Katherine Lucy Bridget Burke (born 13 June 1964) is an English actress and comedian. She appeared in sketch shows such as '' French and Saunders'' (1988–1999), played a recurring role as Magda on 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 ...

sitcom '' Absolutely Fabulous'' (1992–2012), and performed frequent collaborations with fellow comedian

Harry Enfield Henry Richard Enfield (born 30 May 1961) is an English comedian. He is known in particular for his television work, including '' Harry Enfield's Television Programme'', '' Harry Enfield & Chums'' and '' Harry & Paul'', across which he created ...

. From 1999 to 2001, she starred as Linda La Hughes on the

sitcom '' Gimme Gimme Gimme'', for which she received a

British Comedy Award The National Comedy Awards (known as the British Comedy Awards from 1990 to 2014) is an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom, celebrating notable comedians and entertainment performances of the previous year. The British Comedy Awards (1 ...

and two

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

nominations. Burke made her film debut in the 1982 drama '' Scrubbers''. For her portrayal of Valerie in the 1997 film '' Nil by Mouth'', she won Best Actress at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

and was nominated for a

for

Best Actress in a Leading Role Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

. Her other film appearances include ''

Sid and Nancy ''Sid and Nancy'' (also known as ''Sid and Nancy: Love Kills'') is a 1986 British biographical film directed by Alex Cox, co-written with Abbe Wool, and starring Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb. The film portrays the life of Sid Vicious, bassist of ...

'' (1986), ''

Dancing at Lughnasa ''Dancing at Lughnasa'' is a 1990 play by dramatist Brian Friel set in County Donegal, Ireland in August 1936 in the fictional town of Ballybeg. It is a memory play told from the point of view of the adult Michael Evans, the narrator. He re ...

'' (1998), '' Elizabeth'' (1998), ''

This Year's Love This Year's Love may refer to: * This Year's Love (film), a 1999 British film * This Year's Love (song), a 1999 single by David Gray {{dab ...

'' (1999), '' Kevin & Perry Go Large'' (2000), '' The Martins'' (2001), '' Anita and Me'' (2002) and '' Once Upon a Time in the Midlands'' (2002). Having spent most of the 2000s concentrating on her work as a

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

, she returned to film roles in the 2010s with '' Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' (2011), '' Pan'' (2015) and '' Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie'' (2016). Starting from 2019, Burke fronted a series of documentaries for

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 ...

: ''Kathy Burke's All Woman'' (2019), ''Kathy Burke: Money Talks'' (2021) and ''Kathy Burke: Growing Up'' (2023).

Early life

Burke was born at the Royal Free Hospital, London, on 13 June 1964, and was brought up in

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

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 ...

, by her

Irish Catholic Irish Catholics () are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland, defined by their adherence to Catholic Christianity and their shared Irish ethnic, linguistic, and cultural heritage.The term distinguishes Catholics of Irish descent, particul ...

parents Paddy and Bridget. She has two elder brothers. Her mother, known as Bridie, died of cancer when Burke was two years old. She lived with her father, a builder who was an alcoholic, and attended the Maria Fidelis Convent School, a secondary school in Euston, until she was 16 years old. She then studied at the Anna Scher Theatre School in

Career

Burke's first role was in the 1982 film '' Scrubbers'', directed by Swedish actress Mai Zetterling and featuring Pam St. Clement,

Robbie Coltrane Anthony Robert McMillan (30 March 195014 October 2022), known professionally as Robbie Coltrane, was a Scottish actor. He gained worldwide recognition in the 2000s for playing Rubeus Hagrid in the ''Harry Potter'' film series. He was appointe ...

Miriam Margolyes Miriam Margolyes ( ; born 18 May 1941) is a British and Australian actress. Known for her work as a character actor across film, television, and stage, she received the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mrs. Mingott in Marti ...

, Honey Bane, Debby Bishop and

Eva Mottley Eva Henderson Mottley (24 October 1953 – 14 February 1985) was a Barbadian-born British actress. She played Bella O'Reilly in the television drama ''Widows'', and Corinne Tulser, wife of Denzil Tulser, in ''Only Fools and Horses''. Early ...

. The film was set in a

young offenders' institute In criminal justice systems, a youth detention center, known as a juvenile detention center (JDC),Stahl, Dean, Karen Kerchelich, and Ralph De Sola. ''Abbreviations Dictionary''. CRC Press, 20011202. Retrieved 23 August 2010. , . juvenile dete ...

for girls and was seen as a female version of the film '' Scum''. Burke appeared in a non-speaking role in a 1985

public information film Public information films (PIFs) are a series of government-commissioned short films, shown during television advertising breaks in the United Kingdom. The name is sometimes also applied, ''faute de mieux'', to similar films from other countries, ...

about

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...

addiction. The following year she appeared in a non-speaking role as 'witness in doorway' in an award-winning advert for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''s 'Points of View'. Burke first became familiar to television audiences as a player of minor roles in sketches by better-known performers such as

Dawn French Dawn Roma French (born 11 October 1957) is a British actress, comedian and writer. She is known for writing and starring on the BBC sketch comedy series '' French and Saunders'' (1987–2007) with her best friend and comedy partner Jennifer Sa ...

and

Jennifer Saunders Jennifer Jane Saunders (born 6 July 1958) is an English actress, comedian, singer, and screenwriter. Saunders originally found attention in the 1980s, when she became a member of The Comic Strip after graduating from the Royal Central School ...

. Early TV work included regular appearances on the chat show ''The Last Resort'' hosted by Jonathan Ross on UK Channel 4 in the mid-1980s, playing the characters 'Tina Bishop' and 'Perry the Pre-pubescent Schoolboy". Bishop was a continually pregnant "expert" offering advice on household chores, always with disastrous results. Both Perry and Tina (renamed "Waynetta Slob") later re-appeared as recurring sketch characters in Harry Enfield programmes. Along with French and Saunders, she has contributed to two

Comic Relief Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1986 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make t ...

charity singles. She first appeared as a member of

Bananarama Bananarama is an English pop group formed in London in 1980. The group, originally a trio, consisted of friends Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey, and Keren Woodward. Fahey left the group in 1988 and was replaced by Jacquie O'Sullivan until 1991, when ...

parody band Lananeeneenoonoo in 1989, and then as a member of

Spice Girls The Spice Girls are an English girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Mel B ("Scary Spice"), Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"), Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"), Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"), and Victoria Beckham ("Posh Spice"). They have sold over 10 ...

look-alike band the Sugar Lumps in 1997. In real life Burke was a big fan of

Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey ( ; born 22 May 1959), known :wikt:mononym, mononymously as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 198 ...

and appeared in the video for his 1989 single " Ouija Board, Ouija Board" and later in the 2002

documentary ''The Importance of Being Morrissey''. On the 7 November 2023 episode of her ''Where There's a Will There's a Wake'' podcast, with Dolly Alderton as her guest, Burke admitted "''We don't like Morrissey anymore...because he's a racist wanker''". Alderton shared Burke's disappointment with Morrissey's views with Burke adding "''We idolise these people...but then people are three-dimensional and you get to know what they really think about life and it's just always a disappointment.''" She became successful in her own right and although mainly associated with comedy, she has played several serious roles including that of Queen Mary Tudor in the film '' Elizabeth,'' which was released in 1998. In 1994 Burke was awarded the Royal Television Society Award for Best Actress, for her performance as the mute Martha in the 1993 BBC TV series ''Mr. Wroe's Virgins''. The series was directed by

Danny Boyle Daniel Francis Boyle (born 20 October 1956) is an English director and producer. He is known for his work on the films ''Shallow Grave (1994 film), Shallow Grave'' (1994), ''Trainspotting (film), Trainspotting'' (1996) and its sequel ''T2 Tra ...

and is based on Jane Rogers' book about John Wroe. Burke won the Best Actress award at the

1997 Cannes Film Festival The 50th Cannes Film Festival took place from 7 to 18 May 1997. French actress Isabelle Adjani served as jury president for the main competition. Jeanne Moreau hosted the opening and closing ceremonies. The Palme d'Or was jointly awarded to Iran ...

for her role in the gritty drama '' Nil by Mouth''. Burke was so convinced she would not win that she made no plans to attend the ceremony; when told shortly beforehand she had won, she found her passport was out of date. The film also earned her a

nomination for

. From 1999 to 2001 she appeared as Linda La Hughes in the BBC TV series '' Gimme Gimme Gimme'' (which she developed with writer Jonathan Harvey) where she was nominated for three

British Comedy Awards The National Comedy Awards (known as the British Comedy Awards from 1990 to 2014) is an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom, celebrating notable comedians and entertainment performances of the previous year. The British Comedy Awards (1 ...

(winning one), two BAFTA TV Awards and a

National Television Award The National Television Awards (often shortened to NTAs) is a British television awards ceremony, broadcast by the ITV network and begun in 1995. The National Television Awards are the most prominent ceremony for which the results are voted o ...

for her performance. In 2000, she appeared in the cult film '' Love Honour and Obey'' with Ray Burdis, and as Perry in the comedy film '' Kevin & Perry Go Large.'' In 2003, she was listed in ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. Beginning in 2001, she refrained from acting and began theatre directing; something she considers to be one of her true passions. She said in an interview with Dawn French in ''Dawn French's Girls Who Do Comedy'' that she no longer felt the same creative energy associated with acting that she used to have (she described it as a "feeling in my belly") and that this was the reason she had stopped acting. However, since then, she has done some voiceover work, including UK TV adverts for Ski yoghurt (2005) and the voice of Rita's mum in the animated film ''

Flushed Away ''Flushed Away'' is a 2006 animated adventure comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and Aardman Features. The film was directed by Sam Fell and David Bowers, from a screenplay by Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais, Chris Lloyd, Joe Keen ...

