- Cherie Lunghi
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Cherie Lunghi Born Cherie M. Lunghi[1]
4 April 1952
Nottingham, England, UKOccupation Actress Years active 1965-present Cherie M. Lunghi (born 4 April 1952) is an English film, television and theatre actress. She is probably best known for her role as Guinevere in the 1981 film Excalibur, as football manageress Gabriella Benson in the 1990s television series The Manageress and for starring in a series of adverts for Kenco coffee.[2] She also competed in the 2008 series of Strictly Come Dancing.[3] She is the mother of the actress Nathalie Lunghi.
Contents
Early life
Lunghi was born in Nottingham.[4] Her father, Alessandro Lunghi, was Italian[5] and her mother, Gladys Lee, was English.[6][7] After her father returned to Italy, she was brought up in west London by her mother and her aunts.[8]
Career
She starred in the 1982 television serial Praying Mantis, based on the book (Les Mantes Religieuses) by Hubert Monteilhet, opposite Pinkas Braun, Carmen du Sautoy and Jonathan Pryce.
Educated at the Arts Educational School in London,[9] Lunghi played Hedvig in The Wild Duck and Alice in Alice in Wonderland on BBC radio while still at school. After graduating from Homerton College, Cambridge and London's Central School of Speech and Drama, she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in the late 1970s, taking leading roles such as Perdita, Cordelia and Viola.[9]
Lunghi left the RSC to pursue a career in film, with probably her best known role as Guinevere in the 1981 film Excalibur. She is the mother of Nathalie Lunghi from her relationship with the director Roland Joffé.[5] After the birth of her daughter and the breakdown of her relationship with Joffé[8] she took various short-term parts, including playing the band members' mutual love interest in the music video for Level 42's song "Something About You".
In the mid-1980s she relocated to Los Angeles for eight years, but returned to England to support her mother, and took on the lead role in football drama The Manageress. As a result, in 1995 she was placed 92nd in the "100 Sexiest Women in the World" by the publishers of FHM magazine. In addition to her varied film and television work, she is perhaps best known for appearing in a long-running advertising campaign on British television for Kenco coffee from the late 1990s onwards.[8]
In 2006 Lunghi appeared on television in Casualty 1906, playing Matron Eva Luckes, and had a recurring guest role in the regular Casualty series as Professor Camille Windsor, the mother of junior doctor Toby Da Silva.
Strictly Come Dancing
In 2008 Lunghi competed in the sixth series of BBC television's Strictly Come Dancing (14-week run), partnered by James Jordan.[10] After her first dance, the Foxtrot on the Ladies Night in Week 2, she scored the highest points of the first two weeks (33).
She beat this score with another series best score of 35/40 for the Rumba to finish week 4 top of the remaining 12 contestants with an average score of 34/40. The score for her third dance, the American Smooth was an impressive 34 to maintain her average, though she slipped to 31/40 for the Paso Doble, and further to 26/40 on her fifth outing, in the Salsa. She returned to form the following week with a Waltz, scoring 36/40 and was joint first on the leaderboard. She was voted off the competition on 16 November 2008, (Week 9) losing by 3 votes to 1 in the dance-off against model Lisa Snowdon after performing a Cha Cha Cha.[11] In the January/February 2009 Strictly Tour Cherie danced an American Smooth and a Rumba with James Jordan.
Marriage
Lunghi was briefly married to South African student Ralph Lawson after the pair met while studying at London’s Central School of Speech and Drama.[5] The 1975 marriage was one of convenience so that Lawson could remain in the UK. The couple never lived together as man and wife, instead staying in separate digs in Newcastle. Lawson ended up moving back to South Africa two years later after being offered a new job.[12]
Filmography
- Diversion (1980)
- Excalibur (1981) Guinevere
- Timeslip (1982)
- King David (1985) Michal
- Lying Still (1985)
- The Mission (1986) Carlotta
- Letters to an Unknown Lover (1986) Helene
- Intrigue (1988) Adriana
- To Kill a Priest (1988) Halina
- Ransom (1990) Claire Stein
- Silent Cries / Guests of the Emperor (1993) Audrey
- Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994) Victor's Mother
- Jack and Sarah (1995) Anna
- An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (1997) Myrna Smithee
- Back to the Secret Garden (2001) Lady Mary Craven
- Viper in the Fist (2004) Miss Chilton
- No Ordinary Trifle (2011)
Television
- Lewis (2011) Grace Orde
- Casualty 1909 (2009) Matron Eva Luckes
- Strictly Come Dancing (2008) herself
- A Touch Of Frost, Episode Dead End (2008) Detective Sergeant Annie Marsh
- Casualty 1907 (2008) Matron Eva Luckes
- Casualty (2007, 2008) Camille Windsor
- The Secret Diary of a Call Girl (2007-) Stephanie
- Hotel Babylon (2007) Mrs. Poldark
- Casualty 1906 (2006) Matron Eva Luckes
- Dalziel & Pascoe (2006) Kay Miclean
- Marple: A Murder is Announced (2005) Sadie Swettenham
