Clare Cathcart (2 October 1965 – 4 September 2014) was a Northern Irish actress on stage and in film, radio, and television.

Early life and education

Cathcart was born in

Bellanaleck Bellanaleck (Flanagan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 182. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a small village in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It lies just south of Enniskillen on the main A509 ( N3) road towards Cavan and Dub ...

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of and had a population of 63,585 as of 2021. Enniskillen is the ...

, the daughter of Arthur Cathcart and Doreen Cathcart. Her parents owned a restaurant. She attended Enniskillen College, and trained for an acting career at

Royal Holloway Royal Holloway, University of London (RH), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public university, public research university and a constituent college, member institution of the federal University of London. It ...

Career

She was known for her appearances in ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

'', ''

New Tricks ''New Tricks'' is a British television police procedural comedy drama, created by Nigel McCrery and Roy Mitchell, produced primarily by Wall to Wall (until its final year, when it was handled by Headstrong Pictures), and broadcast on BBC On ...

'' and ''

Call the Midwife ''Call the Midwife'' is a British period drama television series about a group of nurse midwives working in the East End of London in the late 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. The principal cast of the show has included Jessica Raine, Miranda Hart, ...

'', in which she played Mrs Torpy. Cathcart also appeared in the TV programmes ''Lost Belongings'', ''

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 '' ...

'', ''Goodnight Sweetheart'', ''Come Fly with Me'''', '' ''Doctors'', ''

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 ...

'', ''Casualty'', ''Safe and Sound,'' and ''

Searching Searching may refer to: Music * " Searchin", a 1957 song originally performed by The Coasters * "Searching" (China Black song), a 1991 song by China Black * "Searchin" (CeCe Peniston song), a 1993 song by CeCe Peniston * " Searchin' (I Gott ...

.'' "I was cast for my cleavage for the first three years of my career," she told a newspaper in 1995. Cathcart's film appearances include ''Hotel Splendide'', '' Up on the Roof'' and in 1999 Maeve Murphy's ''Salvage''. She worked on some

radio dramas Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

, including ''Nun Climbs Tree'' in 1994, and ''The Law of Diminishing Returns'' in 2003. On stage, Cathcart appeared in ''

The Duchess of Malfi ''The Duchess of Malfi'' (originally published as ''The Tragedy of the Dutchesse of Malfy'') is a Jacobean revenge tragedy written by English dramatist John Webster in 1612–1613. It was first performed privately at the Blackfriars Theat ...

'' in Manchester in 1989, as a "luscious Beatrice" in ''

The Venetian Twins ''The Venetian Twins'' (, or "The two Venetian twins") is a 1747 play by Carlo Goldoni, based on Plautus's ''Menaechmi''. It was performed by Il Teatro Stabile of Genoa at the 1965 Edinburgh International Festival, directed by Luigi Squarzina ...

'' at Oxford in 1993, in

Brian Friel Brian Patrick Friel (c. 9 January 1929 – 2 October 2015) was an Irish dramatist, short story writer and founder of the Field Day Theatre Company. He had been considered one of the greatest living English-language dramatists. (subscription requ ...

's ''Aristocrats'' in 2000, in

Gary Mitchell Gary Mitchell (born 3 May 1965) is a Northern Irish playwright. By the 2000s, he had become "one of the most talked about voices in European theatre ... whose political thrillers have arguably made him Northern Ireland's greatest playwright". ...

's ''Loyal Women'' in 2003, and in ''

The Comedy of Errors ''The Comedy of Errors'' is one of William Shakespeare's early plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play ...

'' at the National Theatre, directed by

Dominic Cooke Dominic Cooke (born 1966) is an English director and writer. Early life Born in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, south London, Cooke was brought up seeing a lot of theatre as a teenager from free theatre tickets provided by the Inner London Ed ...

. Her last appearance onstage was in

Kathy Burke Katherine Lucy Bridget Burke (born 13 June 1964) is an English actress and comedian. She appeared in sketch shows such as '' French and Saunders'' (1988–1999), played a recurring role as Magda on the BBC sitcom '' Absolutely Fabulous'' (1992� ...

's production of Mary J O'Malley's ''

Once a Catholic ''Once a Catholic'' is a play by Mary O'Malley. ''Once a Catholic'' is a comedy first performed at The Royal Court Theatre in London in 1977, directed by Mike Ockrent. It concerns a retrospective view of the values of 1950s Catholic convent ...

'' at the

Tricycle Theatre The Kiln Theatre (formerly the Tricycle Theatre) is a theatre located in Kilburn, in the London Borough of Brent, England. Since 1980, the theatre has presented a wide range of plays reflecting the cultural diversity of the area, as well as n ...

, London in 2013.

Personal life

Cathcart had two daughters with actor John Marquez. She died at her home 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 ...

, on 4 September 2014, at the age of 48, from an

asthma attack Asthma is a common chronic (medicine), long-term inflammation, inflammatory disease of the bronchiole, airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible Airway obstruction, airflow obstruction, and easi ...

References

External links

* 1965 births 2014 deaths Film actresses from Northern Ireland Stage actresses from Northern Ireland Television actresses from Northern Ireland Actors from County Fermanagh Respiratory disease deaths in England Deaths from asthma {{authority control