Anna Brecon (born 1971), or Anna Juliet Davis, is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

, best known for portraying

Tara Reynolds Lady Tara Thornfield (also Cockburn and Lady Oakwell) is a fictional character from the British soap opera '' Emmerdale'', played by Anna Brecon. She made her first on screen appearance on 31 July 1997. She remained on and off in the show unti ...

('Lady Tara') in the ITV

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

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 Laffa ...

''.

Early life

Born in

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

,“DAVIS Anna Juliet / PRITCHARD / Salisbury 7c 2413” in ''General Index to Births in England and Wales'' (1971, 1st quarter), ancestry.com Paul Marston

“I kept thinking about my little boy and that I might not see him again” in

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

, 8 February 2005, accessed 5 August 2009 Brecon attended

South Wilts Grammar School for Girls South Wilts Grammar School, formerly South Wilts Grammar School for Girls, is a grammar school in Salisbury, south Wiltshire, England, for pupils aged 11 to 18. Established in 1927, the school converted to an academy in 2011. In 2020, the name ...

in Salisbury. While at school, she was a contestant on the teen quiz show '' Blockbusters'' and did three "Gold runs". She went on to train at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts.

Career

Brecon played the part of Tara in ''

'' between 1997 and 2002, with a year away from the show in 1999. She returned briefly to the role on 28 May 2007. Her other television work includes ''

Canary Wharf Canary Wharf is an area of London, England, located near the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Canary Wharf is defined by the Greater London Authority as being part of London's central business district, alongside Central ...

'', ''

Crime Traveller ''Crime Traveller'' is a 1997 science fiction detective television series produced by Carnival Films for the BBC based on the premise of using time travel for the purpose of solving crimes. Anthony Horowitz created the series and wrote every ...

'', ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused on ...

'' and '' Doctors''. Brecon has also appeared in two advertising campaigns for Ferrero Rocher. On 17 October 2000, while on her way from London to the

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network. Until 1974, this was prima ...

Studios in

Leeds Leeds () is a City status in the United Kingdom, 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 thi ...

, Brecon was a victim of the Hatfield rail disaster, suffering a minor injury, cuts and bruises. Her film credits include '' Bring Me the Head of Mavis Davis'' (1997), '' FairyTale: A True Story'' (1997), ''Only Darkness'' (1999), and ''Mixed Up'' and the

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apo ...

''Exposé'' (both 2009).Anna Brecon biography
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

; URL accessed 2009-08-05 Brecon's theatre work includes '' Sugar Daddies'', the title role in ''

Miss Julie ''Miss Julie'' ( sv, Fröken Julie) is a naturalistic play written in 1888 by August Strindberg. It is set on Midsummer's Eve and the following morning, which is Midsummer and the Feast Day of St. John the Baptist. The setting is an estate of ...

'' (2002), '' The Children's Hour'', ''Between the Gods and the Gutter'' and ''

Woman in Mind ''Woman in Mind (December Bee)'' is the 32nd play by English playwright Alan Ayckbourn. It was premiered at the Stephen Joseph Theatre In The Round, Scarborough, in 1985. Despite pedestrian reviews by many critics, strong audience reaction res ...

''.

Personal life

In February 2000, Brecon met the actor Stephen Beckett, in the rehearsals for a production of '' The Blue Room'' at the Octagon Theatre, Bolton, in which they had both been cast. They soon became a couple, going on holiday together to Italy.Steven Smith
“Showbiz People: Stephen Beckett - My favourite things”
thefreelibrary.com, September 2000 They were engaged to be married in January 2003Soap doc's Octagon love affair
theboltonnews.co.uk, 28 January 2003 and have a daughter, Nancy, born in 2005, and a son, Wilfred, born in 2006. In 2018 they were living in Brighton.

Awards

Brecon won the Most Popular Newcomer Award at the 1998

National Television Awards The National Television Awards (often shortened to NTAs) is a British television awards ceremony, broadcast by the ITV network and initiated in 1995. The National Television Awards are the most prominent ceremony for which the results are vot ...

, and Best Soap Newcomer at the TV Quick Awards in the same year. At the 2000

Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards The Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards (MENTA) were a theatre awards ceremony that recognised live theatre within Greater Manchester. They were administered by the ''Manchester Evening News'', and presented at an annual ceremony in Manchester ...

, she was the Best Actress winner for her performance in ''The Blue Room''.

Filmography

Television

Film

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brecon, Anna Actresses from Wiltshire English television actresses English soap opera actresses English film actresses English stage actresses 1971 births Living people People educated at South Wilts Grammar School for Girls Alumni of the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses