Danielle Amy Harold (born 30 May 1992) is an English actress and producer. She rose to prominence playing Lola Pearce in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

soap opera ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

''. Her portrayal of Lola's

glioblastoma Glioblastoma, previously known as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), is the most aggressive and most common type of cancer that originates in the brain, and has a very poor prognosis for survival. Initial signs and symptoms of glioblastoma are nons ...

brain tumour A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign (non-cancero ...

storyline, that ultimately resulted in the character's death, earned her a win at the

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

for Serial Drama Performance and three nominations 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 (TV network), ITV. The trophies given to the winners are made from metal a ...

, of which she won

Best Leading Performer The British Soap Award for Best Leading Performer is an award presented annually by The British Soap Awards. The award was introduced to the ceremony in 2022, succeeding the categories for British Soap Award for Best Actress, Best Actress and B ...

, as well as a TRIC award for Soap Actor and the ''Inside Soap'' award for Best Actress. Following her exit from the soap, she became a contestant on the twenty-third series of '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!''.

Early life

Danielle Amy Harold was born on 30 May 1992 in

Lewisham Lewisham ( ) is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

. Before Harold's acting career began, she was featured in the television series '' Jamie's Dream School''. Harold got one

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

as she had lost a year of school due to an illness and missed out on being able to study for exams. On ''Jamie's Dream School'', she was seen as one of the brightest of the students, and was rewarded by

Jane Poynter Jane Poynter is an Citizenship of the United States, American aerospace executive, author and speaker. She is founder, co-CEO and CXO of Space Perspective, a luxury space travel company. She was co-founder and former CEO of World View Enterprises, ...

and

Robert Winston Robert Maurice Lipson Winston, Baron Winston (born 15 July 1940) is a British professor, medical doctor, scientist, television presenter and Labour peer. Early life Robert Winston was born in London to Laurence Winston and Ruth Winston-Fox, ...

with the chance to stay in the

biosphere The biosphere (), also called the ecosphere (), is the worldwide sum of all ecosystems. It can also be termed the zone of life on the Earth. The biosphere (which is technically a spherical shell) is virtually a closed system with regard to mat ...

which Poynter had lived in for two years. She was also given a tour of

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

David Starkey Dr. David Robert Starkey (born 3 January 1945) is a British historian, radio and television presenter, with views that he describes as conservative. The only child of Quaker parents, he attended Kirkbie Kendal School, Kendal Grammar School b ...

as he found her to be very intelligent and thought that it might be a good choice of university. However, she decided to study acting and auditioned for several roles.

Career

''EastEnders''

In June 2011, ''

'' producers announced that Harold had been cast as Lola Pearce, the granddaughter of established characters

Billy Mitchell William Lendrum Mitchell (December 29, 1879 – February 19, 1936) was a United States Army officer who had a major role in the creation of the United States Air Force. Mitchell served in France during World War I and, by the conflict's end, ...

(

Perry Fenwick Perry Fenwick (born 29 May 1962) is an English actor. He is known for portraying the role of Billy Mitchell in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', a role which he has played since 1998. Career Television Fenwick's first regular television rol ...

) and Julie Perkins ( Cathy Murphy). She made her first appearance in ''EastEnders'' on 12 July 2011. Harold's first major storyline involved her character's pregnancy at the age of 15. In July 2012, the character gave birth in a special live broadcast, coinciding with her on-screen grandfather carrying the

Olympic Torch The Olympic flame is a Olympic symbols, symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. The Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece, several months before the Olympic Games. This ceremony s ...

through

Walford Walford is a fictional borough of East London in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. It is the primary setting for the soap. ''EastEnders'' is filmed at Borehamwood in Hertfordshire, towards the north-west of London. Much of the location wor ...

. Harold is the first ''EastEnders'' actress to portray giving birth live on air, and the second British soap actress, after ''

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 ...

'' actress

Jennie McAlpine Jennie Elizabeth McAlpine (born 12 February 1984) is an English television actress, comedian and businesswoman. She is known for her roles as Michelle Morley in Emmerdale and Fiz Brown in the ITV (TV channel), ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street' ...

. In June 2015, it was announced that Harold would be leaving ''EastEnders'' later that year. In December 2018, it was announced that Harold would reprise her role of Lola Pearce. She returned to the series with her on-screen daughter, Lexi Pearce, in April 2019. Then in 2022, it was announced that Harold would be starring in a

brain cancer A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign (non-cance ...

storyline for Lola, which resulted in the character's death on 31 May 2023. After which, Harold continued to appear as Lola sporadically via the character's video diaries until 25 December 2023, and made further appearances via video footage on 20 June 2024 and 11 September 2024.

Other ventures

In November 2023, Harold appeared in an ''EastEnders'' special of ''

The Weakest Link ''Weakest Link'' (also known as ''The Weakest Link'') is a television game show which The Weakest Link (British game show), first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host ...

'' alongside several of her co-stars. The same month, she was announced as a contestant on the twenty-third series of '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!''. She was the fifth celebrity to be eliminated, finishing in sixth place. Harold is also set to participate in the sixth series of '' Celebrity Hunted'' in 2024, which she filmed in 2023 following her exit from ''EastEnders''.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harold, Danielle 1992 births 21st-century English actresses Actresses from London British Soap Award for Best Leading Performer winners English film actresses English soap opera actresses English television actresses Living people National Youth Theatre members Actors from the London Borough of Lewisham People from Lewisham