Amita Emmanuelle Dhiri (born 1965 in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

) is a British

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

Personal life

Dhiri was born to a French mother, Antonia and Ugandan-Indian accountant father, Vinod Dhiri.Mum was so strict .. When I started in acting she was convinced it was the first step to porn!
Daily Mirror, 20 June 2007. Retrieved 30 June 2019 She has two younger brothers and speaks fluent

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

and

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

. She married Bradley Carroll in 1994 and has two daughters.

Career

Dhiri has said that she was very shy when she was little and that this led her into acting. Her first experience of acting came about when a friend of hers who was at film school had a friend who was doing a film for their degree, and asked Dhiri to be in it. Before going to drama school, Dhiri sang in a touring cabaret group for about 18 months, doing

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939 – May 24, 2023) was a singer, songwriter, actress, and author. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", her vocal prowess, raspy voice, and electrifyin ...

and

Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreogr ...

impressions

Television

In 1996, she played the role of Djamila "Milly" Nassim in the acclaimed

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

drama series '' This Life'', three years after leaving drama college. Milly was a sensible legal high-flyer who had been in a relationship with Egg (played by

Andrew Lincoln Andrew James Clutterbuck (born 14 September 1973), known professionally as Andrew Lincoln, is an English actor. His first major role was as the character Egg in the BBC drama '' This Life'' (1996–1997). Lincoln later portrayed Simon Casey i ...

), since university. One of her notable scenes was in the last episode, when her character punched her colleague Rachel in the jaw. She has subsequently had many other appearances on British television, including roles in '' Absolute Power'', '' The Last Train'', ''

Dalziel and Pascoe Detective Superintendent Andrew "Andy" Dalziel and Detective Sergeant, later Detective Inspector, Peter Pascoe are two fictional Yorkshire detectives featuring in a series of novels by Reginald Hill. Characterisation and style Dalziel is d ...

'', ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a Spin-off (media), spin-off from the established BBC medical drama '' ...

'' wherein she undertook the role of the raging former partner of General Surgical Consultant Daniel Clifford (played by

Peter Wingfield Peter Wingfield (born 5 September 1962) is a Welsh actor and anesthesiologist. He is known for his television roles, notably as Dan Clifford on ''Holby City'', Methos on '' Highlander: The Series,'' Dr. Robert Helm on '' Queen of Swords'', In ...

), ''

Silent Witness ''Silent Witness'' is a British crime drama television series produced by the BBC that focuses on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. The series was created by Nigel McCrery, a former murder squa ...

'', ''Being April'' and '' McCallum''. In 2003, she had a recurring role as Rachel Crawchek in ''

Judge John Deed ''Judge John Deed'' is a British legal drama television series produced by the BBC in association with One-Eyed Dog for BBC One. It was created by G.F. Newman and stars Martin Shaw as Mr Justice Deed, a High Court judge who tries to seek real ...

''. In early 2007, she reunited with original cast members of ''This Life'' in a reunion special called ''This Life +10''. Then on 14 June 2007, Dhiri joined the long-running British police drama ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...

'' as DC Grace Dasari. In preparation for the role, she spent time with Kennington police in South London, and had a lesson in driving a police patrol car. She remained in the show until its final episode, broadcast on 31 August 2010. In 2013, she played Mrs Rattigan in Sky TV's Talking To The Dead She played Deputy Commissioner Vanita in

Ragdoll The Ragdoll is a List of cat breeds, breed of cat with a distinct Point coloration, colorpoint coat and blue eyes. Its Morphology (biology), morphology is large and weighty, and it has a semi-long and silky soft coat. American breeder Ann Baker ...

in 2021, and Mrs Khanna in season 3 of

Bridgerton ''Bridgerton'' is an American alternative history regency romance television series created by Chris Van Dusen for Netflix. Based on the book series Bridgerton (novel series), of the same name by Julia Quinn, it is Shondaland's first scripted ...

in 2024.

Film

She appeared in the film '' 24 Hours in London'', released in 2000.24 Hours in London
bbfc.co.uk. Retrieved 11 July 2019

Credits

Television Stage Radio Film Voiceover

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dhiri, Amita 1965 births Living people English television actresses Actresses from Brighton 21st-century British actresses English people of French descent English people of Indian descent English people of Ugandan descent British people of Indo-Ugandan descent