Maureen Lipman

Coronation Street favourite Maureen Lipman isn't going anywhere just yet, after signing a one-year contract extension on the soap. She's played the grandmother of Tyrone Dobbs, Evelyn Plummer, since 2018, while also juggling a spot on Celebrity Gogglebox for a short time. Now, in conversation with Reader's Digest, the actress...

Helen Mirren has responded to Maureen Lipman’s “utterly legitimate” complaint about her accepting the role of Golda Meir.Non-Jewish Mirren is playing the former Israeli prime minister in a new biopic, in a casting decision that was criticised by Lipman.In an open letter posted earlier this month, she stated: “I’m sure she will be marvellous, but it would never be allowed for Ben Kingsley to play Nelson Mandela. You just couldn’t even go there.”Lipman later clarified her comments by saying: “I have nothing against Helen playing it. My query is, should the casting directors have looked first, and maybe they...

Letters: If the ethnicity or gender of the character drives the role then that ethnicity should be prioritised, writes Maureen Lipman

Maureen Lipman has clarified her recent comments about Helen Mirren’s casting as a Jewish politician.Earlier this week, Lipman – who is a vocal opponent of so-called “cancel culture” – criticised the decision to have non-Jewish actor Mirren play former Israeli prime minister Golda Meir in the forthcoming biopic Golda.“I’m sure she will be marvellous, but it would never be allowed for Ben Kingsley to play Nelson Mandela,” Lipman said. “You just couldn’t even go there.”Appearing on Good Morning Britain on Thursday (6 January), Lipman said that while she agreed actors should be able to play any part regardless of...

Actor says Meir’s Jewishness is ‘integral’ to role and that Ben Kingsley would ‘never be allowed’ to play Nelson Mandela

Dame Maureen Lipman has questioned the casting of Dame Helen Mirren as the former Israel Prime Minister Golda Meir in an upcoming film about her life. Dame Helen, who is not Jewish, will portray the politician - Israel's first female PM - in the movie, titled Golda. Dame Maureen, who...

Maureen Lipman has compared the casting of Helen Mirren as former Israeli prime minister Golda Meir to Ben Kingsley playing Nelson Mandela.Mirren will star as Meir, who was the first female leader of Israel, in Guy Nattiv’s biopic Golda. When the first photos of Mirren as the politician were released in November, viewers said that the 76-year-old actor looked “unrecognisable”.Speaking to The Jewish Chronicle, actor Lipman said that she was uncomfortable with the idea of Mirren, who is not Jewish, playing Meir.“With that I disagree, because the Jewishness of the character is so integral,” she said.“I’m sure she will...

Dame Helen Mirren has been drawn into the debate over “Jewface” casting after Dame Maureen Lipman said the actress should not be allowed to play Golda Meir. In her latest film, Golda, Dame Helen portrays the Israeli leader during the Yom Kippur War of 1973. Dame Maureen said...

According to Dame Maureen Lipman, comedy is in a terrible state. “It’s in the balance whether we’re ever going to be funny again,” she told the Today programme on Radio 4, in a segment tied to a YouGov poll that found that many people censor their beliefs when meeting strangers. (Shocking that more people don’t introduce themselves with their full voting history and a row about immigration.) Lipman gravely asserted that “we’re on the cusp of wiping out comedy”. Poor old comedy, now consigned to reclining permanently on a chaise longue, having swooned at the thought of causing offence one too many times. Poor old comedy, hooked up to the life-support machine, fighting off the virus of cancel culture. It’s 50/50: will we ever laugh again?

The Today programme isn’t usually a barrel of laughs, but on Wednesday it got a chuckle out of me. The risible remark came during an interview trailed as “cancel culture with Maureen Lipman”. “We’re on the cusp of wiping out comedy!” Dame Maureen warned. The source of this existential threat? The idea that comedians, for fear of being “cancelled”, are censoring themselves from saying anything un-PC.

“Cancel culture” risks wiping out comedy altogether, the actor Dame Maureen Lipman has claimed. The Coronation Street star warned that some comedians were being prevented from ever working again for having offended people, though she offered no example. A new YouGov poll suggests more than half of people would...

Dame Maureen Lipman has warned that cancel culture could kill comedy, warning that “we’re on the cusp of wiping out comedy”. However comedian Russell Kane said the notion that comedians are self-censoring is “complete nonsense”. The comments were made as part of a BBC feature...

Dame Maureen Lipman has said comedy is in danger of being "wiped out" due to fears over being cancelled. She told the BBC she believes comedians are now so worried about offending, "a revolution" is taking place. "It's in the balance whether we will ever be funny again," she said.

Comedy is in danger of being “wiped out” by cancel culture, according to Dame Maureen Lipman, who said performers are toning down their material over fear of causing offence. “It’s in the balance whether we will ever be funny again,” she said. Dame Maureen, 75, and...

Maureen Lipman has claimed that a “revolution” is taking place in the comedy world over so-called cancel culture. The actor and comedian told the BBC she believes comedy could be “wiped out” due to fears of being cancelled.Cancel culture is a term used to describe attempts to “cancel” a person or group for what are deemed unacceptable behaviour or views.“It's in the balance whether we will ever be funny again,” Lipman said.“Cancel culture, this cancelling, this punishment, it's everywhere. Punishment. An eye for an eye. ‘You said that, therefore you must never work again.’ Sooner or later the cancellers...

Dame Maureen Lipman has ruled out returning to Celebrity Gogglebox after disagreeing with the show’s editing choices. The Coronation Street star, 75, appeared on the Channel 4 show alongside friend Giles Brandreth and infamously walked off the set after having to watch an episode of Naked Attraction. Appearing on ITV’s...

Maureen Lipman has announced that she will not be returning to Celebrity Gogglebox after claiming that all her “clever” comments were cut from the show.The Coronation Street star appeared alongside Giles Brandreth on the all-star spin-off of Channel 4’s popular show, in which contributors watch the week’s TV highlights.However, during an appearance on Loose Women on Tuesday (30 November), Lipman responded to Janet Street Porter’s question about her return to the series.“I’ve seen all the male tackle that I need to see for this lifetime, to be honest, I really have,” Lipman said, referencing being made to watch Naked...