Claire Elizabeth Hardwick (born 3 November 1960)
''

Evening Chronicle The ''Evening Chronicle'', now referred to as ''The Comical'', is a daily newspaper produced in Newcastle upon Tyne covering North regional news, but primarily focused on Newcastle upon Tyne and surrounding area. The ''Comical'' is published by ...

'', 10 February 2004 is an English actress. She portrayed the role of Val Pollard 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 ...

'' (2004–2015, 2017). In 2019, she began portraying the role of Sue Carp in the

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

comedy-drama series ''

Ackley Bridge ''Ackley Bridge'' is a British comedy-drama series set in a multicultural academy school of the same name. The series is filmed in Halifax, West Yorkshire and it began broadcasting on Channel 4 on 7 June 2017. In the fourth series, ''Ackle ...

''.

Career

In addition to her role in ''

'', Hardwick starred in the 2000 comedy film ''

Purely Belter ''Purely Belter'' is a 2000 British comedy drama film directed by Mark Herman about two teenagers (Chris Beattie and Greg McLane) trying to get money, by any means necessary, in order to get season tickets for home games of Premier League footbal ...

'', ''

Billy Elliot ''Billy Elliot'' is a 2000 British coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Daldry and written by Lee Hall. Set in County Durham in North East England during the 1984–1985 miners' strike, the film is about a working-class boy w ...

'' and won the best actress award at the Monte Carlo International Television Festival in 1998 for her role in

Amber Films Amber Film & Photography Collective (often shortened to Amber Films or Amber) is a film and photography collective based in Newcastle upon Tyne with an aim to capture working-class life in North East England. Often combining professional and non ...

' ''The Scar'', about a County Durham pit community in crisis. She also starred as Sian, a youth worker in ''

Byker Grove Byker is a district in the east of the city and metropolitan borough of Newcastle upon Tyne. Home to the Byker Wall estate, made famous by TV series '' Byker Grove'', Byker’s population was recorded at 12,206 in the 2011 census. Byker is bord ...

''. In 2003, Hardwick played Maggie Thomas in an episode of ''

The Royal ''The Royal'' is a British period medical drama, produced by Yorkshire Television (later part of ITV Studios), and broadcast on ITV1 from 2003 until its cancellation in 2011. The series is set in the 1960s and focuses on the lives of the st ...

''. In 2007, Hardwick was an occasional contributor on '' Grumpy Old Women''. For her role on ''

'', Hardwick has been nominated seven times at the

British Soap Awards The British Soap Awards (BSAs) are an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom which honours the best moments in British soap operas. The ceremony is televised on ITV and has been presented by Phillip Schofield since 2006. The trophies ...

, winning in 2006 for Best Comedy Performance. Hardwick has acted in a number of stage productions, including starring in '' Cooking with Elvis'' alongside

Frank Skinner Christopher Graham Collins (born 28 January 1957), professionally known as Frank Skinner, is an English comedian, actor, presenter and writer. At the 2001 British Comedy Awards, he was named Best Comedy Entertainment Personality. His televisi ...

, which toured nationally. In 2012, she starred in the comedy play ''The Awkward Squad''. In 2019, Hardwick joined the third series of the Channel 4 comedy drama ''

'' as Sue Carp.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* 1960 births Living people English film actresses English television actresses English soap opera actresses Actresses from Newcastle upon Tyne {{UK-tv-actor-1960s-stub