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1-50 of 331
- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Olivia Cooke was born and raised in Oldham, a former textile manufacturing town in Greater Manchester, North West England. She comes from a family of non-actors; her father, John, is a retired police officer, and her mother is a sales representative. Cooke attended Royton and Crompton Secondary School and studied drama at Oldham Sixth Form College, leaving before the end of her A-levels to star in Blackout.
At a young age, Cooke practiced ballet and gymnastics. She started acting when she was 8 years old at an after-school drama programme in her hometown, called the Oldham Theatre Workshop. For years, Cooke performed only as part of the ensemble, until she was 17, when she starred as Maria in Oldham Sixth Form College's production of West Side Story. Soon after, Cooke landed her first and last leading role for the Oldham Theatre, in Prom: The Musical, a remake of Cinderella.- Michelle Keegan was born on 3 June 1987 in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Coronation Street (1960), Our Girl (2013) and Drunk History: UK (2015). She has been married to Mark Wright since 24 May 2015.
- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Daniel Francis Boyle is a British filmmaker, producer and writer from Radcliffe, Greater Manchester. He is known for directing 28 Days Later, 127 Hours, Trainspotting, T2 Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire, Millions, Shallow Grave, The Beach, Yesterday, and Steve Jobs. He won many awards for Slumdog Millionaire. He was in a relationship with Gail Stevens and had three children.- Millie Gibson was born on 19 June 2004 in Greater Manchester, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Doctor Who (2023) and The Forsyte Saga.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Pearce Quigley was born in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, UK. He is known for The Way Back (2010), Hereafter (2010) and You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010).- British-born actress Joanne Whalley has graced the big and small screens for decades. Known for such films as Scandal and Willow, she was a firm fixture on British TV screens including the hit series, The Singing Detective and nuclear industry drama The Edge Of Darkness, for which she received a BAFTA nomination. Her debut Hollywood film was break out hit Willow and in 2005, Joanne returned to UK television with the BBC thriller Child of Mine, before going on to film roles including Queen Mary in The Virgin Queen, and a starring role in tragic love drama Life Line. She appeared as Lorelei in the comedy The Man Who Knew Too Little, A Texas Funeral, The Guilty and played Jackie Kennedy in the miniseries Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. Her more recent film roles include 44 Inch Chest with Ray Winstone and Tom Wilkinson and Francis Ford Coppola's Twixt. Other recent television credits include Gossip Girl, The Borgias for Showtime, Jamaica Inn with Sean Harris, Wolf Hall for the BBC and ITV's rendition of Beowulf. Joanne also starred as The Duchess of Burgundy in Starz series The White Princess. Other feature releases include Muse and the Untitled Apostle Paul project, directed by Andrew Hyatt.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Raffey began acting aged 7 with roles in the BBC series 32 Brinkburn Street (2011) and ITV's Mr Selfridge (2013) starring Jeremy Piven. At aged 11 she was the youngest ever actor to be named in Screen International's Stars of Tomorrow. After early film roles in Tim Burton's Dark Shadows (2012) and then Snow White and the Huntsman (2012), Cassidy went on to star opposite George Clooney in Brad Bird's Disney tent pole Tomorrowland (2015), winning critical acclaim and Best Leading Young Actress and Best Youth Performance nominations (Young Entertainer Awards and Film Critics Association Awards) for her performance as child animatronic Athena. Next up was Yorgos Lanthimos's Cannes Film Festival Palm d'Or Contender and Best Screenplay winner The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017) opposite Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell. Developing a reputation for challenging roles, Cassidy next appeared in Brady Corbet's Vox Lux (2018), taking on dual roles opposite Natalie Portman and Jude Law and earning a Young British/Irish Performer of the Year nomination at the London Critics Circle Film Awards. After starring in Malgorzata Szumowska's English language debut The Other Lamb (2019), which tells the story of an all-female cult, Cassidy next appeared in Noah Baumbach's adaptation of the Don DeLillo novel White Noise (2022) alongside Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig, and Don Cheadle. A second collaboration with filmmaker Brady Corbet followed, starring in The Brutalist opposite Adrien Brody, Guy Pearce, and Felicity Jones.- Aimee Lou Wood is an English actress who starred as Aimee Gibbs, a central character in the Netflix comedy series Sex Education, in 2019 alongside co-stars Asa Butterfield and Gillian Anderson.
Aimee Lou Wood came from Manchester, England and studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art where she successfully graduated in 2017, obtaining BA Degree in Acting (H Level). During her time at RADA, Wood was involved in many productions, such as Scuttlers directed by Hannah Eidinow playing "Margaret", also as "Goody" in Vinegar Tom directed by Cressida Brown. Wood was " , "Jess" in Hen, a short film directed by James Larkin, "Yulia" in Summerfolk directed by Deborah Paige and many more. Her special skills include stand-up comedy, stage combat, singing soprano, flamenco dancing and writing.
In 2019, Wood made her screen debut as Aimee Gibbs, a main character in the Netflix comedy-drama series Sex Education, alongside co-stars Emma Mackey, Asa Butterfield, Ncuti Gatwa and Gillian Anderson. Woods had originally auditioned for the part of 'Lily' (played by Tanya Reynolds), but was more than happy to land the role of Aimee Gibbs. Wood's Agent is Lizzie Newell, Independent Talent Group. - Actor
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Linus Roache began his acting career with a two-week appearance as a young Barlow on Coronation Street (1960) at the age of 11. He also played a boy with the bubonic plague in The Onedin Line (1971). He spent much of the next two decades on stage. In 1986 he had brief appearances in a few films, including Link (1986). He was brought to attention in 1994 after appearing in the BBC TV series Seaforth (1994).- Actress
- Writer
- Director
Diane Morgan was born on 5 October 1975 in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, UK. She is an actress and writer, known for Me Before You (2016), Alan Partridge (2013) and Mandy (2019).- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Suranne Jones was born on 27 August 1978 in Greater Manchester, England, UK. She is an actress and writer, known for Doctor Foster: A Woman Scorned (2015), Scott & Bailey (2011) and Coronation Street (1960). She has been married to Laurence Akers since 4 August 2015. They have one child.- Sophie Alexandra Skelton is an English actress known for playing the fiery, American, redheaded "Brianna" in BAFTA winning, Golden Globe and Emmy nominated series, Outlander. Outlander (2014) She trained as a ballerina and started on stage from a very young age. She is the youngest of three, and the only one to go into acting.
- Siobhan Finneran was born on 27 April 1966 in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Downton Abbey (2010), Boy A (2007) and Happy Valley (2014). She was previously married to Mark Jordon.
- Art Director
- Art Department
- Production Designer
Ray Chan was born on 1 December 1967 in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, UK. He was an art director and production designer, known for Avengers: Endgame (2019), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and Children of Men (2006). He was married to Lindsay. He died on 23 April 2024 in Wales, UK.- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Caroline Catz is an English film, television and theatre actress and narrator, best known for her role as Louisa Glasson in Doc Martin since 2004. Her other roles have included Detective Inspector Kate Ashurst in Murder in Suburbia, Detective Inspector Helen Morton in DCI Banks, and PC Cheryl Hutchins in The Vice.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Ralf Little was born on 8 February 1980 in Bury, Greater Manchester, England, UK. He is an actor and producer, known for The Royle Family (1998), 24 Hour Party People (2002) and Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps (2001).- Robert James-Collier was born on September 23, 1976 in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. He is an actor, known for his role as Thomas Barrow in Downton Abbey (for which he won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series), The Ritual (2017) and Coronation Street.
- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Nicholas Gleaves was born in 1969 in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019), Half Light (2006) and Playing the Field (1998). He has been married to Lesley Sharp since February 1994. They have two children.- Tom Glynn-Carney was born on 7 February 1995 in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Dunkirk (2017), The King (2019) and Tolkien (2019).
- Actor
- Director
- Producer
James Murray was born on 22 January 1975 in Manchester, Greater Manchester, England, UK. He is an actor and director, known for Masters of the Air (2024), The Crown (2016) and Lee (2023). He has been married to Sarah Parish since 15 December 2007. They have two children.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Andrew Knott was born on the 22nd of November 1979 in Salford, Greater Manchester, England. He started acting at a young age appearing in various British TV and radio programs. Throughout his younger years he trained at The Oldham Theater Workshop. His first big screen appearance was in The Secret Garden (1993) starring opposite Maggie Smith. Another Warner Brothers big screen adaptation was his next venture starring in Black Beauty (1994). A return to the theater in 2004 saw Andrew appear in "The History Boys". The National Theater production later toured the world giving Andrew his first appearance on Broadway. Alan Bennett has also adapted his hit play for the big screen The History Boys (2006), directed by the National's own Nicholas Hytner.- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Maxine Peake is an English stage, radio, film and television actress, who made her name as Twinkle in Victoria Wood's sitcom Dinnerladies. She has since played Veronica in Channel 4's Manchester-based drama series Shameless, barrister Martha Costello in the BBC legal drama Silk and Grace Middleton in The Village. She is also an accomplished stage actress, having played the title role in Hamlet, and had a role in the 2014 film The Theory of Everything.
Peake has appeared in a number of television and stage productions including Victoria Wood's Dinnerladies, Channel 4's Shameless, in the lead role of barrister Martha Costello in the BBC's legal drama Silk and alongside John Simm in the BBC drama The Village, depicting life in a Derbyshire village during the First World War. Following career advice from Victoria Wood, between the two series of Dinnerladies, Peake lost so much weight that an explanation had to be written into the script for her character, Twinkle.
Peake portrayed the Moors murderer Myra Hindley in See No Evil: The Moors Murders. Broadcast in May 2006, it was met with mixed reactions; soon after this Peake announced that she was leaving Shameless. January 2009 saw Peake appear in her first major feature film role, as Angela, in the film Clubbed.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Robert Powell was born on Thursday, June 1st, 1944, five days before D-Day, on Tuesday, June 6th, 1944, in Salford, Greater Manchester, England. In 1964, he started his acting career while attending Manchester University. In 1967, he made his film debut, and later landed his first starring role in The Italian Job (1969). Some of his well-known movies include Franco Zeffirelli's Jesus of Nazareth (1977), Ken Russell's Tommy (1975) and Mahler (1974), the sequel or remake of The Thirty Nine Steps (1978), and the popular TV series, Doomwatch (1970). Robert ended his bachelor life, when he married Barbara "Babs" Lord, on Friday, August, 29th, 1975. They are parents of two children (1 son & 1 daughter). In 1982, Robert won the Best Actor award at the Venice Film Festival for his performance in Imperative (1982). He won the best actor award at the Paris Film Festival for Harlequin (1980). For his portrayal of Jesus in Jesus of Nazareth he received best actor awards from TV Times and Italian TV Times, the international arts prize at the Fiuggi Film Festival, grand prize at the Saint-Vincent Film Festival, and a nomination as best actor from The Irish Academy of Film and Television arts. In reference to his role as Jesus in Jesus of Nazareth, Robert said, "I hope Jesus Christ will be the last in my line of sensitive young men for quite a while."- Actress
- Producer
Gemma Atkinson was born on 16 November 1984 in Bury, Greater Manchester, England, UK. She is an actress and producer, known for Hollyoaks (1995), Devil's Pass (2013) and Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 (2008).- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Al Weaver was born on 3 January 1981 in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, UK. He is an actor and producer, known for Colette (2018), Press (2018) and Peterloo (2018).- Director
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Mike Leigh is an English film and theatre director, screenwriter and playwright. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and further at the Camberwell School of Art, the Central School of Art and Design and the London School of Film Technique. He began his career as a theatre director and playwright in the mid-1960s, before transitioning to making televised plays and films for BBC Television in the 1970s and '80s. Leigh is known for his lengthy rehearsal and improvisation techniques with actors to build characters and narrative for his films. His purpose is to capture reality and present "emotional, subjective, intuitive, instinctive, vulnerable films." His films and stage plays, according to critic Michael Coveney, "comprise a distinctive, homogenous body of work which stands comparison with anyone's in the British theatre and cinema over the same period."
Leigh's most notable works include the black comedy-drama Naked (1993), for which he won the Best Director Award at Cannes, the Oscar-nominated, BAFTA- and Palme d'Or-winning drama Secrets & Lies (1996), the Golden Lion-winning working-class drama Vera Drake (2004), and the Palme d'Or-nominated biopic Mr. Turner (2014). Other well-known films include the comedy-dramas Life Is Sweet (1990) Meantime (1983) and Career Girls (1997), the Gilbert and Sullivan biographical film Topsy-Turvy (1999) and the bleak working-class drama All or Nothing (2002). He won great success with American audiences with the female led films, Vera Drake (2004) starring Imelda Staunton, Happy-Go-Lucky (2008) with Sally Hawkins, the family drama Another Year (2010), and the historical drama Peterloo (2018). His stage plays include Smelling A Rat, It's A Great Big Shame, Greek Tragedy, Goose-Pimples, Ecstasy and Abigail's Party.
Leigh has helped to create stars - Liz Smith in Hard Labour, Alison Steadman in Abigail's Party, Brenda Blethyn in Grown-Ups, Antony Sher in Goose-Pimples, Gary Oldman and Tim Roth in Meantime, Jane Horrocks in Life is Sweet, David Thewlis in Naked - and remarked that the list of actors who have worked with him over the years - including Paul Jesson, Phil Daniels, Lindsay Duncan, Lesley Sharp, Kathy Burke, Stephen Rea, Julie Walters - "comprises an impressive, almost representative, nucleus of outstanding British acting talent." His aesthetic has been compared to the sensibility of the Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu and the Italian Federico Fellini. Ian Buruma, writing in The New York Review of Books in January 1994, commented: "It is hard to get on a London bus or listen to the people at the next table in a cafeteria without thinking of Mike Leigh. Like other original artists, he has staked out his own territory. Leigh's London is as distinctive as Fellini's Rome or Ozu's Tokyo."
Leigh was born to Phyllis Pauline (née Cousin) and Alfred Abraham Leigh, a doctor. Leigh was born at Brocket Hall in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, which was at that time a maternity home. His mother, in her confinement, went to stay with her parents in Hertfordshire for comfort and support while her husband was serving as a captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps. Leigh was brought up in the Broughton area of Salford, Lancashire. He attended North Grecian Street Junior School. He is from a Jewish family; his paternal grandparents were Russian-Jewish immigrants who settled in Manchester. The family name, originally Lieberman, had been anglicised in 1939 "for obvious reasons". When the war ended, Leigh's father began his career as a general practitioner in Higher Broughton, "the epicentre of Leigh's youngest years and the area memorialised in Hard Labour." Leigh went to Salford Grammar School, as did the director Les Blair, his friend, who produced Leigh's first feature film Bleak Moments (1971). There was a strong tradition of drama in the all-boys school, and an English master, Mr Nutter, supplied the library with newly published plays.
Outside school Leigh thrived in the Manchester branch of Labour Zionist youth movement Habonim. In the late 1950s he attended summer camps and winter activities over the Christmas break all-round the country. Throughout this time the most important part of his artistic consumption was cinema, although this was supplemented by his discovery of Picasso, Surrealism, The Goon Show, and even family visits to the Hallé Orchestra and the D'Oyly Carte. His father, however, was deeply opposed to the idea that Leigh might become an artist or an actor. He forbade him his frequent habit of sketching visitors who came to the house and regarded him as a problem child because of his creative interests. In 1960, "to his utter astonishment", he won a scholarship to RADA. Initially trained as an actor at RADA, Leigh started to hone his directing skills at East 15 Acting School where he met the actress, Alison Steadman.
Leigh responded negatively to RADA's agenda, found himself being taught how to "laugh, cry and snog" for weekly rep purposes and so became a sullen student. He later attended Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts (in 1963), the Central School of Art and Design and the London School of Film Technique on Charlotte Street. When he had arrived in London, one of the first films he had seen was Shadows (1959), an improvised film by John Cassavetes, in which a cast of unknowns was observed 'living, loving and bickering' on the streets of New York and Leigh had "felt it might be possible to create complete plays from scratch with a group of actors." Other influences from this time included Harold Pinter's The Caretaker-"Leigh was mesmerised by the play and the (Arts Theatre) production"- Samuel Beckett, whose novels he read avidly, and the writing of Flann O'Brien, whose "tragi-comedy" Leigh found particularly appealing. Influential and important productions he saw in this period included Beckett's Endgame, Peter Brook's King Lear and in 1965 Peter Weiss's Marat/Sade, a production developed through improvisations, the actors having based their characterisations on people they had visited in a mental hospital. The visual worlds of Ronald Searle, George Grosz, Picasso, and William Hogarth exerted another kind of influence. He played small roles in several British films in the early 1960s, (West 11, Two Left Feet) and played a young deaf-mute, interrogated by Rupert Davies, in the BBC Television series Maigret. In 1964-65, he collaborated with David Halliwell, and designed and directed the first production of Little Malcolm and his Struggle Against the Eunuchs at the Unity Theatre.
