Maureen Lipman born 10th May 1946, Hull, England.

Her mother encouraged her onto the stage at an early age. Later, having studied at The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, she made her acting debut in The Knack in 1969.
She has performed in many West End productions, including See How They Run and Candide; Lost In Yonkers. Her accolades include an award for best supporting actress for the film Educating Rita. More recently, she completed a successful run with Oklahoma! at the Royal National Theatre playing Aunt Eller.

Lipman's television career is prolific although recently she stated that she wouldn't do any more as she wasn't really a 'ratings' person.
Her most successful television productions are Agony, Cold Enough for Snow, and Agony Again. She is well known for her character from the British Telecom comercials brilliantly playing Jewish mother Beattie, (You got an Ology?) for which she won an award.

Lipman paid homeage to her heroine Joyce Grenfell by performing in a one woman show about her life, Re: Joyce. The play ran in the UK and US to wide acclaim.

Lipman is married to playwrite Jack Rosenthal and they have two children, Amy and Adam.