Lilo Lil... dead at 73
Tributes for ‘witty, brilliant’ Eileen Pollock, best known as ‘tart’ in 80s sitcom Bread
ACTRESS Eileen Pollock, best known as Lilo Lil in 1980s sitcom Bread, has died at the age of 73.
Her family revealed she died peacefully at home in London on Sunday.
In a tribute they said they would remember Eileen as an “actor, writer and storyteller” and described her as a “dear sister, loved aunt and great aunt”.
Eileen, from Belfast, played Freddie Boswell’s brassy mistress in Carla Lane’s comedy about a large Liverpool family.
She also had a long stage career and appeared in such films as Far and Away, starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, and Mike Leigh’s Four Days in July.
Her agents ANA said she was “truly a powerhouse of an actor, with huge generosity and spirit”.
In a statement they said: “We will miss our dear friend and will always remember her as our wonderful, witty, brilliant, Belfast girl!”
Actor Dan Gordon, Eileen’s co- star in play Women On
The Verge Of HRT, recalled of her: “She would meet someone in the town when we were on tour and say, ‘ They’re down on their luck’ and would bring them to see the show and buy them a drink afterwards.
“I never saw her angry. She was an extraordinary woman... beautiful.”
Eileen initially trained as a translator but her first love was theatre.
After moving to London, she worked backstage at the Bush Theatre, getting her break when an actress said she would not be able to go on the following night.
Eileen was sent home to learn the part. “It was really scary – but I did it,” she said.
Auditioning for Bread, the producers said they wanted Lilo Lil to be from Liverpool – but Eileen convinced them she should be Irish.
She got the part, and Bread ran from 1986- 91, with a peak of 21 million viewers in 1988. She said being recognised as the Irish tart character was “wonderful”. Her first Hollywood role was as brothel keeper Molly Kay in 1992’s Far and Away.
Other film credits in her career included Angela’s
Ashes in 1999.
I never saw her angry... an extraordinary woman
DAN GORDON CO-STAR OF LATE EILEEN POLLOCK
AFFAIR Lilo Lil in Bread