Leigh has been described as "a gifted cartoonist ... a northerner who came south, slightly chippy, fiercely proud (and critical) of his roots and Jewish background; and he is a child of the 1960s and of the explosion of interest in the European cinema and the possibilities of television."
Leigh has cited Jean Renoir and Satyajit Ray among his favourite film makers. In addition to those two, in an interview recorded at the National Film Theatre at the BFI on 17 March 1991; Leigh also cited Frank Capra, Fritz Lang, Yasujiro Ozu and even Jean-Luc Godard, "...until the late 60s." When pressed for British influences, in that interview, he referred to the Ealing comedies "...despite their unconsciously patronizing way of portraying working-class people" and the early 60s British New Wave films. When asked for his favorite comedies, he replied, One, Two, Three, La règle du jeu and "any Keaton". The critic David Thomson has written that, with the camera work in his films characterised by 'a detached, medical watchfulness', Leigh's aesthetic may justly be compared to the sensibility of the Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu. Michael Coveney: "The cramped domestic interiors of Ozu find many echoes in Leigh's scenes on stairways and in corridors and on landings, especially in Grown-Ups, Meantime and Naked. And two wonderful little episodes in Ozu's Tokyo Story, in a hairdressing salon and a bar, must have been in Leigh's subconscious memory when he made The Short and Curlie's (1987), one of his most devastatingly funny pieces of work and the pub scene in Life is Sweet..."- Actor
- Editor
- Camera and Electrical Department
Andrew Hall was born on 19 January 1954 in Manchester, Greater Manchester, England, UK. He was an actor and editor, known for Butterflies (1978), Nixon's the One (2013) and Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married (1999). He was married to Abigail Sharp. He died on 20 May 2019 in England, UK.- Rebecca Atkinson was born on 22 September 1983 in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Shameless (2004), Ideal (2005) and Life on Mars (2006).
- Actress
Ruth Madeley was born on 4 August 1987 in Westhoughton, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Nightsleeper, Doctor Who (2023) and Renegade Nell (2024).- Judith Shekoni has been in the industry for over 20 years. Her career started with EastEnders (1985) (BBC) and Hallmark series, The Hidden City (2002). This helped her break the US market where she has appeared on every major US network. Mike & Molly (2010) (with Melissa McCarthy, CBS), Backstrom (2015) (with Rainn Wilson, Fox), NCIS (2003) & NCIS: Los Angeles (2009) (CBS), Brothers & Sisters (2006) (ABC), Damages (2006) (FOX), The King of Queens (1998) (CBS), All of Us (2003) (CW), major streaming networks and huge studio and independent films.
She worked with Oscar-winning director Bill Condon on the immensely successful Twilight franchise, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 (2012), as Zafrina, the leader of the Amazonian Vampires. She played a leading role in Heroes Reborn (2015) (opposite Zachary Levi); it premiered at the Toronto Film festival 2015, and then had a two hour US network premiere on NBC-TV. In the UK, she was seen on the BBC drama series Ordinary Lies (2015) (written by BAFTA winner Daniel Brocklehurst). She recently finished two seasons of the 10 part drama series Ice (2016) opposite Donald Sutherland and Ray Winston. She then returned to the big screen for Disney as Shriek in Maleficient 2 opposite Angelina Jolie and can currently (2023) be seen in the Apple TV Series Foundation. - Actor
- Director
- Producer
Ben Crompton was born in 1974 in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England, UK. He is an actor and director, known for Kill List (2011), Game of Thrones (2011) and 102 Dalmatians (2000). He has been married to Liv Lorent since 2008. They have two children.- Actor
- Writer
Chris Coghill was born on 11 April 1975 in Manchester, Greater Manchester, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for 24 Hour Party People (2002), EastEnders (1985) and Nowhere Boy (2009). He has been married to Rosalind Halstead since 2014. He was previously married to Lisa Faulkner.- Actor
- Soundtrack
A stocky, friendly-faced character actor, Ford was born Samuel Jones in England, where the brutality of his childhood rivaled anything that Charles Dickens ever dreamed up. He lived for a while in an orphanage after being separated from his parents. While still young, he was sent to a Toronto branch of the orphanage. There, he began a cycle that involved living in 17 foster homes, the longest being with a farm family that treated him like a slave. At age 11 he ran away and joined a vaudeville troupe called the Winnipeg Kiddies, with whom he stayed until 1914. He then joined a friend named Wallace Ford, and the two 'hoboed" their way into the United States. After the friend was crushed to death by a railroad car, he took the name Wallace Ford in his friend's memory and found work in theatrical troupes and repertory companies. On Broadway he acted in "Abraham Lincoln," "Abie's Irish Rose," and "Bad Girl." He left Broadway in 1932 to appear with Joan Crawford in Possessed (1931); he also landed the lead in MGM's notorious Freaks (1932), although his fellow actors proved more memorable. He also co-starred as Walter Huston's amoral brother in one of the studio's few full-blown gangster melodramas, The Beast of the City (1932), starring Jean Harlow in arguably her most hard-bitten role. In all he appeared in over 200 films, including five directed by John Ford (The Last Hurrah (1958), The Whole Town's Talking (1935), They Were Expendable (1945), The Lost Patrol (1934), and The Informer (1935)). He also appeared with Henry Fonda in the TV series "The Deputy," which ran from 1959 to 1960. Ford died of a heart attack soon after his last memorable role as "Old Pa" in the hit Sidney Poitier drama A Patch of Blue (1965).- Actor
- Stunts
Born to a roofer and a psychiatric nurse, Paul was born on April 12, 1979, joining his sister, Kelly who was born in 1978. Paul started acting at an early age of 10, when he joined the Oldham Theatre Workshop, but had acted before that at Church Road Primary School, Bolton and then Smithhills Dean High School. Still at the age of 10, Paul had his first television role, in "Childrens Ward" on ITV, though only saying 3 lines.
