Debbie Barham 1065538 223143415 2008-07-02T19:31:37Z Rjwilmsi 203434 gen + birth/death date fixes per [[Wikipedia:DATE#Dates_of_birth_and_death|MOS]] using [[Project:AutoWikiBrowser|AWB]] '''Deborah Ann "Debbie" Barham''' ([[20 November]] [[1976]] – [[20 April]] [[2003]]) was an [[England|English]] [[comedy]] writer who died at the age of 26 of [[heart failure]] caused by a long struggle with [[anorexia nervosa|anorexia]]. During her 11-year career she wrote for [[comedian]]s including [[Clive Anderson]], [[Rory Bremner]], [[Angus Deayton]], [[Bob Monkhouse]] and [[Graham Norton]], and for [[BBC]] programmes including ''[[The News Huddlines]]'', ''[[Loose Ends (radio)|Loose Ends]]'' and ''[[Week Ending]]''. Though little known by the general public she was greatly respected in the profession, and had a reputation for mental quickness, her writing being not only of high quality but also fast and prolific, even when she was far from well. She was educated at [[Sheffield High School (South Yorkshire)]],{{fact|date=March 2008}} and was a bright student, but left school early as she was unhappy there, and never went to [[university]]. Her early work was submitted under the name '''D. A. Barham''', out of concern that a teenage girl would not be accepted in a word traditionally dominated by [[Oxbridge]]-educated men. The radio show ''[[About a Dog]]'' was based on her last comedy proposal. ==Bibliography== * Peter Barham & Alan Hurndall (2006) ''The Invisible Girl: A Father's Moving Story of the Daughter He Lost'' Harper Element ISBN 0-00-720542-2 ==External links== * [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=%2Farts%2F2003%2F04%2F30%2Fbvbar30.xml "The unsung queen of comedy", ''Daily Telegraph'' obituary] * [http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/news/obituary/0,12723,945759,00.html ''The Guardian'' obituary] {{DEFAULTSORT:Barham, Debbie}} [[Category:English comedy writers]] [[Category:People from Sheffield]] [[Category:1976 births]] [[Category:2003 deaths]] [[Category:Deaths from anorexia nervosa]] {{UK-writer-stub}}