Julie Walters ‘inspired’ by granny with dementia

 Dame Julie Walters has revealed that some of her most famous comedy characters were based on her own dementia-suffering grandmother.

The actress, 67, said roles such as the comical Mrs Overall were inspired by her relative Granny O’brien.

“I think a lot of it was watching my grandmother,” she told The Observer. “She had vascular dementia – which unfortunately as children we found massively entertaining.” Dame Julie recalled how her grandmother used to turn up at the Post Office in the middle of the night and once tried to eat a boiled egg with a pair of coal tongs as she explained how she mimicked her mannerisms, as well as those of “the ladies from round about”.

She was recently made a Dame by the Queen at Buckingham Palace – a moment she described as a greater honour than being nominated for an Academy Award.