Later, he started appearing in TV shows like The Biz (1995) and became UK teenage girls' favourite pin-up when he joined the EastEnders (1985) cast as Joe Wicks. 12 record companies have reportedly offered Paul the opportunity to record a single but they have all been turned down. Paul has publicly stated that he will never record a single, adding that his cat, Gizmo, is better at singing than him.- Linzey Cocker was born on 19 May 1987 in Eccles, Salford, Greater Manchester, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Wild Child (2008), 4.3.2.1. (2010) and Waterloo Road (2006).
- Actress
- Writer
- Composer
From the mid-1980s right up until her premature death in April 2016, Victoria Wood's appearances on stage and television were always eagerly anticipated, whether it was laugh-a-minute stand-up, a beautifully judged dramatic performance in the TV film Housewife, 49 (2005) or the canteen sitcom dinnerladies (1998). The incredible care and craft she lavished on each look and line of dialogue was as meticulous as it was matchless.
A shy, isolated child, Victoria Wood was born in Prestwich, Lancashire, in May 1953, the youngest of four siblings. Her insurance salesman father Stanley Wood was a frustrated writer who made up songs for his office parties and eventually went on to write scripts for Coronation Street (1960). Largely ignored by her parents ("Our house looked like an explosion in an Oxfam shop"), Wood stayed in her bedroom and sought attention as a performer, joining a youth theatre group in Rochdale and teaching herself to play the piano. She also learnt to play the trumpet.
Having been considered exceptionally bright at her primary school, Wood lost her way at Bury Grammar School, intimidated by the competition and envious of the more outgoing girls who appeared to be "having a wonderful time".
While studying drama at Birmingham University she auditioned for the ITV talent show New Faces (1973), performing a song about a woman contemplating marriage to a man who washes his Cortina more than his neck. Though eliminated in the second round, she was talent-spotted by poet Roger McGough for a revue he took up to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1976.
Her first big break was the TV show That's Life! (1986), writing and performing satirical songs loosely inspired by topical events. Her lifelong friendship and collaboration with Julie Walters began in the 1970s when they both appeared in a revue, 'In at the Death', at London's tiny Bush Theatre, for which Wood wrote a sketch. Its success led to the commissioning of Talent, Wood's first full-length play, by the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield. Talent was later filmed by Granada TV, starring Julie Walters as a disillusioned talent-show contestant. The stage version won her the Evening Standard's most promising new playwright award.
Granada commissioned two more plays from Wood, and urged her to write a sketch show for herself and Julie Walters, which became Wood and Walters (1981) and also featured Roger Brierley with who she would go on to work with again in her later productions in the 1980s and 1990s.
In the mid-1980s she was poached by the BBC for her own series, Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV (1985), for which she assembled her own mini-repertory company consisting of Julie Walters, Celia Imrie and Duncan Preston. It was for this show that she also launched the much-loved Acorn Antiques, a low-budget TV soap of such ineptitude it made Crossroads (1986) look slick.
The spoof was held in such affection that Wood, along with the original cast, was able to sell out the Theatre Royal Haymarket 20 years later with Acorn Antiques: The Musical (2006), for which she wrote the score. Despite generally favourable reviews and Olivier nominations for best new musical, best actress in a musical, Julie Walters and best performance in a supporting role in a musical Celia Imrie, Wood later claimed that the show was a bad idea because she felt it had undermined her credibility as a playwright. Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV (1985) ran for two series and also featured Patricia Routledge, Sue Wallace, Deborah Grant, Peter Lorenzelli, Jim Broadbent, Peter Martin, Jim Broadbent and Susie Blake.
Victoria Wood and Julie Walters worked together again with Celia Imrie, Anne Reid, Susie Blake and Lill Roughley in 1989 in a series of six playlets for the series named simply Victoria Wood (1989) which included an appearance from Joan Sims as well as appearances from Jim Broadbent, Peter Martin, Patricia Hodge, Philip Lowrie, William Osborne and Maureen Lipman.
Then again on television in 1992, Victoria Wood's All Day Breakfast (1992) starred Celia Imrie, Julie Walters, Susie Blake, Anne Reid and also featured Duncan Preston, William Osborne and Philip Lowrie.
And yet again in 1994 in Wood's TV film Pat and Margaret (1994) which also starred Julie Walters, Duncan Preston, Anne Reid, Deborah Grant, Peter Lorenzelli, Sue Wallace, Roger Brierley, Philip Lowrie and Angela Curran as well as a special appearance from Dame Thora Hird, about the strained reunion of two estranged sisters, one the star of an American TV soap, the other a waitress in a motorway service station in northern England. Wood cast herself as the dowdy Margaret, while acknowledging in an interview that she probably had more in common with Pat, a woman "so determined to get on there's no room for anything else".
