Very few figures in the world of entertainment have managed to make a huge impact as a comedian, a writer, a singer and an actor but Victoria Wood managed to glide effortlessly between a range of disciplines.
Her death at her London home yesterday at the age of only 62 came as an enormous shock and her long-term stage partner Julie Walters was fully entitled to describe her loss as `incalcuable.'
Ms Wood was a household name but clearly valued her privacy and had managed to prevent the full extent of her illness from becoming public knowledge.
Her dignity was as striking as her talent, and her passing proved again that cancer is among the most cruel and least discriminating of illnesses.
