Kathryn Apanowicz ( ; 3 June 1960 – 3 March 2025) was a British actress and presenter.

Background

Apanowicz grew up in Horsforth, Leeds, with a brother, Stephen. Her father was a Polish RAF pilot in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. From 1994 to 2005, Apanowicz was the partner of '' Countdown'' host Richard Whiteley. Whiteley died on 26 June 2005, at the age of 61, after a failed emergency operation due to

endocarditis Endocarditis is an inflammation of the inner layer of the heart, the endocardium. It usually involves the heart valves. Other structures that may be involved include the interventricular septum, the chordae tendineae, the mural endocardium, o ...

. After his death, she published a biography of Whiteley titled ''Richard by Kathryn''. Apanowicz donated three pairs of Whiteley's spectacles to optical charity Vision Aid Overseas (VAO), who sent them with a team of optical professionals to

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

, where they were fitted to three locals with the same prescription. The BBC followed this story on their '' Inside Out'' programme which was broadcast on 19 September 2007. Apanowicz died on 3 March 2025, at the age of 64, after a long illness.

Acting career

Apanowicz first became involved with television at the age of eleven when she presented the junior-aimed programme Junior Showtime on ITV, before joining ''

Calendar A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A calendar date, date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is ...

'' and then turning to acting. Apanowicz was best known for her 1980s television appearances 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 operas ''

Angels An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

'', in which she played Nurse Rose Butchins, and ''

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 ...

'', in which she played the caterer Magda Czajkowski. She also had minor roles in ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British television soap opera that is broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a List of fictional towns and villages, fict ...

'' 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 ...

'', and, as a child, appeared in the film '' Bugsy Malone''. Before being cast in these shows, Apanowicz had worked in children's programmes for

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

with Mark Curry. In the early 1990s, she worked at cable channel Wire TV and launched the channel on 4 May 1992. She presented its talk-based magazine programme ''Afternoon Live''. In 2000, she enjoyed a regular stint as one of the presenters of ITV's daytime magazine show for women, '' Live Talk''. She was both a presenter for BBC Radio Leeds, and a guest presenter for BBC Radio York. Apanowicz became friends with Whiteley's ''Countdown'' co-host Carol Vorderman. In July 2008, Apanowicz made numerous appearances in the British media lambasting Channel 4 bosses for their refusal to negotiate an acceptable pay deal with Vorderman, which had resulted in her departure from the show.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Apanowicz, Kathryn 1960 births 2025 deaths 20th-century English actresses Actors from Horsforth Actresses from Bradford BBC radio presenters British soap opera actresses English people of Polish descent English television presenters English radio presenters Mass media people from Bradford People educated at St. Joseph's Catholic College, Bradford Television personalities from West Yorkshire