In a business that burns through people quickly, Louisa Abernathy is a long-distance runner known to audiences from a long list of titles rather than from one. Work has kept arriving for 39 years, which is its own kind of achievement. Playing Mrs. Talbot in 'Countdown' put her in front of the widest audience of the career. Among the rest of the work, 'The Ladykillers' stands out. The trail of credits goes back as far as 1987. Comedy accounts for the largest share of the work.