Susan Joan Holderness (born 28 May 1949) is an English actress on both stage and screen having had appearances in '' Bless This House'' (1974), '' The New Avengers'' (1977), '' Canned Laughter'' (1979), '' The Sandbaggers'' (1980), '' The Cleopatras'' and '' It Takes a Worried Man'' (1983), '' The Brief'' and ''

Minder A minder is the person assigned to guide or escort a visitor, or to provide protection to somebody, or to otherwise assist or take care of something, i.e. a person who " minds". Government-appointed persons to accompany foreign visitors are of ...

'' (1984), ''

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 ...

'' (2004-2014), ''

Still Open All Hours ''Still Open All Hours'' is a British sitcom (2013–2019) created for the BBC by Roy Clarke, and starring David Jason and James Baxter. It is the sequel to the sitcom '' Open All Hours'' (1976–1985), which both Clarke and Jason were invol ...

'' (2018–2019) ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

'' and ''

The Madame Blanc Mysteries ''The Madame Blanc Mysteries'' is a cosy crime comedy drama television series, produced by Saffron Cherry Productions, which is broadcast on Channel 5 and Acorn TV. The series, written by and starring Sally Lindsay and Sue Vincent, concerns ...

'' (2021). However, she is best known for her role as Marlene Boyce in ''

Only Fools and Horses ''Only Fools and Horses'' (titled onscreen as ''Only Fools and Horses....'') is a British television sitcom that was created and written by John Sullivan (writer), John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Ki ...

'' from 1985 to 2003, and its spin-off '' The Green Green Grass'' from 2005 to 2009.

Career

Holderness was born on 28 May 1949, in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. After taking her

A-levels The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...

, she trained at the

Central School of Speech and Drama The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, commonly shortened to Central, is a drama school founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as the Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for ...

. She began her acting career with the Manchester 69 Theatre Company in ''

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 ...

'', ''

Peer Gynt ''Peer Gynt'' (, ) is a five-Act (drama), act play in verse written in 1867 by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen. It is one of Ibsen's best known and most widely performed plays. ''Peer Gynt'' chronicles the journey of its title character fr ...

'' and as Desdemona in '' Catch My Soul'' (Jack Good's rock-musical version of ''Othello''). She has worked consistently in theatre, radio, film and television. West End plays include '' The Female Odd Couple'', ''Why Not Stay for Breakfast'', ''The Male of the Species'' and the highly acclaimed one-woman play ''Our Kid'' (based on

Myra Hindley The Moors murders were a series of child killings committed by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley in and around Manchester, England, between July 1963 and October 1965. The victims were five children—Pauline Reade, John Kilbride, Keith Bennett, Lesl ...

Holderness regularly appeared in ''

The Vagina Monologues ''The Vagina Monologues'' is an episodic play written in 1996 by Eve Ensler which developed and premiered at HERE Arts Center, Off-Off-Broadway in New York and was followed by an Off-Broadway run at the Westside Theatre. The play explores ...

'' and she was in the cast of the touring play '' Seven Deadly Sins Four Deadly Sinners''. She has toured the country in numerous plays and worked in several

repertory A repertory theatre, also called repertory, rep, true rep or stock, which are also called producing theatres, is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation. United Kingdom ...

companies. Much of her career has been spent performing in

Alan Ayckbourn Sir Alan Ayckbourn (born 12 April 1939) is a prolific British playwright and director. As of 2025, he has written and produced 90 full-length plays in Scarborough and London and was, between 1972 and 2009, the artistic director of the Stephen ...

plays, three of which (''Relatively Speaking'', ''Time and Time Again'', and '' How the Other Half Loves'') she toured with

John Challis John Spurley Challis (16 August 1942 – 17 September 2021) was an English actor. He had an extensive theatre and television career but is best known for portraying Boycie, Terrance Aubrey "Boycie" Boyce in the long-running BBC Television sitcom ...

. Holderness played the role of Annie in the 2010 & 2011 UK Tours of ''Calendar Girls''. She played Celia in the 2012 tour (Jan – May) and went back to playing Annie in the Autumn 2012 tour (Sep – December). Television roles include Marianne in '' The Sandbaggers'' (two series), '' Bless This House'', as Pamela Huntley-Johnson in the episode ''The Bells Are Ringing'' (1974), as Liz in '' It Takes a Worried Man'' (two series), Jo in ''The Brief'', Cleopatra IV in '' The Cleopatras''; as Laura Doolan, a wife of serial bigamist ''"Confident"'' Clive Cosgrove in the ''

'' episode "A Number of Old Wives Tales" (1984); episodes of '' The New Avengers'', '' Thriller'', ''Sob Sisters'', ''Growing Pains'', ''Doctors'', '' Lime Street'' with

Robert Wagner Robert John Wagner Jr. (born February 10, 1930) is an American actor. He is known for starring in the television shows ''It Takes a Thief (1968 TV series), It Takes a Thief'' (1968–1970), ''Switch (American TV series), Switch'' (1975–1978), ...

, and ''Murder in Suburbia''. She played a prominent role as Marlene, wife to Boycie (played by John Challis) in ''Only Fools And Horses'' and the spin-off series ''The Green, Green Grass'', which ran from 2005 – 2009, including four series and three Christmas Specials. She played

Rowan Atkinson Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He played the title roles in the sitcoms ''Blackadder'' (1983–1989) and '' Mr. Bean'' (1990–1995), and in the film series '' Johnny English'' (2003– ...

's love interest, Lorraine, in '' Canned Laughter'', and did numerous impersonations in two series of ''End of Part One''. She played Maggie in ''Dear John'', by John Sullivan, Joan Forrester (Oscar Blaketon's former wife) in ''Heartbeat'' for YTV, Joan Travis in ''Revelations'', and Rachel's mother in ''

Cold Feet ''Cold Feet'' is a British comedy-drama television series produced by Granada Television for the ITV (TV network), ITV network. The series was created and principally written by Mike Bullen as a follow-up to his 1997 Comedy Premieres, Comedy ...

'', also for Granada. In April 2021, she made a guest appearance in the BBC soap opera ''

'' as Estelle. Films include ''

That'll Be the Day "That'll Be the Day" is a song written by Buddy Holly and Jerry Allison. It was first recorded by Buddy Holly and the Three Tunes in 1956 and was re-recorded in 1957 by Holly and his new band, the Crickets. Buddy Holly and the Three Tunes' ver ...

'' (1973) and ''It Could Happen to You'' (aka ''Intimate Teenage Secrets'') (1976). She also appeared in the low budget feature ''Meat Draw'' and ''Out of Sight'' for Granada. Holderness regularly appears in

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...

. including ''All You Need for Christmas'' at

Fareham Fareham ( ) is a market town at the north-west tip of Portsmouth Harbour, between the cities of Portsmouth and Southampton in south east Hampshire, England. It gives its name to the Borough of Fareham. It was historically an important manufac ...

, Hampshire in 2009. In 2014, Holderness appeared in the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

medical drama ''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

'' as Alice Sweeney. In 2018-2019 she appeared as Mrs Rossi in series five and six of the sitcom ''

''.

Personal life

Holderness is married to Mark Piper, former executive director of the Theatre Royal, Windsor. Her children are Harriet, a yoga instructor, and Freddie, head of history at a school in West Sussex. She has one grandchild (2018), Max. Sue is a strong supporter and ambassador for Thames Hospice.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

*
Intertalent profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holderness, Sue 1949 births Living people 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses Actresses from London Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama English stage actresses English television actresses Actors from the London Borough of Camden People from Hampstead