Liza Tarbuck

LIZA TARBUCK is firmly established as one of the country's best known faces. Born in Liverpool, England on the November 21st, 1964. She is the daughter of legendary standup comic Jimmy Tarbuck. Her personality is what makes her attractive.

Being the daughter of famous comedian Jimmy Tarbuck hasn't been all plain sailing. Liza Tarbuck, star of the BBC's new drama series Linda Green, tells Phil Gould why having a famous father made for some miserable teenage years.

Liza Tarbuck is the type of person who could easily be your best mate. She has a natural sense of humour, a strong line in selfdeprecation and possesses that rare quality found in few celebrities - having something interesting to say about herself and her life.

Having made her name in comedy and TV presenting.

She recently played Helen to critical acclaim in ITV’s comedy drama series Bonkers and hosted I Blame The Spice Girls, a one-off comedy quiz for Five TV.

She has also recently made guest appearances on BBC One’s Inspector Lynley, Steve Coogan’s Saxondale series as a full-figured rock chick for BBC Two and played Rita in Series 2 of Extras with Ricky Gervais. She also hosted Channel 4’s series Britain’s Top Dog and co-presented The British Comedy Awards for ITV.

Liza first exploded onto the small screen as Pamela in Watching, a Granada series that regularly laid claim to over 13 million viewers.

Liza’s television appearances then went from strength to strength and to date have been a mixture of presenting and acting, in both comedies and dramas including the title role of Linda Green in two series of the critically acclaimed BBC1 TV drama.

She also appeared as one of the only ‘real’ women, Donna in The League of Gentlemen and Mrs Barrymore in The Hound of the Baskervilles. She guested on French & Saunders (BBC One) and played a cameo role in BBC One’s Bleak House.

For Channel 4 she presented two series of the International Emmy award winning format Without Prejudice as well as She's Gotta Have It and the Big Breakfast with Johnny Vaughan. She presented Blockbusters for Sky TV and I Suppose You Think That's Funny for ITV2;

She made her West End debut in 2003 working with the legendary director Franco Zeffirelli in the play Absolutely! (Perhaps) starring alongside Joan Plowright and Oliver Ford Davies. She has previously appeared on stage in national tours including Absurd Personal Singular as well as for the National Youth Theatre and the Edinburgh Fringe following her training at R.A.D.A

In a 2007 interview with Jonathan Ross, she confirmed she has lent her voice to the animated Doctor Who adventure, The Infinite Quest. 2007 also saw her starring in the ITV1 comedy drama 'Bonkers'.

Recently Tarbuck starred in the film The Be All and End All alongside Suzanne Collins, Eugene Byrne and Laura Swift.

After a seven year break from television, she presented the fashion programme She's Gotta Have It in 1998. Her exuberance, humour and presenting skills landed her a presenting job on The Big Breakfast where she forged a successful partnership with Johnny Vaughan. In 2001, she teamed up with her father for a celebrity edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. She has hosted one of the Sky One episodes of Blockbusters and has been a guest presenter on Have I Got News For You. In 2003, Tarbuck hosted Channel 4's Emmy Award winning panel-discussion/gameshow Without Prejudice?.

Tarbuck has also hosted a late-night edition of Win, Lose or Draw, and has also presented Britain's Top Dog. She also narrates British documentary Airport. She has also presented a one-off quiz for Five called I Blame The Spice Girls to celebrate Five's tenth birthday. She has also been one celebrity to appear in a series of adverts for the UK supermarket Asda.

During September 2007 she co-presented the weekday afternoon show on BBC Radio 2 with Mark Radcliffe, whilst Steve Wright was on leave. In December 2007 (and again in January and March 2008), she once more hosted the show, this time as a solo presenter. In July 2008 she once again co-presented with Radcliffe. In December 2008 and January 2009 she presented the Saturday morning slot on BBC Radio Two with Martin Freeman. For a week in March 2009 Liza stood in for Sarah Kennedy's popular Dawn Patrol show. She makes occasional appearances on the BBC Radio 4 show Just a Minute.

Liza Tarbuck is close to landing her own Radio 2 show, a report has claimed over the last few days.

According to the Daily Express, the 45-year-old presenter has impressed bosses at the station on occasions when she has stood in for other DJs.

An insider commented: "There's a strong feeling more women are needed on Radio 2 and that Liza more than deserves a permanent slot.

"She could finally get her own show by 2010." .