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Biddy White Lennon

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Biddy White Lennon
Born5 September 1946
Dublin, Ireland
Died25 November 2017
OccupationActress
Notable workThe 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]

Life

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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]

Books

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  • Wild Food
  • The Very Best of Traditional Irish Cooking
  • Best of Irish Home Baking
  • Irish Cooking
  • Best of Irish Potato Recipes
  • A Taste of Ireland
  • Best of Irish Traditional Cooking
  • Best of Irish Festive Cooking
  • Irish Food & Cooking
  • The Irish Heritage Cookbook
  • Classic Recipes of Ireland
  • The Irish Kitchen
  • Best of Irish Meat Recipes
  • Traditional Cooking of Ireland
  • The Irish Kitchen
  • Eating at Home Cook Book
  • Poolbeg Book of Traditional Irish Cooking
  • Leaving Home Cook Book
  • The Irish Heritage Cookbook

References

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  1. ^ "A star of The Riordans who loved cooking and food". The Irish Times. 2 December 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Tributes to late Riordans' star Biddy White Lennon". RTE. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  3. ^ "Food File: the weekly food news round-up". Irish Times. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  4. ^ Lilian Chambers (2001). Theatre Talk: Voices of Irish Theatre Practitioners. Peter Lang. pp. 438–. ISBN 978-0-9534257-6-1.
  5. ^ "In Focus". Politico. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  6. ^ a b "First Encounters: Food writers Biddy White Lennon and Georgina Campbell". Irish Times. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  7. ^ "Actor and food writer Biddy White Lennon dies". Irish Times. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  8. ^ a b "Home grown: Biddy White Lennon". Irishexaminer.com. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  9. ^ a b "Tributes pour in for Biddy White Lennon who has passed away". Independent. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  10. ^ "Ready, steady, bake". Irish Times. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  11. ^ "Biddy White Lennon, food writer, actress and Bake Off judge, dies". The Times. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  12. ^ "Death of Biddy White Lennon, The Riordan's Maggie". Meath Chronicle. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  13. ^ "Tributes paid to soap star Biddy White Lennon following her passing". Irish Mirror Online. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  14. ^ "'We are devastated': Riordans' star Biddy White Lennon has died". The Journal. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
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