Liza Tarbuck ( LEE-zə; born 21 November 1964) is an English actress, comedian, and television and radio presenter.
Liza Tarbuck was born in Liverpool and grew up near Kingston upon Thames. She is the daughter of comedian Jimmy Tarbuck and his wife Pauline, with an older sister, Cheryl, and a younger brother, James. She attended an independent convent school. She trained at the National Youth Theatre and RADA graduating in 1986 alongside Clive Owen, Rebecca Pidgeon, and Mark Womack.
Tarbuck's first big break came in 1987 when she landed a starring role in the Granada Television comedy series Watching, opposite Emma Wray. She stayed with Watching for its entire seven-year run. She also appeared as Angie in the 1988 Falklands War drama Tumbledown, which starred Colin Firth, Paul Rhys and David Calder.
In 1989, Tarbuck played Dana in the first of the six Victoria Wood penned anthology comedy plays Mens Sana in Thingummy Doodah, presented on BBC1 in the series Victoria Wood.
In 2001, she took the title role in Linda Green, which ran for two series, ending in 2002.
She guest starred on the Ricky Gervais comedy Extras and appeared in The Inspector Lynley Mysteries as DI Fiona Knight.
In 2004, she appeared in Series 6 of the BBC One comedy French & Saunders, as a fictionalised version of herself, where she had the role of producer for Saunders & French Productions with Christopher Hague-Moody.
In 2005, she appeared as Mrs Jellyby in the BBC One serial Bleak House, and in 2006 she appeared in episode six of the sitcom Saxondale, as a full-figured rock chick.
In 2007, she provided a voiceover for the animated Doctor Who adventure The Infinite Quest. 2007 also saw her starring in the ITV1 comedy drama Bonkers.
In 2009 she starred as Tina in her first role in a feature film, in The Be All and End All, and since 2016 she has played the part of Anne Hathaway in the BBC Two comedy series Upstart Crow.
In 2019, she starred in How Europe Stole My Mum. This Channel 4 comedy documentary, presented by comedian Kieran Hodgson and also starring Harry Enfield, examines how Brexit came about and how the divided country might be put back together.
She presented the Channel 4 fashion programme She's Gotta Have It in 1998 and The Big Breakfast with Johnny Vaughan, Sara Cox and Richard Bacon during 1999 and 2000. In 2001, she teamed up with her father for a celebrity edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? In the early 2000s, she hosted the Sky One game show Blockbusters and has been a guest presenter on Have I Got News for You. In 2003, she hosted Channel 4's Emmy Award winning panel-discussion/gameshow Without Prejudice?.
She hosted a late-night edition of Win, Lose or Draw, and has presented Britain's Top Dog, as well as narrating the last series of the documentary Airport in 2005.
She presented a one-off quiz for Five called I Blame the Spice Girls to celebrate Five's tenth birthday. She has also appeared in advertisements for the supermarket Asda.
She signed a deal with Sky One to present a show called Pet Nation alongside Huey Morgan in 2010.
She narrated the Channel 4 dieting show Supersize vs Superskinny between 2008 and 2014.
In 2015, Tarbuck narrated the Animal Planet series Meet The Orangutans.
Tarbuck played Helen Golightly in the BBC Radio 4 programme Clare in the Community from series 5 to series 9, taking over from Gemma Craven. She has also appeared in other shows for BBC Radio 4, such as Just a Minute and a story about Jayne Mansfield. In December 2016 she presented Remembering Ronnie Corbett, a tribute to the late comedy star. In October 2017 she appeared on Front Row with Harry Hill. In December 2017 she was a guest on Radio 4's Saturday Live. In January 2018 she was a guest on Great Lives, talking about the Serbian-American scientist Nikola Tesla.