Hylda Baker

Hylda Baker was an English comedienne, actress and music hall performer. Born and brought up in Farnworth, Lancashire, she is perhaps most well known for her role as Nellie Pledge in the ITV sitcom Nearest and Dearest and for her role in the 1960 film Saturday Night and Sunday Morning.

Baker was born in Farnworth, Lancashire, the first of seven children. Her father, Harold Baker, was a painter and signwriter, who also worked parttime 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 actsinging, 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 . Her act was full of malapropisms and catchphrases that had become part of her public persona, the most famous of which were She knows, yknow! and, when asked the time Its quarter past160... I must get a little hand put on this watch.

Source: Wikipedia