Jacqueline Leonard is an English actress. She is known for her various roles in British soap operas, including Lorraine Wicks 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 ''

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 ...

'', Caroline Powers in the

medical soap ''

Doctors Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

'', Lydia Murdoch in the Scottish soap ''

River City ''River City'' is a Scottish television soap opera created by Stephen Greenhorn which has been broadcast on BBC One Scotland since September 2002. Since 2019, the show has aired episodes a day earlier on the new BBC Scotland channel. Set in ...

'' and Linda Hancock in the ITV soap ''

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 ...

''. She also appeared in the ITV medical drama ''

Peak Practice ''Peak Practice'' is a British drama series about a GP surgery in Cardale — a small fictional town in the Derbyshire Peak District — and the doctors who worked there. It originally starred Kevin Whately as Dr Jack Kerruish, Amanda Burton ...

''.

Early life

She grew up near

Bathgate Bathgate ( or , ) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, west of Livingston, Scotland, Livingston and adjacent to the M8 motorway (Scotland), M8 motorway. Nearby towns are Linlithgow, Livingston, and West Calder. A number of villages fall under ...

and

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

. Leonard trained at the

London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) is a drama school located in Hammersmith, London. Founded in 1861, it is the oldest specialist drama school in the British Isles and a founding member of the Federation of Drama Schools. In ...

and was the winner of the Michael Warre Award for Best Actress in 1988.

Career

Leonard has been appearing on British television since the early 1990s. She has had roles in ''

May to December ''May to December'' is a British sitcom which ran for 39 episodes, from 2 April 1989 to 27 May 1994 on BBC1. The series was created by Paul Mendelson and produced by Cinema Verity. Set in Pinner, Greater London, it revolved around the romanc ...

'' in 1992, ''A Time to Dance'' in 1992, ''

Inspector Morse Endeavour Morse, GM, is the namesake character of the series of "Morse" detective novels by British author Colin Dexter, a Detective Chief Inspector in the Thames Valley Police in Oxford, England. On television he was portrayed by John ...

'' in 1993 and ''

'' 1993 to 1996, where she played Sarah Preston for four series. Following this, she was cast as Lorraine Wicks in the

soap opera ''

'', a role she played from 1996 to 1997. She took a year off work when she left ''EastEnders'' to move from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

and care for her sick mother. Leonard was then cast in the BBC medical soap opera ''

'', where she played one of the original characters, Caroline Powers, from 2000 to 2001. She then appeared in various other series including ''Nice Guy Eddie'' (2002), ''

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 '' ...

'' (2003), ''

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 ...

'' (2004), ''The Courtroom'' (2004), ''

Goldplated ''Goldplated'' is an eight-part drama series from World Productions which made its debut on Channel 4 on Wednesday 18 October 2006 at 10.00pm. It was created by Jimmy Gardner. It follows self-made businessman John White (played by David Schofie ...

'' (2006) ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which originally began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside (TV series), Brookside''. From 2005 to 2023, episodes h ...

'' (2007) and ''

'' (2010). In 2007, Leonard joined the cast of the

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...

soap opera ''

'' playing Lydia Murdoch. She quit the role in 2010, before reprising it in 2017. Producers killed off her character in 2019, but in 2022, she reprised the role, with her return being explained as Lydia having faked her death. In 2011, Leonard auditioned and was shortlisted for the role of

Stella Price Stella Price is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'', played by Michelle Collins. Collins' casting was announced in April 2011 and she began filming her scenes in May. The actress commuted from north Lond ...

in ''

'' but lost out to former ''

'' actress

Michelle Collins Michelle Danielle Collins (born 28 May 1962) is a British actress. She is known for her role as Cindy Beale in the BBC soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (r ...

. In 2014, it was announced that she was joining ''Coronation Street'' as Linda Hancock, the ex-wife of established character

Owen Armstrong Owen Armstrong is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'', played by Ian Puleston-Davies. He made his first on-screen appearance on 9 June 2010 and left the show on 15 April 2015. During his time on the sho ...

and mother of Katie Armstrong and

Izzy Armstrong Izzy Armstrong is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'', played by Cherylee Houston. The character first appears on-screen on 16 April 2010; she is introduced as a new love interest for Kirk Sutherland ( ...

. She appeared in 2015, but reprised the role from 2022 to 2023. Her film credits include ''

Chaplin Chaplin may refer to: People * Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977), English comedy film actor and director * Chaplin (name), other people named Chaplin Films * ''Unknown Chaplin'' (1983) * Chaplin (film), ''Chaplin'' (film) (1992) * Chaplin (2011 fi ...

'' (1992), '' ID'' (1995), ''

There's Only One Jimmy Grimble ''There's Only One Jimmy Grimble'', also known as ''Jimmy Grimble'', is a 2000 British sports comedy drama film directed by John Hay, starring Robert Carlyle, Ray Winstone, Lewis McKenzie, Gina McKee, Ben Miller and Samia Ghadie. Set in Gr ...

'' (1999) and '' The Wicker Tree'' (2011). On stage she has appeared in ''

Look Back in Anger ''Look Back in Anger'' (1956) is a realist play written by John Osborne. It focuses on the life and marital struggles of an intelligent and educated but disaffected young man of working-class origin, Jimmy Porter, and his equally competent yet i ...

'', ''

The Taming of the Shrew ''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunke ...

'', ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...

'', ''

A Clockwork Orange ''A Clockwork Orange'' may refer to: * ''A Clockwork Orange'' (novel), a 1962 novel by Anthony Burgess ** ''A Clockwork Orange'' (film), a 1971 film directed by Stanley Kubrick based on the novel *** ''A Clockwork Orange'' (soundtrack), the film ...

'', ''

Wuthering Heights ''Wuthering Heights'' is the only novel by the English author Emily Brontë, initially published in 1847 under her pen name "Ellis Bell". It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moors, the Earnshaws and the ...

'' and ''Behind the Green Curtain''.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leonard, Jacqueline Alumni of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art English television actresses English film actresses English stage actresses English actresses English soap opera actresses Living people Date of birth missing (living people) Actresses from Blackpool Year of birth missing (living people)