Biddy White Lennon | |
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Born | 5 September 1946
Dublin, Ireland |
Died | 25 November 2017 |
Occupation | Actress |
Notable work |
The Riordans Wild Food (O'Brien Press) |
Biddy White Lennon (5 September 1946 – 25 November 2017) was an Irish actress and food writer. [1] [2] [3]
White Lennon was born in Dublin and began acting when she was four. Her mother was Ursula White, a drama professor who ran a school of acting in the Pocket Theatre at Ely Place (one of her students was Joe Dowling while Deirdre O'Connell used the school as her foundation for the Stanislavski Studio). [4] [5] Her father died while she was under ten. [6]
White Lennon started in The Riordans when the programme first aired in January 1965. She played the role of Maggie Riordan (née Nael), daughter-in-law of the matriarch and wife of Benjy, and she remained on the show until its cancellation in 1979. [6] [7] When the series was brought to the radio, White Lennon wrote for it. [8] She later appeared as a judge on TV3's The Great Irish Bake Off. [9] [10] [11]
After her appearance on The Riordans, White Lennon went on to become well regarded in the culinary world and became founder member and Chairwoman of the Irish Food Writers Guild. [9] [2] White Lennon was also editor of the Irish Home Diary and food writer for both the Irish Home Diary and to Food and Wine Magazine. [12]
In her later years, White Lennon lived in County Wexford with her husband Denis Latimer, who died in December 2016. [13] [14] They had one son, Dairsie. [8]