Kate Hardie (born Kate Louise Oddie; 26 April 1968) is an English actress. She is best known for her roles in '' The Krays'', ''

Mona Lisa The ''Mona Lisa'' is a half-length portrait painting by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described as "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, ...

'' and the 2016

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

original series ''

National Treasure A national treasure is a structure, artifact, object or cultural work that is officially or popularly recognized as having particular value to the nation, or representing the ideals of the nation. The term has also been applied to individuals or ...

''. Hardie's

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

is derived from those of both her parents: Jean Hart and

Bill Oddie William Edgar Oddie (born 7 July 1941) is an English actor, artist, birder, comedian, conservationist, musician, songwriter, television presenter and writer. He was a member of comedy trio The Goodies. A birder since his childhood in Quinton ...

Career

With no formal training, she auditioned for her first role, in the 1983 film '' Runners'' (written by

Stephen Poliakoff Stephen Poliakoff (born 1 December 1952) is a British playwright, Film director, director and screenwriter. In 2006 Gerard Gilbert of ''The Independent'' described him as the UK's "pre-eminent TV dramatist" and that he had "inherited Dennis Po ...

and directed by

Charles Sturridge Charles B. G. Sturridge (born 24 June 1951) is an English director and screenwriter. He is the recipient of a BAFTA Children's Award and four BAFTA TV Awards. He has also been nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards. Early life and educat ...

), at the age of 14, telling her parents she had done so only when she had the part. She went on to appear in numerous films, including ''

Revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

'' (1985),

Neil Jordan Neil Patrick Jordan (born 25 February 1950) is an Irish filmmaker and writer. He first achieved recognition for his short story collection, ''Night in Tunisia (short story collection), Night in Tunisia,'' which won the Guardian Fiction Prize in ...

's ''

'' (1986), ''

Cry Freedom ''Cry Freedom'' is a 1987 epic biographical drama film directed and produced by Richard Attenborough, set in late-1970s apartheid-era South Africa. The screenplay was written by John Briley based on a pair of books by journalist Donald Woods. ...

'' (1987), '' Tree of Hands'' (1989), '' The Krays'' (1990), '' Jack and Sarah'' (1995), ''

Croupier A croupier or dealer is someone appointed at a gambling table to assist in the conduct of the game, especially in the distribution of bets and payouts. Croupiers are typically employed by casinos. Origin of the word Originally a "croupier" mean ...

'' (1998) and ''

I Am Dina ''I Am Dina'' is a 2002 Norway, Norwegian-Sweden, Swedish-Denmark, Danish film directed by Ole Bornedal. It is based on the 1989 book ''Dinas bok'' (''Dina's Book'') by Herbjørg Wassmo. It was one of the most high-profile films in Norway, Nor ...

'' (2002). On television her roles include the episode "The Man Upstairs" (1988) of '' The Ray Bradbury Theatre'', ''Thin Air'', ''The Men's Room, Safe'' in which she was nominated for the

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

Best TV performer, and ''Beyond Reason''. She spent five months in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

before returning to the UK to play the student nurse Karen O'Malley 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 ...

drama series ''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

''. In 1998, she starred in ''

''. In 2006, she graduated in screen writing at the National Film and Television School. She wrote the short film ''King of London'' during her time there. She subsequently wrote two plays in

's ''Coming Up'' series, ''Imprints'' (2007) and ''Little Bill Um'' (2008), the latter also being her directorial debut. In 2009, she appeared in the BBC drama ''

Criminal Justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...

''. In 2011, she wrote and directed a short film called ''Shoot Me'' starring Claire Skinner and Paul Andrew Williams, and produced by Rankin.

Personal life

Hardie left school and home in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames and the City of London. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshi ...

, to live with a boy when she was 14. She later lived with the actor

Dorian Healy ''Soldier Soldier'' is a British television drama series. Created by Lucy Gannon, produced by Central Television and broadcast on the ITV network, it ran for a total of seven series and 82 episodes from 10 June 1991 to 9 December 1997. It fe ...

for six years. She met the

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...

and fashion photographer Rankin (John Rankin Waddell) on a photo shoot, and married him in 1995. After their son was born, she moved in with a fellow actor,

David Thewlis David Wheeler (born 20 March 1963), better known as David Thewlis (), is an English actor and filmmaker. He has appeared in a variety of genres in both film and television. He has received the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor and nomin ...

, and divorced Rankin in 1998. Her relationship with Thewlis subsequently ended.

References

External links

*
Interview
1968 births Living people 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses Actresses from London Alumni of the National Film and Television School English dramatists and playwrights English film actresses English television actresses Actors from the London Borough of Camden People from Hampstead {{England-actor-stub