Julia Margaret Deakin (born 20 May 1952)Clarke, Gemma (5 September 2016)
"Grand Re-Opening of Gainsborough Heritage Centre"
''Gainsborough Heritage Association''. Retrieved 10 August 2021. is an English actress. She is known for her roles in the

sitcoms A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent setting, such as a home ...

'' So Haunt Me'' (1992–1994), '' Oh, Doctor Beeching!'' (1996–1997) and ''

Spaced ''Spaced'' is a British television sitcom created, written by and starring Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson, and directed by Edgar Wright, about the comedic, and sometimes surreal and action-packed, misadventures of Daisy Steiner and Tim Bi ...

'' (1999–2001). Her film appearances include ''

Hot Fuzz ''Hot Fuzz'' is a 2007 buddy cop action comedy film directed by Edgar Wright, who co-wrote the film with Simon Pegg. Pegg stars as Nicholas Angel, an elite London police officer, whose proficiency makes the rest of his team look bad, causing hi ...

'' (2007) and '' High-Rise'' (2015).

Early life

Deakin was born in Gainsborough,

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

, where her parents Wyn and Bill were shopkeepers. She attended Gainsborough High School for Girls (became part of Queen Elizabeth's High School in 1983), a girls'

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

. She started French and Drama teacher training near Manchester, then attended Mountview Theatre School.

Career

In theatre, she played Mrs. Sowerberry in Cameron Mackintosh’s large-scale West End revival of '' Oliver!'' at the

London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in Soho. The theatre was designed by Frank Matcham and opened in 1910. The auditorium holds 2,286 people. Hundreds of stars have played there, many wit ...

in 1994, and can be heard singing the song "That's Your Funeral" (with David Delve) on the cast recording. On television, Deakin played Stella Tulley in '' Side by Side'' and Marsha, the ageing divorcée landlady, in the sitcom ''

'' (1999). Deakin earlier appeared in the television sitcom '' Oh, Doctor Beeching!'' (1996–1997), where she played the role of May Skinner, replacing Sherrie Hewson from the original pilot. She has also made many single television appearances, including playing Jill, the receptionist from Pear Tree Productions, in one episode of the first series of '' I'm Alan Partridge'', a rural

dominatrix A dominatrix ( ; or dominatrices ), or domme, is a woman who takes the dominant role in BDSM activities. The BDSM practice is called female dominance, or femdom. A dominatrix can be of any sexual orientation, but this does not necessarily l ...

in '' Doc Martin'' as well as roles in ''

Midsomer Murders ''Midsomer Murders'' is a British Mystery fiction, mystery television series, adapted by Anthony Horowitz and Douglas Watkinson from the novels in the ''Chief Inspector Barnaby'' book series created by Caroline Graham (writer), Caroline Graham. ...

'' and ''

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 appeared in the sketch comedy series '' Big Train'' alongside fellow ''

'' cast members

Simon Pegg Simon John Pegg (; born 14 February 1970) is an English actor, comedian and screenwriter. He came to prominence in the UK as the co-creator of the Channel 4 sitcom ''Spaced'' (1999–2001), directed by Edgar Wright. He and Wright co-wrote the ...

and Mark Heap. She plays Dr. Jean in the ''Alan'' segments on '' Modern Toss''. She played Luella's mother, Genevieve Shakespeare in "The Envious Court", '' Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators'' S2:E9 (2019). She has appeared on radio, as Eva Tattle in '' The Maltby Collection''. She also guest starred in the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' audio drama '' Terror Firma'' for

Big Finish Productions Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and radio drama, audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on science fiction properties. These include ''Doctor Who'' ...

. And appeared in an episode of ''Agatha Raisin'' with Penelope Keith. She portrayed Daphne Andrews in ''

House of Anubis ''House of Anubis'' is a mystery television series developed for Nickelodeon based on the Dutch–Belgian television series '' Het Huis Anubis''. The series was created by Hans Bourlon and Gert Verhulst and premiered on Nickelodeon on 1 Jan ...

''. Her character left in series two.

Film

Deakin had a cameo in the feature film '' Shaun of the Dead'' (2004) and played the pub landlady Mary Porter in the film ''

'' (2007) by

and

Edgar Wright Edgar Howard Wright (born 18 April 1974) is an English filmmaker. He is known for his fast-paced and kinetic, satirical Film genre, genre films, which feature extensive utilisation of expressive popular music, Steadicam tracking shots, dolly zo ...

. In 2009 she was cast as Maggie, a

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 ...

mother in Ben Wheatley's

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

crime film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

'' Down Terrace''. She later appeared in

Ben Wheatley Ben Wheatley (born 1972) is an English filmmaker, film editor, and animator. Beginning his career in advertising, Wheatley first gained recognition and acclaim for his commercials and short films, before transitioning into feature films and tele ...

's 2015 cinema adaptation of '' High-Rise'' as Jean, the assistant to protagonist Dr. Laing.

Personal life

She is married to actor and author Michael Simkins.

Filmography

Television roles

Film roles

References

External links

*
More about her character in ''Spaced''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deakin, Julia 1952 births Actresses from Lincolnshire Alumni of the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts English television actresses Living people People educated at Queen Elizabeth's High School Actors from Gainsborough, Lincolnshire 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses