Amy Abigail Nuttall (born 7 June 1982) is an English actress and singer known for playing Chloe Atkinson in the ITV soap opera ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, ...

'' from 2000 until 2005, and housemaid Ethel Parks in ITV period drama ''

Downton Abbey ''Downton Abbey'' is a British historical drama television series set in the early 20th century, created and co-written by Julian Fellowes. The series first aired in the United Kingdom on ITV on 26 September 2010 and in the United States o ...

''.

Early life

Nuttall was born in

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

. She was educated at Bury Grammar School for Girls and trained at

Tring Park School for the Performing Arts Tring Park School for the Performing Arts is an independent co-educational school offering specialist courses in Dance, Commercial Music, Musical Theatre and Acting for 8–19 year olds. Originally known as the Arts Educational School, Tring Pa ...

. She performed with the National Youth Music Theatre, notably playing the lead role of Princess Ismene in ''Aurelius'' at the Tyne Opera House, Newcastle and the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh in August 1997.

Career

Nuttall is credited as the youngest actress to ever understudy and play the lead role of Christine in '' The Phantom of the Opera'' (at age 17) (National tour), has sung at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I li ...

and

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wembl ...

and won an edition of ''Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes'' as

Sarah Brightman Sarah Brightman (born 14 August 1960) is an English classical crossover Crossover is a term applied to musical works or performers who appeal to different types of audience. This can be seen, for example, (especially in the United State ...

. Shortly before leaving ''

'', Nuttall appeared in ''Notes from New York'' at the Trafalgar Studios opposite Jon Lee and

Julie Atherton Julie Atherton is a British actress and singer. On 3 October 2009, she finished portraying the roles of Kate Monster and Lucy the Slut in the West End production of ''Avenue Q''. She released her debut album, ''A Girl of Few Words,'' on 2 Octob ...

. In 2005, she released her début album as a Classical vocalist ''Best Days'' on

EMI Classics EMI Classics was a record label founded by Thorn EMI in 1990 to reduce the need to create country-specific packaging and catalogues for internationally distributed classical music releases. After Thorn EMI demerged in 1996, its recorded mus ...

and filmed music videos for her tracks "Best Days", "No Greater Gift" and a version of " Scarborough Fair", which was heavily requested on

Classic FM TV Classic FM TV was a television channel owned by British radio station Classic FM. Until 14 December 2007 it was available as a television channel on the Sky Digital satellite and Virgin Media cable TV services. After that, Classic FM TV only bro ...

. ''Best Days'' peaked at number four in the UK classical chart and was nominated for album of the year at the 2006

Classical BRIT Awards The Classic BRIT Awards (previously Classical BRIT Awards) are an annual awards ceremony held in the United Kingdom covering aspects of classical and crossover music, and are the equivalent of popular music's Brit Awards. The awards are organ ...

. In the same year, Nuttall took part in the Reality TV programme ''Celebrity Shark Bait'', which also featured Richard E Grant and Ruby Wax, and appeared in ''Celebrate Oliver'', a musical special for

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

. In the Autumn of 2005, Nuttall toured the UK extensively as Eliza Doolittle in ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play '' Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons ...

'' to critical acclaim. She shared the role with

Lisa O'Hare Lisa O'Hare is an English actress who has played Eliza Doolittle in ''My Fair Lady'' and the title character of ''Mary Poppins'' in the West End and UK stage. She more recently has appeared in several prime-time American television shows on TN ...

on the National Tour due to other commitments with her first album. The tour started on 5 October 2005 at the

Palace Theatre Palace Theatre, or Palace Theater, is the name of many theatres in different countries, including: Australia * Palace Theatre, Melbourne, Victoria *Palace Theatre, Sydney, New South Wales Canada *Palace Theatre, housed in the Robillard Block, M ...

in Manchester and ended on 12 August 2006 at the

Wales Millennium Centre Wales Millennium Centre ( cy, Canolfan Mileniwm Cymru) is an arts centre located in the Cardiff Bay area of Cardiff, Wales. The site covers a total area of . Phase 1 of the building was opened during the weekend of the 26–28 November 2004 an ...

