Julia Hills (born 3 April 1957) is an English actress, known for portraying the role of Rona in all eight series of the BBC sitcom ''

2point4 Children ''2point4 Children'' is a BBC Television sitcom that was created and written by Andrew Marshall. It follows the lives of the Porters, a seemingly average, working-class London family whose world is frequently turned upside-down by bad luck and ...

''. She also portrayed various roles in Channel 4's first late night satirical sketch show '' Who Dares Wins'', Beryl in two series of the sitcom ''

Dad A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...

'' and Caroline Joyner in '' Casualty''.

Early life and career

Hills was born in Nottingham and is a former member of the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

where she played many leading roles including Sally Forth in the premiere of Peter Nichols' musical '' Poppy''. Perdita in '' The Winter's Tale'' and Diana in ''

All's Well That Ends Well ''All's Well That Ends Well'' is a play by William Shakespeare, published in the ''First Folio'' in 1623, where it is listed among the comedies. There is a debate regarding the dating of the composition of the play, with possible dates rangin ...

'' directed by Trevor Nunn. She also played Edwin Drood in the New York Shakespeare Theatre production of '' The Mystery of Edwin Drood'' at the Savoy Theatre in 1987 working with Lulu and Ernie Wise. She went to Walton high school, Stafford, Staffordshire.

Theatre work

Hills was nominated for an Olivier Award (Actress of the Year in a Musical) in 1984 for her performance as Emily Tallentire in

Howard Goodall Howard Lindsay Goodall (; born 26 May 1958) is an English composer of musicals, choral music and music for television. He also presents music-based programmes for television and radio, for which he has won many awards. In May 2008, he was na ...

and

Melvyn Bragg Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg, (born 6 October 1939), is an English broadcaster, author and parliamentarian. He is best known for his work with ITV as editor and presenter of ''The South Bank Show'' (1978–2010), and for the BBC Radio 4 documenta ...

's musical '' The Hired Man''. Other theatre credits include Eve in ''Flying Under Bridges'' by Sandi Toksvig adapted by Sarah Daniels (Watford Palace Theatre), Betty in ''Larkin with Women'' ( Coventry Belgrade), Vera in '' Stepping Out'' (New Vic Theatre Stoke), ''The Hired Man'' (Leicester Haymarket and West End), ''

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

'' (RSC Stratford and Barbican) Rusty in ''Our Friends in the North'' by Peter Flannery (RSC Newcastle and Barbican), ''The Witch of Edmonton'' (RSC Stratford), ''Beside Herself'' by Sarah Daniels (Royal Court), ''We The Undersigned'', ''Dealing With Clair'' by Martin Crimp (Orange Tree Richmond), Toine in ''Piaf'', ''Beauty and the Beast'', ''Guys and Dolls'', '' The Tempest'', Sylvia Raven in

Shaw Shaw may refer to: Places Australia *Shaw, Queensland Canada *Shaw Street, a street in Toronto England *Shaw, Berkshire, a village *Shaw, Greater Manchester, a location in the parish of Shaw and Crompton *Shaw, Swindon, a List of United Kingdom ...

's''

The Philanderer ''The Philanderer'' is a play by George Bernard Shaw. It was written in 1893 but the strict British censorship laws at the time meant that it was not produced on stage until 1902. It is one of the three plays Shaw published as ''Plays Unpleasa ...

'', ''Beside The Sea'', Susannah in

Alan Ayckbourn Sir Alan Ayckbourn (born 12 April 1939) is a prolific British playwright and director. He has written and produced as of 2021, more than eighty full-length plays in Scarborough and London and was, between 1972 and 2009, the artistic director of ...

's ''

Bedroom Farce A bedroom farce or sex farce is a type of light comedy, which centres on the sexual pairings and recombinations of characters as they move through improbable plots and slamming doors. Overview The most famous bedroom farceur is probably George ...

'', ''A Mad World my Masters'', Dorcas Frey in

David Hare David Hare may refer to: *David Hare (philanthropist) (1775–1842), Scottish philanthropist *David Hare (artist) (1917–1992), American sculptor and photographer *David Hare (playwright) (born 1947), English playwright and theatre and film direc ...

's ''

Plenty Plenty may refer to: Places * Plenty, Victoria, a town in Australia * Plenty River (Victoria), a river in the Australian state of Victoria *Plenty River (Northern Territory), a river in the Northern Territory of Australia * Plenty, Tasmania, a sma ...

'' ( Bristol Old Vic), ''

'' (Bristol Old Vic and London Old Vic), Brecht's '' Mr Puntila and his Man Matti'', ''Does This Train Stop at Southend?'' (Stratford East), Bunty Mainwaring in Coward's '' The Vortex'', ''Shore Saints and Sea Devils'' (Library Theatre Manchester), ''Fertility Dance'' (Nuffield Southampton), ''Jack and the Beanstalk'' (York Theatre Royal) and two national tours of ''Who Dares Wins – Sex and Drugs and Sausage Roll''. From February 2009 she took part in a nationwide tour of '' Calendar Girls'' before it moved to the Noël Coward Theatre from 3 April 2009. In recent years, she has appeared as Mrs Eynsford-Hill in '' Pygmalion'' at Manchester's Royal Exchange theatre and rejoined the tour of ''Calendar Girls'' to play the role of Annie. She played Amy Ruskin in ''Special Occasions'' at The Mill Theatre Sonning playing opposite her husband Paul Clarkson and then played Homily Clock in '' The Borrowers'' at The Nuffield Theatre Southampton. She completed sell out seasons at Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory in Bristol garnering five star reviews for her performances as Goneril in '' King Lear'' and Madame Ranevskaya in '' The Cherry Orchard'' both directed by Andrew Hilton and then moved to the Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham where she performed in Tennessee Williams' '' The Glass Menagerie'' playing Amanda Wingfield. She has played the part of Kath in '' Entertaining Mr Sloane'' by

