British comedian Victoria Wood dies of cancer at 62

In this file photo taken in London on Sunday 20 May, 2007, British comedienne Victoria Wood holds her two BAFTA awards, one for Best Actress and one for Best Single Drama both received for “Housewife, 49”, a TV movie in shown in 2006. AP

LONDON  — Victoria Wood, a British comedian whose sketch shows and sitcoms blended playfulness and sharp social observation, has died. She was 62.

Wood’s publicist, Neil Redding, said she died Wednesday at her London home “after a short but brave battle with cancer.”

Wood got her break in 1974 winning the TV talent contest “New Faces.”

As a woman from the north of England, she was an outsider in the world of British comedy, but became a well-known standup, and got her own TV show in the 1980s with “Victoria Wood as Seen on TV.”

It featured the spoof soap opera “Acorn Antiques,” which many consider a classic.

Wood also created and starred in the late-1990s sitcom “Dinnerladies,” which featured a mostly female cast including Julie Walters, Celia Imrie and Maxine Peake. TVJ