While developing as a dramatist, she continued to do stand-up, nailing the hypocrisies and absurdities of everyday life with stinging wit and whiplash delivery. Her targets were often "people who think a lot of themselves" in whatever field of endeavour. With her cropped hair and androgynous dress sense, Wood cleverly bypassed any gender preference - an unthreatening, even comforting stage presence to the majority.
Fellow comedian Simon Fanshawe wrote of her: "The point about Wood is that she makes you feel comfortable and then slips spiky material in under your guard."
The commentator Judith Woods wrote in 2007: "Quite simply, Victoria Wood is a performer for grown-ups. She has an everywoman appeal to female viewers, but none of the stridency that traditionally puts off male audiences. She isn't preoccupied with pastiche and celebrity. Real life is her forte, in all its peculiarities."
An assiduous student of vintage comedy, Wood was keenly aware of her predecessors, both male and female. She saw what she did in a historical context, citing the likes of Vesta Victoria, Gracie Fields, Max Miller, Hetty King and Ken Dodd, the greats of music hall and variety, as her inspiration.
She had no interest in reflecting the often racist, sexist stand-up style of the 1980s. Her more enlightened and sophisticated take on the changes taking place in society prevailed while the unreconstructed male chauvinists withered on the vine. In a Guardian interview in 1984, she said: "I just assume that everyone believes the sexes are equal. When I go out there and make them laugh, I'm saying, 'This is my personality, I hope you like it.'"
In 1998 came the sitcom dinnerladies (1998), again collaborating with 'Anne Reid', Duncan Preston and Celia Imrie with Julie Walters also making appearances, with Angela Curran, Graham Seed, Thora Hird (then aged 87 and in a wheelchair), Richenda Carey, Lill Roughley, Andrew Livingston (2 uncredited appearances in the first series), Dora Bryan, Henry Kelly, Peter Martin, Peter Lorenzelli, Sue Wallace, Kay Adshead and Bernard Wrigley (all of whom she had worked with previously) all making appearances in one or more episodes. The series also featured three actresses who appeared in every single episode, namely Thelma Barlow, Shobna Gulati and essentially launching the career of the actress Maxine Peake. Other regular cast members would also go on to star in Coronation Street (1960) such as Sue Cleaver and Andrew Dunn. The award-winning sitcom ran for two series and consisted of a total of sixteen episodes including Christmas and millennium specials.
December 2000 saw the Christmas sketch show special Victoria Wood: With All the Trimmings (2000), featuring her regular troupe of actors including Celia Imrie, Julie Walters and Anne Reid, with further appearances from Richenda Carey, Maxine Peake and Shobna Gulati as well as a string of special guest stars such as Angela Rippon, Bob Monkhouse and Roger Moore.
Such a prodigious talent always comes at a cost, and for Wood it was her 20-year marriage to the magician Geoffrey Durham, with whom she had two children. After the breakdown of their marriage in 2002, divorcing in 2003, she withdrew from the limelight for a couple of years and went into therapy, saying it was too painful to appear in public while her private life was in turmoil.
She continued nevertheless to produce one-off specials including Victoria Wood's Sketch Show Story (2002) and Victoria Wood's Big Fat Documentary (2004). During this period Wood tended to move away from comedy to focus on drama,notably in her award-winning 2006 TV film Housewife, 49 (2005), an adaptation of the real-life wartime diaries of a Lancashire woman, Nella Last, whose life is unexpectedly turned around by the knock-on effects of war. Her beautifully judged script - and performance in the lead - deservedly won her a best actress BAFTA, as well as a best single drama award. On this occasion Wood chose to mainly work with a different set of actors and actresses including for example Stephanie Cole, Sylvestra Le Touzel and Wendy Nottingham, though Sue Wallace with whom she had worked with on at least three separate occasions previously also featured.
In 2007 Wood appeared in a three-part BBC travel documentary Victoria's Empire (2007), in which she travelled around the world in search of the history, cultural impact and customs the British Empire placed on the parts of the world it ruled. She departed Victoria Station, London, for Calcutta, Hong Kong and Borneo in the first programme. In programme two she visited Ghana, Jamaica and Newfoundland and in the final programme, New Zealand, Australia and Zambia, finishing at the Victoria Falls.
On Boxing Day 2007 she appeared as "Nana" in the Granada dramatisation of Noel Streatfeild's novel Ballet Shoes (2007).
2009 saw Wood reunite with Julie Walters to produce a Christmas special for the BBC Mid Life Christmas (2009). She again selected actors and actresses with who she had already worked with to fill complementary roles, on this occasion working with Sylvestra Le Touzel, Wendy Nottingham, Jason Watkins, Lorraine Ashbourne and Marcia Warren, who had all featured in Housewife, 49 (2005) a few years previous.
On New Year's Day 2011 Wood appeared in a BBC drama Eric & Ernie (2011) as Eric Morecambe's mother, Sadie Bartholomew.
In 2011, Wood's last major stage work, 'That Day We Sang', again based on a true story, garnered rave reviews at the Manchester International Festival, and was revived three years later at the Royal Exchange. The Stage called it "an entirely original and authentically British musical that's the best of its kind about childhood aspiration since Billy Elliot". Lyn Gardner, writing in The Guardian, said: "Music runs through the show like an unstoppable river of emotion, and Wood's script is both tart as a plum, and unashamedly sentimental."
On 23 December 2012 BBC One screened Loving Miss Hatto (2012), a drama written by Wood about the life of concert pianist Joyce Hatto, the centre of a scandal over the authenticity of her recordings and her role in the hoax.
On 26 December 2014, a television adaptation of That Day We Sang (2014), starring Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton, was shown on BBC TV.
