Rachel Joy Shenton (born 21 December 1987) is an English actress, screenwriter, and activist. She is known for her roles as Mitzeee Minniver in the

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 ...

soap opera ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera '' Brookside''. Since 2005, episodes have been aired on sister channel E4 a ...

'' (2010–2013), Lily Summers in the ABC Family drama '' Switched at Birth'' (2014–2017), Joanne Scott in the BBC2 comedy ''

White Gold Pure gold is slightly reddish yellow in color, but colored gold in various other colors can be produced by alloying gold with other elements. Colored golds can be classified in three groups: * Alloys with silver and copper in various proportions ...

'' (2019), and Helen Alderson in the Channel 5 series '' All Creatures Great and Small'' (2020–present). In 2018, she won an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for her short film ''

The Silent Child ''The Silent Child'' is a British sign language short film written by and starring Rachel Shenton and directed by Chris Overton, and released in 2017 by Slick Films. It tells the story of Libby, a profoundly deaf 6-year-old girl, who lives a si ...

''.

Early life

Shenton attended two high schools, one in Cheadle. After high school Shenton went on to study performing arts at Stoke-on-Trent College (Burslem Campus). In between studying and acting roles, she volunteered at her local charity, Deaflinks.

Career

Early career

Shenton's acting career began with small recurring parts in various television series such as '' Holby City'' and '' Waterloo Road''. She also filmed various television commercials for the '' Ministry of Defence'', '' DFS'' and ''

Sega Superstars Tennis ''Sega Superstars Tennis'' is a mascot sports video game developed by Sumo Digital and published by Sega. It is the second title in the ''Sega All-Stars'' series, preceded by ''Sega Superstars'' (2005), and crosses over characters, locations, a ...

'' and appeared in two British films. She continued recurring appearances in 2008 appearing in Nickelodeon's series '' Genie in the House'' and Five's ''Sophia's Diary'', playing Sofia's wayward sister 'Trisha'.

''Hollyoaks''

In April 2010, it was announced that Shenton had been cast in ''Hollyoaks'' as Mitzeee Minniver, an aspiring glamour model. Shenton described her character as being the complete opposite of her. Her casting came as part of new producer

Paul Marquess Paul Marquess (born 23 June 1964) is a television producer from Belfast, Northern Ireland. His credits include '' Brookside'', ''The Bill'', ''Family Affairs'', ''Hollyoaks'', ''Crime Stories'', '' Suspects'' and '' Hope Street''. He also origi ...

' major revamp of the serial. Before her character had appeared on-screen Shenton received media attention for her image, with tabloids reporting on her likeness to

Cheryl Cole Cheryl Ann Tweedy (born 30 June 1983) is an English singer and television personality. Born and raised in Newcastle upon Tyne, she rose to fame in late 2002 upon winning a place in Girls Aloud, a girl group created through ITV's '' Popstar ...

. Shenton described the attention and comparisons as "very flattering". On 20 December 2012, Shenton announced her decision to leave ''Hollyoaks''. Shenton's final scenes as Mitzeee aired on 15 February 2013, when the character moved to the United States.

Further roles and ''The Silent Child''

On 28 April 2014, it was announced that Shenton would make her US television debut in season 3 of the ABC Family drama '' Switched at Birth'', playing young student teacher, Lilly Summers. Shenton went on to shoot season 4 and 5 which was when the show ended. The final season aired in February 2017. In August 2017, Shenton appeared in ''

'', a film which she created and co-produced with her husband

Chris Overton Chris Overton is an English actor and filmmaker, best known for his film, ''The Silent Child'' for which he received critical acclaim and won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. Overton is the husband of Rachel Shenton, who wrote ...

. The film was based on Shenton's own experiences as the child of a parent who became deaf. The film features profoundly deaf six-year-old first-time actor Maisie Sly as the titular child.

British Sign Language British Sign Language (BSL) is a sign language used in the United Kingdom (UK), and is the first or preferred language among the Deaf community in the UK. Based on the percentage of people who reported 'using British Sign Language at home' on ...

(BSL) is used in the film. The film won best short film at the

Rhode Island International Film Festival Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) takes place every year in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island as well as satellite locations throughout the state. History Started in 1997, the Festival is produced by Flickers, the ...

in August 2017. This made it eligible for entry to the Oscars. In December 2017 the film was selected as one of the final ten films in the Live Action Short Film category for the

90th Academy Awards The 90th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2017, and took place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. The ceremony was held on March 4, ...

. On 23 January 2018, it was announced that ''The Silent Child'' was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for the

, which it then won. Shenton kept a promise that she had made to their young lead actress and signed her acceptance speech. In March 2019, Shenton joined the cast of BBC2 comedy series ''

'' playing motivational speaker turned window saleswoman Jo Scott, alongside James Buckley and Joe Thomas. In September 2020, she began appearing in the Channel 5 and

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

adaptation of '' All Creatures Great and Small'' as Helen Alderson. Significant changes were made from the source material (both the previous television series and the memoir), allowing the role of Helen to be greatly expanded. The programme was renewed for a second series, which aired in September 2021, with a third series broadcast in 2022. Outside of acting, Rachel has been delivering screen acting masterclasses to her students at The Midlands Screen Acting School since 2013. Rachel often lines up industry professional guests to attend the sessions. Previously, her All Creature Great and Small co-star Nicholas Ralph has attended a session.

Personal life

When Shenton was 12, her father became deaf after undergoing chemotherapy treatment for cancer. Following the death of her father, Shenton learned British Sign Language. In 2011, Shenton was made ambassador for the National Deaf Children's Society and she continues to raise awareness of deafness in the UK. In March 2011, Shenton completed a skydive in aid of National Deaf Children's Society. In February 2012, Shenton announced that she was due to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in aid of the charity. In May 2011, Shenton helped to launch a social networking website for deaf people named "Viewtalk". In October 2012, she climbed the

BT Tower The BT Communication Tower is a grade II listed communications tower located in Fitzrovia, London, owned by BT Group. Originally named the Museum Radio Tower (after the adjacent Museum telephone exchange), it became better known by its unoff ...

in aid of

Action on Hearing Loss The Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID), known as Action on Hearing Loss from 2011 to 2020, is a charitable organization working on behalf of the UK's 9 million people who are deaf or have hearing loss. History The Royal National I ...

. She married

in October 2018.

Filmography

Acting

Voice over

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Official website
at

The Spotlight ''The Spotlight'' was a weekly newspaper in the United States, published in Washington, D.C. from September 1975 to July 2001 by the now-defunct antisemitic Liberty Lobby. ''The Spotlight'' ran articles and editorials professing a "populist and ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shenton, Rachel English film actresses English soap opera actresses English television actresses English voice actresses Producers who won the Live Action Short Film Academy Award Living people Actors from Staffordshire 1987 births