Comedian Victoria Wood dies aged 62

The English performer's career has spanned forty years in the entertainment business.

The BAFTA Award winning performer's many shows include Dinnerladies, her sketch show Victoria Wood As Seen on TV – which included sketches such as Acorn Antiques and rocketed her to prominence in the '80s – and stage plays.

Awarded a CBE in 2008, Wood won two BAFTA awards for her one-off drama for ITV1's Housewife, 49 in 2007 which she starred in and was based on the diaries of Nella Last.

Wood wrote the play Talent in 1978 for which she won an award for most promising new writer. She was subsequently noticed by Granada Television. The piece opened at the Crucible in Sheffield before transferring to London in 1979.

In 2011 Wood wrote and directed a new musical for the Manchester International Festival. That Day We Sang was set in 1969 and told the story of a middle-aged couple of find love through a television programme about a choir. WhatsOnStage awarded the musical a five star review.

The actress was known to collaborate frequently with Julie Walters and Celia Imrie as well as Duncan Preston. She was listed as one of the 50 Funniest Acts in British Comedy in 2003. She won six British Comedy Awards and won a total of four BAFTAs – as well as a special BAFTA – from fourteen nominations.

Tributes were paid to the actress via Twitter:

Seeing Victoria Wood on TV – working class, bookish, silly, clever, doing stand-up, singing, acting – made me think “Girls can do this.”

No. NO.This is too much.Now lovely, warm, funny, brilliantly talented Victoria Wood has gone.Words, songs, plays, she wrote the lot.So sad.

In total shock that we have lost Victoria Wood. I had some truly great times with her. Thoughts are with her family. What awful awful news.

Difficult to absorb the news about Victoria Wood. She was a total joy to work with and watch on TV. 2016 is becoming a terrible year.

Cant believe Vic has gone.She was truly an inspiration and had so much left to to give and we won't see it. She was so funny.#VictoriaWood