- The Brief (2004) Cleo Steyn
- New Tricks (2003) Diane Loveless
- Midsomer Murders (2003) Lillian Webster
- Cutting It (2003) Zinnia Raggitt
- The Seasons Alter (2002) Titania
- The Inspector Lynley Mysteries: For the Sake of Elena (2002) Sarah Gordon
- EastEnders (2001) Jan Sherwood
- A Likeness In Stone (2000) Merie Kirschman
- David Copperfield (1999) Mrs Steerforth
- Hornblower: The Duchess and the Devil (1999) Duchess of Wharfedale
- Little White Lies (1998) Julia
- Moloney (1996) Dr. Sarah Bateman
- The Canterville Ghost (1996) Lucille Otis
- Strangers (1996) Episode 1 of Canadian TV series - Joan
- The Buccaneers (1995) Laura Testvalley
- A Question of Guilt (1993) Helen West
- Covington Cross / Charing Cross (1992) Lady Elizabeth
- The Strauss Dynasty (1991) Jetti
- The Ruth Rendell Mysteries: Put on by Cunning (1990) Dinah Sternhold
- The Manageress (1989) Gabriella Benson
- The Man Who Lived at the Ritz (1988)
- The Lady's Not for Burning (1987) Jennet Jourdemayne
- Coast to Coast (1987) Susan
- The Monocled Mutineer (1986) Dorothy
- Harem (1986) Usta
- Music Video: "Something About You" - Level 42 (1985)
- Vicious Circle (1985)
- Bones (1984) Jenny Parker
- Much Ado About Nothing (1984) Beatrice
- Ellis Island (1984) Una Marbury
- Master of the Game (1984) Margaret Van der Merwe
- Strangers and Brothers (1984) Margaret Davidson/Eliot
- The Sign of Four (1983) Mary Morstan
- Praying Mantis (1982) Beatrice Manceau
- Oliver Twist (1982) Nancy
- The Manhood of Edward Robinson (1981) Noreen
- Tales of the Unexpected (1981) Karen Masterson
- Armchair Thriller: Dead Man's Kit (1980) Stephanie
- Tis Pity She's a Whore (1980) Annabella
- If Winter Comes (1980) Csöppi/Ilóna
- Prince Regent (1979) Princess Charlotte
- The Comedy of Errors (1978) Ephesus Townsperson
- Kean (1978) Anna Danby
- Edward and Mrs. Simpson (1978) Lady Thelma Furness
- Bill Brand (1976) Alex Ferguson
- The Brontes of Haworth (1973) Student
References
- ^ Cherie Lunghi at BFI Film & TV Database
- ^ Hardy, Rebecca (5 June 2009). "Cherie Lunghi: Why can't I find a man?". London: Mail Online. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1190344/Cherie-Lunghi-Why-I-man.html. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
- ^ Midgley, Neil (18 September 2008). "Cherie Lunghi: Strictly Come Dancing". London: Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/3560918/Cherie-Lunghi-Strictly-Come-Dancing.html. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
- ^ General Registry Office (GRO) birth records
- ^ a b c "Cherie Lunghi: I have 'seduced' so many men". Daily Express. 14 October 2008. http://express.co.uk/posts/view/66086/Cherie-Lunghi-I-have-seduced-so-many-men-. Retrieved 2008-11-19.
- ^ Barber, Richard (5 June 2003). "A faded alcoholic beauty". London: Mail Online. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=183616&in_page_id=1773. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
- ^ Swann, Yvonne (18 March 2004). "'I'm content with myself'". London: Mail Online. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-299997/Im-content-myself.html. Retrieved 2008-09-07.
- ^ a b c Barber, Richard (10 October 2008). "Cherie Lunghi: Strictly single-and loving it!". London: Mail Online. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1076053/Cherie-Lunghi-Strictly-single--loving-it.html. Retrieved 2008-11-19.
- ^ a b Butler, Robert (14 November 1993). "Show People: Scoring a different goal: Cherie Lunghi". London: The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/show-people-scoring-a-different-goal-cherie-lunghi-1504309.html. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
- ^ "Strictly Come Dancing stars unveiled". Mirror.co.uk. 28 August 2008. http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/2008/08/28/strictly-come-dancing-stars-unveiled-including-jodie-kidd-rachel-stevens-jessie-wallace-and-lisa-snowdon-115875-20714972. Retrieved 2008-09-09.
- ^ "Cherie No More!". Daily Express. 17 November 2008. http://express.co.uk/posts/view/71526/Cherie-no-more-. Retrieved 2008-11-19.
- ^ "Strictly Come Dancing's Cherie Lunghi had sham marriage". Mirror.co.uk. 11 October 2008. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2008/10/11/strictly-come-dancing-s-cherie-lunghi-had-sham-marriage-115875-20794916. Retrieved 2008-11-19.
External links
- Cherie Lunghi at TV.com
- Cherie Lunghi fansite
- Cherie Lunghi Biography
- Cherie Lunghi at the Internet Movie Database
- Strictly Come Dancing Cherie Lunghi profile at bbc.co.uk
Tom Chambers · Rachel Stevens · Lisa Snowdon · Austin Healey · Christine Bleakley · Jodie Kidd · John Sergeant · Cherie Lunghi · Heather Small · Andrew Castle · Mark Foster · Don Warrington · Jessie Wallace · Gary Rhodes · Gillian Taylforth · Phil DanielsCategories:- 1952 births
- Alumni of Homerton College, Cambridge
- Alumni of the Central School of Speech and Drama
- British film actors
- British people of Italian descent
- British stage actors
- British television actors
- Living people
- People educated at the Arts Educational Schools
- People from Nottingham
- Royal Shakespeare Company members
- Strictly Come Dancing participants
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