In early 2015, Wood took part in a celebrity version of The Great Comic Relief Bake Off (2013) and was crowned Star Baker in her episode.
She co-starred with Timothy Spall in Sky television's three-part television adaptation of Fungus the Bogeyman (2015), which was first broadcast over three days in December 2015, The miniseries was filmed in the summer of 2015. This was to be her last acting project and her final role and she was notably absent from the screening of the series in late autumn that year.
Sadly in fact in the autumn of 2015 Wood fell ill with terminal cancer and withdrew from public life entirely, she was later hospitalized but she was subsequently released to be allowed to die at home with her two children at her bedside.
Victoria Wood died on 20 April 2016 at her home in Highgate, North London.
She had been appointed OBE in 1997 and had subsequently advanced to CBE in 2008.
The writer and critic Clive James said Wood "changed the field for women and indeed for everybody, because very few of the men were trying hard enough as writers before she came on the scene and showed them what penetrating social humour should actually sound like."
She was survived by her daughter Grace Durham who is an accomplished concert singer and recitalist and her son Henry Durham.- Pooky Quesnel was born in 1966 in Eccles, Salford, Greater Manchester, England, UK. She is an actress and writer, known for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016), Doctors (2000) and Great Expectations (2012).
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Tony Gardner was born on 10 January 1964 in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for Last Tango in Halifax (2012), My Parents Are Aliens (1999) and Fresh Meat (2011).- Born in Salford in 1975 Emma Lowndes was bitten by the acting bug at the age of eight when her school class was invited to take part in Opera North's production of 'Carmen'. Having been head girl at school and an English graduate from York University she managed to get a place at RADA thanks to Richard Attenborough, who championed her audition, and also to another Salfordian, Albert Finney, who helped set up the Salford Sport and Arts Fund which paid for her three-year course. Since graduation she has appeared on stage at the Manchester Exchange Theatre, where her performance in 'The Seagull' saw her nominated for an Ian Charleson award, and as the lead in 'The Rise and Fall of Little Voice'. For the Royal Shakespeare Company she was in 'Great Expectations, 'Therese Raquin' for the National and in the West End revival of 'Whose Life Is It Anyway?'. In 2009 she reprised her role as Bella Gregson' from the first series of television costume drama 'Cranford', where one of her many co-stars was Lisa Dillon, the actress who pipped Emma to winning the Ian Charleson award.
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He was taught metal work at school by the actor Steve Coogan's dad, and like Coogan he was an altar boy. He proposed to his wife Susan on one knee outside 'Andy's Records', because it was the first place where they kissed. He's worked everywhere, in a factory packing toilet rolls, in a supermarket, in a video shop, at a bingo hall, at a cash and carry, as a mobile disc jockey and at a garage for six years in between all the other jobs. He claims he lied to get into college, he told them he'd two 'A' Levels and five GCSEs and apparently they never checked up.
He won the 1997 So You Think You're Funny contest at Edinburgh and the North West Comedian of the Year award. In 1998 Peter took his own hour-long show to the Edinburgh Fringe and was nominated for the Perrier Award. Peter actually has a qualification in stand up, which he got as part of his Btec in Media Performance Studies. His childhood ambition was to be a bin man.- Actor
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Stephen trained at Salford College of Music and Drama and graduated with the highest Grade A Distinction.
Stephen's love affair for film and TV soon began with his debut role in Cannes winner, Raining Stones (1993), a Ken Loach film and then the lead as "Jonno Fox" in the award-winning "Common As Muck" (1994), for the BBC, which led him to BAFTA recognition.
His solid performances as "Darwin Craven" in two series of Carla Lane's comedy for the BBC Luv (1993), Into the Fire (1996) by award-winning writer, Tony Marchant, led to 2 series of City Central (1998), for the BBC, playing rookie cop, "PC Steve Jackson."
Stephen's next job was the hard-hitting drama, Real Men (2003), by Frank Deasy, playing the sexually abused and abuser, "Alex Collins", directed by Sallie Aprahamian for David Snodin, at the BBC, which created much controversy, whilst receiving great reviews. His talent also led him to play the guest lead in the popular TV series, Sea of Souls (2004), for the BBC.
A familiar face on the small screen, Stephen lit up the big screen with his performances in The Bullion Boys (1993), which picked up the Emmy award, directed by Christopher Morahan. Judge Dredd (1995), Giving Tongue (1996) and "Prince of Denmark Hill" (1999) followed. With a filmography that many actors dream of, Stephen also played a mad anarchist, "Fazer," in South West 9 (2001), for Fruit Salad Films and Capone's Boys (2002), opposite Ricky Tomlinson and Richard Roundtree, which was directed by "Cracker" (1993)'s original director, Richard Standeven. As well as Octane (2003), with Madeleine Stowe, for Random Harvest and Four Horseman Films and the leading role of "Spook", a psychotic marine in Random Harvest and Four Horseman's LD 50 Lethal Dose (2003) opposite Tom Hardy. Stephen also enjoyed filming Reverb (2008), a psychological thriller with Leo Gregory and Eva Birthistle, and he played opposite the much-loved Stephen Rea and Jean-Claude Van Damme in the new action film, Until Death (2007). One of his many amazing short films was an adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart (2004), working with Oscar-winner Jack Cardiff. He also worked on the small micro-budget film, The Truth (2006), with Elaine Cassidy and Elizabeth McGovern, and again with Jean-Claude Van Damme, playing an American bad guy, "Benjamin Myers", in the $12 million action film, The Shepherd (2008).
As well as an amazing acting career, Stephen has been writing and producing inspired by his working class roots in Salford, Greater Manchester and his time travelling back and forth to Ireland. Stephen has written and directed 2 short films, Untitled (2000) and In Loving Memory (2000).