Joe Orton John Kingsley Orton (1 January 1933 – 9 August 1967), known by the pen name of Joe Orton, was an English playwright, author, and diarist. His public career, from 1964 until his death in 1967, was short but highly influential. During this brie ...

at Curve Leicester and Toine in '' Piaf'' directed by Paul Kerryson. She has played Margaret in ''Springs Eternal'' by

Susan Glaspell Susan Keating Glaspell (July 1, 1876 – July 28, 1948) was an American playwright, novelist, journalist and actress. With her husband George Cram Cook, she founded the Provincetown Players, the first modern American theatre company. First known ...

at The Orange Tree Theatre Richmond directed by Sam Walters and ''Worst Wedding Ever'' by Chris Chibnall at the Salisbury Playhouse. In 2019, she created the role of Dolly Bantry for the first-ever English stage adaptation of Agatha Christie's '' The Mirror Crack'd'' for Wales Millennium Centre directed by

Melly Still Melly Still (born 22 August 1962) is a British stage director, designer and choreographer. Still's first professional theatre job was assistant to the choreographer of ''James and the Giant Peach'' at Ray DaSilva's Norwich Puppet Theatre in 1 ...

which toured in the UK and Ireland.

Television work

Hills has appeared in many TV shows, such as in ''

'' in which she played Rona for the show's 8 series run on BBC1 (1991–1999). She also starred as all of the women and even some of the male characters in the Channel 4 comedy series '' Who Dares Wins'' (1984–88). She has appeared as Caroline Joyner in hospital drama '' Casualty'' (2004–2005), and previously in the series as Carol Simpson for one 1993 episode. She also starred in ''Ladies in Charge'' for 6 episodes in 1986 and shared a leading role with Kevin McNally in BBC sitcom ''

'' as Beryl Hook for 13 episodes (1997–1999) over 2 series. ''

'' was written by Andrew Marshall who also created ''

''. She has also appeared as herself on '' The Good Sex Guide'' in 1993 and '' The Alan Titchmarsh Show'' in 2009. Hills is also known for playing Annabelle Shrivener in '' The Archers'' as well as appearing in numerous other radio series and plays. Her films include ''Homeground'' (1982). In February 2022, she portrayed the role of Susan Rutherford in the BBC soap opera '' Doctors''.

Personal life

Hills is married to actor and director Paul Clarkson, who played John Tallentire in ''The Hired Man''. The couple have three children; including actor Stewart Clarke and comedian Abi Clarke.

Filmography

Television

*''The Lost Tribe'' (1980) *''Goodbye Days'' (1984) *'' Who Dares Wins'' (1984–1988) *''

Storyboard A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding process, i ...

'' (1985) *'' The Lenny Henry Show'' (1985) *''

Ladies in Charge ''Ladies in Charge'' is a British television series which originally aired on ITV in 1986.Maxford p.540 It followed on from a pilot episode that appeared on the ''Storyboard'' anthology series in 1985. Returning from the First World War where th ...

'' (1986) *''The Refuge'' (1987) *''The Bretts'' (1988) *'' Boon'' (1990) *'' The Upper Hand'' (1991) *''

Haggard Haggard may refer to an adjective reflecting exhaustion or poverty. Haggard may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Haggard (band), a German symphonic metal group * ''Haggard'' (TV series), a British comedy television series * '' Ha ...

'' (1992) *''

(1991–1999)'' *''

'' (1997–1999) *'' Peak Practice'' (2000) *'' Doctors'' (2002) *'' Murphy's Law'' (2003) *''

Trevor's World of Sport ''Trevor's World of Sport'' began as a 2003 BBC television sitcom written and directed by Andy Hamilton and starring Neil Pearson as Trevor. One series of the television series was made, followed by three series which were aired on BBC Radio 4 ...

'' (2003) *''Star'' (2003) *'' Murder in Suburbia'' (2004) *''Wipe Out'' (2004) *'' Casualty'' (1993, 2004–5) *''All in the Game'' (2006) *''Doctors'' (2010) *'' Outnumbered'' (2010) *''

Boomers Baby boomers, often shortened to boomers, are the Western demographic cohort following the Silent Generation and preceding Generation X. The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964, during the mid-20th century baby boom. The ...

'' (2016) *''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British 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 Ea ...

'' (2018) *''Doctors'' (2022)

Radio

*''Falco'' *''Revolting People'' *''Julie and the Prince'' *''Earth Song'' *''It Started With a Click'' *''Dealing With Clair'' *''The Culper Tapes'' *''Saturday Night Fry'' *''The Rainbow Bridge'' *''Gilbert Without Sullivan'' *''The Lost Child'' *''The Walsall Boys'' *''Book at Bedtime'' *''Our Man in Havana'' *''Life Death and Sex with Sue and Mike'' *'' The Long Hot Satsuma''

References

External links

*
Julia Hills' website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hills, Julia English television actresses Actors from Nottingham 1957 births Living people Actresses from Nottinghamshire English stage actresses English musical theatre actresses English radio actresses