- Lesley Dunlop
Lesley Dunlop (born
10 March 1956 in Newcastle) is a British actress.Daughter of the television writer Pat Dunlop she began as a child actress in the seventies featuring in a BBC version of the classic "
A Little Princess " and as Lydia Holly in the ITV adaptation of "South Riding".Her transition to adult roles, compared to many, was relatively easy and she received excellent reviews as Lizzie Hexham in a celebrated BBC version of Dickens' "
Our Mutual Friend " (1976) and starred in the very first series of the long-running hospital drama "Angels" (1975).She was cast alongside
Diana Rigg andElizabeth Taylor in the film version ofStephen Sondheim 's "A Little Night Music " (1977) and appeared inRoman Polanski 's "Tess " (1979). In 1980 she played Nora, the nurse who is at first terrified by "The Elephant Man" and then befriendsJohn Hurt 's character inDavid Lynch 's 1980 Oscar winning film.Throughout this time and indeed throughout her career she has regularly appeared on British TV including two guest appearances in Doctor Who, "
Frontios " in 1984 and "The Happiness Patrol " in 1988. In the 1990s she starred in the long running BBC sitcom "May to December " as Zoe Callender alongside screen husbandAnton Rodgers .In 1995, she starred in the two part
Gurinder Chadha directed drama "Rich Deceiver" as Ellie Freeman, a Liverpudlian housewife who secretly wins the pools and uses the money to covertly help her husband's career. She also starred in the much underrated ITV series "Wokenwell" (1997) and appeared in a long-running series of TV commercials for Kleenex directed byMike Leigh .In 2000, Lesley joined the cast of the successful ITV series "Where the Heart Is" playing Anna Kirkwall a typical Dunlop character: Northern (though Dunlop herself is a Londoner), working-class and dependable. As an actress Dunlop has perfected the not inconsiderable task of playing a certain type of British 'Everywoman' with whom an audience easily identifies.
She is currently playing Brenda Walker in
Emmerdale (6/4/08)External links
*imdb name|id=0242459|name=Lesley Dunlop
* [http://www.tellyzone.com/emmerdale/2008/09/001-lesley-dunlop-shacks-up-with-old-flame.html Lesley Dunlop caught up in love triangle]
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