Life and Career
Smith was born in Erith in Kent in 1958 and was educated at Erith College (now Bexley College) and at the University of Sheffield where she graduated in English and Drama. She joined a professional theatre company before turning to comedy. In 1987, she won the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year, then known as the New London Comic Award, and performed on the Edinburgh Fringe before breaking into radio comedy.
Many of her early stand-up appearances were benefit concerts staged in solidarity with the British miners during the Miners' Strike in the 1980s. She was a lifelong socialist.
Her first appearances on national radio were on Radio 5's The Treatment in 1997. She was subsequently a regular panellist on The News Quiz and Just a Minute and appeared frequently on I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue (from June 2001 onwards), Have I Got News for You, Mock the Week, Countdown and QI. She wrote and starred in her own Radio 4 sitcom, Linda Smith's A Brief History of Timewasting. After appearing on Radio 4's Devout Sceptics to discuss her beliefs she was asked by the British Humanist Association (BHA) to become president of the society – a role that she occupied with great commitment from 2004 until her death. In 2002, she was voted 'Wittiest Living Person' by listeners to BBC Radio 4's Word of Mouth. During The News Quiz she would often mockingly use Richard Littlejohn's catchphrase "to hell in a handcart".
On the 17 November 2003, Smith appeared on the BBC television show Room 101, where she successfully managed to put in Adults who read Harry Potter books, Tim Henman, 'Back to School' signs that appear in shops and Posh People. However, she failed to put in Bow ties after host Paul Merton pointed out that Stan Laurel regularly wore a bow tie.
Read more about this topic: Linda Smith (comedian)
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