🌟 Andria Lawrence – Biography

Andria Lawrence (born Maureen Smith, 20 June 1936 – 17 November 2025) was an English actress and writer whose career covered film, television, theatre and writing. She is particularly remembered by comedy fans for playing Betty, nicknamed “Turnaround Betty,” in the 1971 film On the Buses.

👶 Early life

📅 Born: 20 June 1936
📍 Born in: London, England
🎭 Birth name: Maureen Smith
✨ She was also credited professionally as Andrea Lawrence.
🎬 She built a career during the 1960s and 1970s, working in both comedy and serious drama.

🎭 Early acting career

Lawrence began appearing on screen in the early 1960s. Her early credits included:

🎬 In the Nick (1960)
🦷 Dentist on the Job (1961)
🌴 West End Jungle (1961)
📺 No Hiding Place
📺 It's a Square World
📺 The First Churchills – playing Nell Gwyn in 1969
📺 Softly Softly – Miss Lloyd in 1967

She also appeared in Ken Loach's Cathy Come Home (1966), demonstrating that her work was not limited to comedy.

🚌 Andria Lawrence and On the Buses

Her most famous association was with On the Buses.

📺 TV appearance – 1971

Lawrence appeared in the fifth series episode “Canteen Trouble”, broadcast on 31 October 1971, playing Suzy, a canteen girl who is particularly generous to Stan and Jack with their meals.

🚌 Episode: “Canteen Trouble”

👩 Character: Suzy

🎭 Andria Lawrence: Suzy

📅 Broadcast: 31 October 1971

🎬 The On the Buses film – 1971

Later in 1971 she appeared in the hugely popular On the Buses feature film as Betty. She was credited as Andrea Lawrence.

Her character became known to fans as “Turnaround Betty.” The official On the Buses Fan Club specifically identifies Lawrence by that nickname.

The film starred:

🚌 Reg Varney – Stan Butler
👩 Doris Hare – Mum
👨 Michael Robbins – Arthur Rudge
👩 Anna Karen – Olive Rudge
👮 Stephen Lewis – Blakey
🎫 Bob Grant – Jack Harper
💃 Andria Lawrence – Betty

The film's story revolves around the bus company deciding to employ female bus drivers, much to Stan and Jack's horror because they fear losing their overtime.

🧛 Countess Dracula

Another important film role came in Hammer's ** Countess Dracula (1971)**, where Lawrence played Ziza, again credited as Andrea Lawrence.

🎬 Countess Dracula

📅 1971

👩 Role: Ziza

🏰 Genre: Horror

This gave her a memorable connection with the British Hammer horror tradition.

😂 Comedy career

Following On the Buses, Lawrence continued to work extensively in British television and comedy.

Her credits included:

❤️ For the Love of Ada (1972) – Sandra
🍦 Danny Jones (1972) – ice-cream girl
😂 The Goodies (1971)
🎭 The Fenn Street Gang (1971) – Sandra
❤️ Love Thy Neighbour (1973) – Norma
🕵️ Van der Valk (1973) – Lottie
🩺 Doctor in Charge (1973) – Nurse Doreen Willett
🏠 Man About the House (1974) – Miss Bird
🎭 ITV Playhouse (1974) – Topsy
👮 Dixon of Dock Green (1975) – barmaid
🧟 Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974) – Brassy Girl
🎬 I'm Not Feeling Myself Tonight (1976) – Mrs Nutbrown
📺 The Jim Davidson Show (1981)

🍺 The Courage advert

Lawrence was also remembered for a Courage Tavern Keg Bitter television advertisement from around 1970.

🍺 In the advert she played the attractive barmaid whose famous line was:

“Ooooh, it's too strong for me... but I like the men who drink it!”

It became another memorable piece of her television work.

✍️ Author

Andria Lawrence later developed another career as a writer and author.

📖 In 2016, she published her novel ** The Olive Tree **. She also wrote articles for magazines during her career.

🎥 Later years

Lawrence remained closely associated with On the Buses and its cast. She was interviewed for the documentary ** On the Buses at the Movies (2021)**, appearing as herself in archive/interview material.

She also remained involved with the On the Buses fan community. The official fan club lists her as an honorary member and identifies her as “Turnaround Betty.”

🕊️ Death

Andria Lawrence died on 17 November 2025, aged 89.

Her career left her remembered in several different areas of British entertainment:

🚌 Betty – On the Buses

🍴 Suzy – On the Buses

🧛 Ziza – Countess Dracula

❤️ Sandra – For the Love of Ada

🤝 Norma – Love Thy Neighbour

🏠 Miss Bird – Man About the House

✍️ Author – The Olive Tree

⭐ Legacy

For On the Buses fans, Andria Lawrence will always have a special place as “Turnaround Betty”, one of the memorable female characters from the original 1971 film. Her career, however, was considerably broader, spanning television drama, sitcoms, feature films, Hammer horror, advertising and literature over more than two decades.

Andria has had a long career in film, TV and stage, being busiest from the early 1960's to the 1980's in both comedy and serious acting roles.

Andria also previously wrote articles for magazines.

Andria now has her own web site and is an Author with her first book 'The Olive Tree'

Andria as turnaround Betty in the 'ON THE BUSES' movie

Andria returns to turnaround Betty's during the ON THE BUSES fan club event in 2015

Here we see Andria at the 2015 ON THE BUSES fan club event along with Roy Skeggs Producer, signing autographs for the fans. Oh that is Colleen and I in the background in-case you were wondering.

Andria appeared in Kathy Come Home in 1966 As the BBC said :-

A controversial, moving and brilliantly acted, this film directed by Ken Loach is arguably the most influential television drama ever broadcast.

Watched by 12 million people — a quarter of the British population at the time — on its first broadcast on 16 November 1966, Cathy Come Home was a defining moment in British television history. It provoked major public and political discussion and challenged the accepted conventions of television drama.

The film tells the story of Cathy and Reg, a couple with three young children, who find their life spiralling into poverty when Reg loses his well-paid job. Gripping and emotional, it remains a truly ground-breaking piece of dramatic fiction, engaging viewers with social issues, such as homelessness, unemployment and the rights of mothers to keep their own children.

Utilising documentary-style filming on location, the film consolidated director Ken Loach’s reputation for hard-hitting social realism.