Career
She is most famous for her portrayal of Nora Batty on the longest running sitcom in the world, Born in Dukinfield, Cheshire, Staff was best known for her role as one of the main characters, Nora Batty, in the long-running British Broadcasting Corporation sitcom She played Nora Batty from the pilot episode in 1973, (though in the pilot and first series, she was referred to as MrsBatty), until 2008, the year she died from a brain tumour. Shortly after the death of actor Bill Owen on 12 July 1999, coincidentally also Staff"s birthday, Staff left the show briefly. She stated in interviews that things just weren"t the same since his passing, and her heart wasn"t in it anymore.
She would later return and remain with the show until her death.
She began her acting career with touring repertory companies in 1946, changing her name to Katherine Brant. She retired from the stage at this point to raise her family, but started working as an extra for Granada in Manchester in the 1960s.
Her death was announced on 14 December. Her funeral took place at Street Mark"s Dukinfield, where she was a lifelong member and sang in the choir.
She is commemorated in a memorial screen at the church.