'' (2006). She also appeared in the 2007 Christmas Special of '' The Catherine Tate Show'' as Nan's daughter Diane. In February 1990, she wrote and directed ''Mr Thomas'' at the Old Red Lion Theatre. It was filmed and shown on

the next year. In 2007, Burke contracted Clostridioides difficile while in hospital for an operation, resulting in her having to pass directing duties on '' Dying for It'' at the

Almeida Theatre The Almeida Theatre is a 325-seat producing house located on Almeida Street off Upper Street in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre opened in 1980, and produces a diverse range of drama. Successful plays are often transferred to West E ...

(which starred

Charlie Condou Charlie Condou (born 8 January 1973) is a British actor, columnist and LGBT rights activist. Condou secured a series of television movie roles during his teenage years in the 1980s. He later had guest roles in British television series during the ...

and Sophie Stanton who she worked with on '' Gimme Gimme Gimme''). In 2009, Burke made her television directorial debut with the

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...

sketch show series '' Horne & Corden'', starring

Mathew Horne Mathew Frazer Horne (born 6 September 1978) is an English actor, comedian, singer, television presenter, and narrator. He is best known for appearing on several BBC Sketch comedy, sketch shows and sitcoms, most notably ''Gavin & Stacey'' (as L ...

and James Corden. Burke wrote and appeared as a nun in the short autobiographical film "Better Than Christmas" for Sky 1's '' Little Crackers'', a collection of comic shorts that aired in December 2010. On 19 January 2012, it was announced that Burke had written her first TV series; her short for ''Little Crackers'' had led to the four-part series "Walking and Talking", based on her teenage years. Burke appeared as a nun in each episode of the series, which aired in the summer of 2012 on

Sky Atlantic Sky Atlantic is a British pay television channel owned by Sky Group, Sky Group Limited that launched in 2011 and broadcasts in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel airs original British-produced dramas like ''Fortitude (TV series), F ...

. In 2011, Burke played Connie Sachs in the

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

of the novel '' Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy''. She was long-listed for a

nomination for her performance as Supporting Actress in 2012. Burke appeared in the 2015

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythical ...

prequel film '' Pan'', as Mother Barnabas. In November 2015, Burke presented the BBC topical news panel show '' Have I Got News for You''. In 2019, Burke starred in her own self-titled three-part documentary ''Kathy Burke's All Woman''. The programme aired on Channel 4 and focused on the stereotypes and expectations of modern women. Burke touched on subjects such as marriage, pregnancy and cosmetic surgery. In 2021, Burke appeared as a guest judge in series 3 of '' RuPaul's Drag Race UK''. Burke directed ITV's four-part murder mystery series '' Holding'', which premiered on 14 March 2022 and is based on

Graham Norton Graham William Walker (born 4 April 1963), known professionally as Graham Norton, is an Irish comedian, broadcaster, actor, and writer. He is a five-time BAFTA TV Award winner for the comedy chat show ''The Graham Norton Show'' (2007–present) ...

's novel of the same name. In 2022, Burke started a podcast called ''Where There's a Will, There's a Wake''. In the podcast Burke talks a guest through how the guest believes (or hopes) they will die and what they want to be done for their funeral. Notable guests have been

Emerald Fennell Emerald Lilly Fennell (; born 1 October 1985) is an English actress, filmmaker, and writer. She has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, and nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe ...

and

Steve McQueen Terrence Stephen McQueen (March 24, 1930November 7, 1980) was an American actor. His antihero persona, emphasized during the height of counterculture of the 1960s, 1960s counterculture, made him a top box office draw for his films of the late ...

. The podcast is produced by

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

. Burke's memoir, ''A Mind of My Own'', is scheduled to be published by

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

on 23 October 2025.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

As actress

As director

Podcasting

Awards

References

External links

KathyBurke.co.uk
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burke, Kathy 1964 births Living people English film actresses English people of Irish descent English stage actresses English voice actresses English television actresses English theatre directors English women television writers British women television directors British women theatre directors Actresses from London Actors from the London Borough of Islington English women comedians Comedians from the London Borough of Camden Comedians from the London Borough of Islington Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress winners Alumni of the Anna Scher Theatre School Actors from the London Borough of Camden 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses People from Hampstead Labour Party (UK) people People from Islington (district)