Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, in which she appeared in the first two series and 48 episodes.[4][5][6]
After returning to the UK in 1969 as an adult, she was cast as Victoria Edgecombe, the character created by Terence Brady and Charlotte Bingham in Take Three Girls (1969),[5] later appearing in its sequel Take Three Women (1982). She also had a supporting role in the 1972 comedy film Ooh… You Are Awful, starring Dick Emery. Her career breakthrough was as April in The Brothers (1972–76), which also featured her first husband, Colin Baker. She also appeared as Jocelyn in "National Pelmet", the Series 2 opener of the ITV drama Minder.
A comedy role alongside Donal Donnelly in Yes, Honestly (1976–77), by Terence Brady and Charlotte Bingham followed, as did a role with Christopher Biggins in a BBC1 sitcom Watch This Space (1980), by Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe. This was followed by Pig in the Middle (1980–83) also written by Terence Brady and Charlotte Bingham.
Goddard was one of the 'explorers' who were 'evaporated' in a (now missing) episode of the BBC science fiction quiz programme The Adventure Game (1980), played a space pirate in the Doctor Who story Terminus (1983), and appeared in Roll Over Beethoven (1985), opposite Nigel Planer. She played Barbara Colport in the Tales of the Unexpected (TV series) episode (9/6) "Wink Three Times" (1988). She also played a humanist in the 1988 biographical film Testimony, starring Ben Kingsley. She then appeared in Woof!, a Children's ITV programme first broadcast in 1989. Her third husband, producer and director David Cobham, created this series. She had earlier appeared in the TV adaptation of Brendon Chase, also produced and directed by Cobham.
She was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1984 when she was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the Ambassador's Theatre in London for the shows recording nearby, at the Regent Theatre.[7][8]
She later had a recurring role as Philippa Vale in Bergerac (featuring in four series between 1984 and 1989) and alongside Dawn French and Catherine Tate in Wild West (2002). In 2007 she appeared in the Midsomer Murders episode "A Picture of Innocence", reuniting her with Bergerac star John Nettles. In 2012 she had a cameo role in the all-star comedy film Run for Your Wife, and in 2013 she toured with the official Agatha Christie Theatre Company in Go Back for Murder, an adaptation of the book Five Little Pigs.
In September 2016, Goddard played the guest role of Gloria Francis in the BBC1 drama series Casualty.[9] In March 2023 she again appeared in Casualty, this time playing Christine Robinson in the series 37 episode "No Regrets". In July 2023 Goddard was announced as taking the role of Dotty Otley in a national tour of Michael Frayn's farce Noises Off, directed by Lindsay Posner, following its run at the Phoenix Theatre, London. [10]
Personal life
Goddard's first marriage was to Dr Who actor Colin Baker.[11]
In 1981 she married Bernard William Jewry, the pop star Alvin Stardust.[12] Goddard's daughter from her marriage with Jewry, Sophie Jewry, was critically injured at the age of two months after she fell down a set of stairs and suffered a severe fracture of the skull. She later recovered from her injuries.[12]
Goddard's third marriage was to producer and director David Cobham.[11]
As of 2021, she lives near Dereham,[14] Norfolk and also works with the RSPCA, amongst other charities. She recovered from breast cancer in 1997.[15] She has two children.[11]
^ abFalk, Quentin; Falk, Ben (2005). Television's Strangest Moments: Extraordinary But True Tales from the History of Television. Franz Steiner Verlag. p. 78. ISBN1-86105-874-8.
