Catherine Tyson (born 12 June 1965) is an English actress. She won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the film ''

Mona Lisa The ''Mona Lisa'' ( ; it, Gioconda or ; french: Joconde ) is a Half length portrait, half-length portrait painting by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described ...

'' (1986), which also earned her Best Supporting Actress nominations at the

Golden Globes The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

and BAFTA Awards. She has starred in '' The Serpent and the Rainbow'' (1988), ''

Priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

'' (1994), and '' Band of Gold'' (1995–1997). She won the British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

for her performance in the film '' Help''.

Early life

Tyson was born in

Kingston-upon-Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

on 12 June 1965, the daughter of an English social worker mother and a

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

ian barrister father. She grew up in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

, having moved there with her parents when she was two years old. She was a pupil at St Winefrides school in Dingle. She attended Liverpool's Everyman Youth Theatre in her teens, and dropped out of college at 17 to pursue an acting career there.

Career

Tyson joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1984, taking the lead role in their performance of ''Golden Girls''. Also in 1984, Tyson made an early TV appearance playing Joanna in '' Scully''. Tyson's film debut was in ''

'' (1986) as Simone, an elegant prostitute, a performance which brought her critical acclaim. Her other films include '' Business as Usual'' (1987), '' The Serpent and the Rainbow'' (1988), '' The Lost Language of Cranes'' (1991), ''

'' (1994) and '' The Old Man Who Read Love Stories'' (2001). Probably her best-known television appearance was also as a prostitute, Carol Johnson, in the ITV series '' Band of Gold''. In 2007, Tyson joined the cast of two long-running television series. She played headmistress Miss Gayle in the

BBC One 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, ...

school drama ''

Grange Hill ''Grange Hill'' is a British children's television drama series, originally produced by the BBC and portraying life in a typical comprehensive school. The show began its run on 8 February 1978 on BBC1, and was one of the longest-running progra ...

'', and featured 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, ...

'' as single mother Andrea Hayworth. Tyson played Herodia in

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, cur ...

's ''Liverpool Nativity'', a modern adaptation of the traditional Christmas story. Recorded as a live event in

Liverpool City Centre Liverpool city centre is the commercial, cultural, financial and historical centre of Liverpool, England. The inner city districts of Vauxhall, Everton, Edge Hill, Kensington and Toxteth mark the border with Liverpool city centre which consi ...

on 16 December 2007, it was broadcast several times over the Christmas period and repeated the following year. In September 2009, Tyson enrolled at the adult learning centre City Lit on an access to higher education course in creative studies. She completed a degree in English and Drama at

Brunel University Brunel University London is a public research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It was founded in 1966 and named after the Victorian engineer and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. In June ...

in 2013. In 2021, she guest starred in an episode of TV drama ''

McDonald & Dodds ''McDonald & Dodds'' is a British television crime drama series, based in the English city of Bath, that stars Tala Gouveia and Jason Watkins as mismatched detectives, DCI Lauren McDonald & DS Dodds. Created and principally written by screenwr ...

''. In 2021, Tyson appeared in

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

film '' Help'' playing Poll, an elderly resident of a care home during the

Covid-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

; the following year she won the British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance.

Charity work

Tyson hosted a charity event for the Sick Children's Trust on 17 November 2007, and again on 1 November 2008. The event, organised by Friends of Eckersley House, a committee supporting the charity's

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

house, was held at the Haven Golden Sands resort in Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire. She is also one of the Honorary Patrons of the

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

children's charity Scene & Heard.

Personal life

Tyson married actor and comedian

Craig Charles Craig Joseph Charles (born 11 July 1964) is an English actor, comedian, television and radio presenter. He is best known for his roles as Dave Lister in the science fiction sitcom ''Red Dwarf'' and Lloyd Mullaney in the soap opera ''Coronation ...

in 1984. Their son Jack was born in 1988. They divorced in 1989.

Awards and nominations

References and notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tyson, Cathy 1965 births Actresses from Liverpool English television actresses Best Supporting Actress BAFTA Award (television) winners Black British actresses English film actresses English people of Trinidad and Tobago descent Living people People from Kingston upon Thames Alumni of Brunel University London