in Cardiff. In January 2007, Nuttall performed on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

's ''Friday Night is Music Night'' with an 80-piece live orchestra and in May 2007, she joined the cast of the stage revival of '' Boeing-Boeing'' at the Comedy Theatre opposite Patricia Hodge,

Mark Rylance Sir David Mark Rylance Waters (born 18 January 1960) is a British actor, playwright and theatre director. He is known for his roles on stage and screen having received numerous awards including an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, two Laurence ...

and Roger Allam. On 2 October 2007, Nuttall replaced Kim Medcalf in the London production of ''

Cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dinin ...

'' at the Lyric Theatre, transferring directly from her role in ''Boeing-Boeing''. In April 2008, Nuttall's initial six-month contract was extended until the production's closure on 21 June. Nuttall appeared in '' Hotel Babylon'' in 2009 as Melanie Hughes, the new hotel receptionist. In June and July 2010, Nuttall played one of the lead roles in the revival of the hit musical ''

The Hired Man ''The Hired Man'' is a novel by Melvyn Bragg, first published in 1969 by Secker and Warburg. It is the first part of Bragg's Cumbrian Trilogy. The story is set predominantly in the rural area around Thurston (Bragg's name for Wigton, his h ...

'' at the

Octagon Theatre, Bolton The Octagon Theatre is a producing theatre located in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Programme The Octagon produces eight or nine professional theatre productions each year in its Main Auditorium. Productions come from a wide range of t ...

. Later that year she returned to the

to play Stella Kowalski in the

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thr ...

classic

A Streetcar Named Desire ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of per ...

. She shared the role of the Lady of the Lake in the UK tour of ''

Spamalot ''Spamalot'' (also known as ''Monty Python's Spamalot'') is a musical comedy with music by John Du Prez and Eric Idle, and lyrics and book by Idle. It is adapted from the 1975 film ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail''. Like the motion pictu ...

'', which began on 18 October 2010 at the Edinburgh Playhouse. From September 2011, Nuttall began appearing in series two of ''

'', appearing as the new maid,

Ethel Ethel (also '' æthel'') is an Old English word meaning "noble", today often used as a feminine given name. Etymology and historic usage The word means ''æthel'' "noble". It is frequently attested as the first element in Anglo-Saxon names, b ...

. In December 2011 she appeared in '' Noises Off'' at London's

Old Vic Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England * Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Ma ...

until March 2012. On 14 July 2011, Nuttall was awarded the

Honorary Degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad h ...

of Doctor of Arts by the University of Bolton. On 8 June 2013 Nuttall starred in the Saturday Drama on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...

. Entitled The Weather Girl she played the lead role of Abigail, a prisoner whose mental state is assessed by a clinical psychologist. In 2019, Nuttall lent her voice to ''Olga'' in

HISTORY History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

's podcast Letters of Love in WW2 - a series based on the real-life letters of a couple separated by the Second World War.

Personal life

Nuttall dated fellow ''Emmerdale'' cast member

Ben Freeman Benedict Freeman (born 8 April 1980) is an English actor, known for portraying the role of Scott Windsor in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale''. After leaving ''Emmerdale'' in 2007, he embarked on a career in musical theatre, and has since playe ...

for four years. She married long-term boyfriend, the actor Andrew Buchan, on 8 September 2012.Amy Nuttall joins Downton Abbey and reveals she is getting married to long-term boyfriend Andrew Buchan
mirror.co.uk, 12 September 2011 Their first child was born in 2015.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Scarborough Fair Video
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nuttall, Amy 1982 births Living people People from Blackburn English television actresses English stage actresses English women singers English musical theatre actresses People educated at Bury Grammar School (Girls) People educated at Tring Park School for the Performing Arts Actresses from Lancashire 21st-century English actresses 20th-century English actresses