Becky Simpson (born 10 August 1986) is a

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

-born actress, writer and musician who now lives in the

Calderdale Calderdale () is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England, which had a population of 211,439. It takes its name from the River Calder, and dale, a word for valley. The name Calderdale usually refers to the borough through which the ...

area of

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

. In 1997, Simpson won the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

''Talkie of the Year'' award for her role in ''

Spoonface Steinberg ''Spoonface Steinberg'' is a play by British playwright Lee Hall, first broadcast as a dramatic monologue on BBC Radio 4 on Monday 27 January 1997. Such was the popular acclaim that the BBC repeated it on Radio 4 the following Saturday afterno ...

''.

Personal life

Simpson was born to parents in the

entertainment industry Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and Interest (emotion), interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but it is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have deve ...

. Her mother, Diane Whitley, had spent several years as an actress and was encouraged to go into writing through her playwright husband Dave Simpson. Simpson's two half uncles – Jim and

Jeff Jeff is a masculine name, often a short form (hypocorism) of the English given name Jefferson or Jeffrey, which comes from a medieval variant of Geoffrey. Music * DJ Jazzy Jeff, American DJ/turntablist record producer Jeffrey Allen Townes ...

– later went on to become successful football players at

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

Education

Simpson graduated from

Leeds University The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed ...

in 2004 with an arts degree in Creative Writing.

Career

Simpson's first acting role came in a radio adaptation of '' The Little Princess'' in 1997.

''Spoonface Steinberg''

In 1997, she was offered the role of ''

'' in a 60-minute

monologue In theatre, a monologue (also known as monolog in North American English) (in , from μόνος ''mónos'', "alone, solitary" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts ...

for

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

. The play was written by Lee Hall (who went on to write ''

Billy Elliot ''Billy Elliot'' is a 2000 British coming-of-age Comedy film, comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Daldry and written by Lee Hall (playwright), Lee Hall. Set in County Durham in North East England during the 1984–1985 miners' strike, the fi ...

'') and was about a young Jewish

autistic Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing di ...

girl dying of cancer. The play later won the ''Talkie of the Year'' award and ''Best Drama'' of 1997. ''Spoonface Steinberg'' provided important exposure for Simpson, leading to her first TV role in '' See How They Run'' – a six-part

CBBC CBBC is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 to 12. Its sister c ...

series about a family on the run from

gangster A gangster (informally gangsta) is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''Organized crime, mob'' and the suffix ''wikt:-ster, -st ...

s. The series was part-filmed in London and Australia and featured ''

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera that has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons and ...

'' star Peter O'Brien.

Further roles

Simpson's exposure in ''Spoonface Steinberg'' led to further TV roles in ''

Doctors Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

'', ''

Always and Everyone Always may refer to: Film and television * ''Always'', a 1985 film directed by Henry Jaglom * ''Always'' (1989 film), a 1989 romantic comedy-drama directed by Steven Spielberg * ''Always'' (2011 film), a 2011 South Korean film, also known as ''O ...

'' and ''

Peak Practice ''Peak Practice'' is a British drama series about a GP surgery in Cardale — a small fictional town in the Derbyshire Peak District — and the doctors who worked there. It originally starred Kevin Whately as Dr Jack Kerruish, Amanda Burton ...

''. She also played Puck in a radio adaptation of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...

'', starring alongside

Richard Griffiths Richard Thomas Griffiths (31 July 1947 – 28 March 2013) was an English actor. He was known for his portrayals of Vernon Dursley in the ''Harry Potter'' films (2001–2011), Uncle Monty in '' Withnail and I'' (1987), and Henry Crabbe in '' P ...

. In other roles she appeared with future ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' star

Christopher Eccleston Christopher Eccleston (; born 16 February 1964) is an English actor whose work has encompassed Hollywood blockbusters and arthouse films, television dramas, Shakespearean stage performances and science fiction, most notably the Ninth Doctor, ni ...

in '' Pig Paradise'' and

Ricky Tomlinson Eric "Ricky" Tomlinson (born 26 September 1939) is an English actor. He is best known for his television roles as Bobby Grant in the soap opera '' Brookside'' (1982–1988), DCI Charlie Wise in '' Cracker'' (1993–2006) and Jim Royle in '' T ...

in ''The Virgin of Liverpool''. Her most recent television role was in ''

''.

Music

Aside from acting, Simpson is a musician, having regularly performed at the

Cavern Club The Cavern Club is a music venue on Mathew Street, Liverpool, England. The Cavern Club opened on 16 January 1957 as a jazz club, later becoming a centre of the rock and roll scene in Liverpool in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The club becam ...

in Liverpool. It was here that Simpson met Wes Paul (the then compere) before undertaking musical pursuits with him at the Star Club,

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, and in

. Simpson married Paul on 1 June 2010 in

Jackson, Tennessee Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Tennessee, United States. Located east of Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis and 130 Miles Southwest of Nashville, it is a regional center of trade for West Tennessee. Its total population wa ...

. She recorded the

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...

song "

Jackson Jackson may refer to: Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson South, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson oil field in Durham, ...

" to coincide with the wedding. The final master was released and featured on ReverbNation in August 2010.

Filmography

Television series

* 2001

- Donna Kingston. 1 episode. * 2002

- Rachel Henderson. 1 episode.

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Becky 1986 births People from Calderdale (district) Alumni of the University of Leeds Living people Actresses from Manchester Musicians from Manchester British women writers