Stephen produced an animated pilot "Gettin On" with the award-winning Slinky Pictures. Stephen wrote, directed and produced his 1st doc feature film, It's Not the End of the World (2000), which played at various film festivals. He also created, wrote, directed and produced a pilot webisode/mobisode, "Dr Hoo," starring Ian Hart and Elaine Cassidy, which was the first ever original drama on Virgin1 (now known as Channel One). His production company, Lord Entertainment Group, is based in London.
Stephen continues to choose amazing projects, having played the explosive role of football hooligan and devoted father, "Jase Dyer," in EastEnders (1985), for 1 year before making one of the most dramatic exits on British TV, which caused a huge reaction in the National Press as his character was stabbed to death in front of his 12-year-old son at the time when knife crime hit a peak in the UK.
Stephen has gone on to film Jackboots on Whitehall (2010), starring alongside Ewan McGregor, Timothy Spall and Richard E. Grant. He also took a trip back to his roots, by working with the much-loved director, Ken Loach, in his latest film, Route Irish (2010), and worked with the 3-times Oscar DOP whose films include "The Killing Fields" (2000).
In 2012 Stephen filmed the controversial film "Default" by Colombian filmmaker Simon Brand which is about the kidnapping of CNN journalists by Somalian Pirates. The film got picked up by Wildbunch and CAA.
In 2012 Stephen played the guest lead in the hit comedy show "PhoneShop" for the Channel 4 channel E4, and then went on to do another comedy pilot "Meet The Police".
From 2012 to 2013 Stephen played the alcoholic priest and sexual deviant Dominic Meak in 3 series of the hit series "Shameless" for Channel 4.
2013 marked the debut of Stephen breaking into the US with a guest starring arc over multiple episodes, in the hit show for ABC "Once Upon A Time."
2014 kicked off with a role in John Logan's "Penny Dreadful" executive produced by Sam Mendes for Showtime and Sky playing American bounty hunter Mr Roper.
Stephen takes on his most demanding film and role to date in the prolific writer, and now director Helen Walsh's 1st feature film "Violators" playing Mickey Finnaghan.
Stephen reunites with Tom Hardy in Brian Hegeland's "Legend."
"Default" is released on the 17th of October 2014.
Stephen returns to play Warren Roper in the second series of "Penny Dreadful."
Collateral Films is set up in the UK with investment secured for a slate of films.
"Strangeways Here We Come" gets green lit and starts filming, and Stephen plays Nolan the infamous debt collector.
"Violators" premieres at the Edinburgh Festival and is nominated for The Best Of British award. "Violators" continues to play film festivals all over the world and a general release is set for 2016.
"Legend" is released in the UK and is released in the USA on the 20th of November 2015.
In 2016 Stephen joins the cast of "Marcella" by Hans Rosenfeldt (Bron/The Bridge) and Nicola Larder, which is swiftly transmitted, grabbing high ratings for ITV.
In 2016 Stephen appeared in the Anthony Harrowitz 7 part crime drama "New Blood" for the BBC.
"Violators" is released in the UK and Eire, on online platforms and to very positive reviews, and personal mentions for his standout performance.
In 2017 Stephen filmed series 1 of the hard hitting "Safe House" for ITV.
In 2017 Stephen returned to "Once Upon A Time" for ABC playing the role of Malcom.
In 2018 Stephen joined an award winning cast, in the feature film "Mrs Lowry and Son" for Genesius Pictures, acting opposite Tim Spall and Venessa Redgrave.
In 2020 Stephen filmed the comedy drama series 'The South Westerlies' in Ireland playing Teddy lawson for Deadpan Pictures.
He has recently co-created and co-wrote "The Bullring" with Michael Hoffman for All 3 Media and Seven Stories.
Two other feature films and multiple TV series are in development and placed with award winning production companies.
He is married to Elaine Cassidy, and they have 2 children Kíla and Lynott.- Rachel Davies was born in Manchester, Greater Manchester, England, UK. She is known for Doctor Who (1963), Band of Gold (1995) and Midsomer Murders (1997).
- Stephen Billington was born on 10 December 1964 in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Braveheart (1995), Resident Evil (2002) and Coronation Street (1960).
- Victoria Ekanoye was born on 11 December 1981 in Bury, Greater Manchester, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Sense & Sensibility (2024), My Bloody Galentine (2024) and Coronation Street (1960).
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Lauren Drummond was born on 23 December 1987 in Greater Manchester, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Flight (2012), Holby City (1999) and The Royal (2003).- Thomas Flynn was born on 15 March 1993 in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Bridgerton (2020), Red, White & Royal Blue (2023) and Masters of the Air (2024).
- Chelsee Healey was born on 6 August 1988 in Eccles, Salford, Greater Manchester, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Burn It (2003), Waterloo Road (2006) and Casualty (1986).
- Kathy Staff was born on 12 July 1928 in Dukinfield, Greater Manchester, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Mary Reilly (1996), Last of the Summer Wine (1973) and Open All Hours (1976). She was married to John Staff. She died on 13 December 2008 in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, England, UK.
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Samia Longchambon was born on 13 July 1982 in Eccles, Salford, Greater Manchester, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Coronation Street (1960), Heartbeat (1992) and Adam's Family Tree (1997). She has been married to Sylvain Longchambon since 20 August 2016. They have one child. She was previously married to Matthew Smith.- Julian Sedgwick was born on 11 May 1964 in Ramsbottom, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Dragonball Evolution (2009), Colombiana (2011) and Original Sin (2001).