Alison Rosalind Bracknell (12 July 1964 – 15 September 2019), known professionally as Leah Bracknell, was an English actress who played the role of Zoe Tate in the ITV soap opera ''

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 ...

'' (1989–2005), for which she was nominated for the 2002 National Television Award for Most Popular Actress and won the 2006 British Soap Award for Best Exit. She was also a qualified teacher with the British School of Yoga and designed and produced a jewellery line.

Early life

Born in

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

, London, Bracknell was the daughter of English television director David Ian Bracknell (1932–1987) and Chinese-Malaysian actress Li-Er Hwang. Her parents met while filming '' The World of Suzie Wong'' in Hong Kong in 1959. David was an assistant director and Li-Er played the part of "Wednesday Lu" in the film. The adopted name "Leah" is an anglicization of her mother's name "Li-Er". Bracknell grew up in London and

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

and spent a year in New Zealand and

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

Career

Bracknell first appeared on the TV series ''The Chiffy Kids'' in 1976, which was directed by her father, David. Within two years of leaving the

Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art The Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, formerly the Webber Douglas School of Singing and Dramatic Art, was a drama school, and originally a singing school, in London. It was one of the leading drama schools in Britain, and offered comprehen ...

she was cast in the

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the ITV (TV network), Channel 3 ...

soap opera ''

'' playing the role of vet and land owner Zoe Tate. She appeared in the programme for 16 years (with breaks, including two spells of maternity leave) until leaving the series in 2005. She was initially due to leave the series for only nine months, but did not return. The character was the first lesbian in a British soap and at the time was one of the longest-featured gay characters on television. After leaving ''Emmerdale'', she returned to the theatre and appeared as Mrs Manningham in ''Gaslight'' and ''Strangers on a Train''. In 2008, she joined the touring Theatreworks production of '' Turn of the Screw'' to play the lead role, that of the governess. She also appeared in the TV dramas '' Judge John Deed'', '' Casualty 1907'' and in the daytime soap '' Doctors''. In June 2007, she joined the cast of ITV1 daytime soap '' The Royal Today'' as Matron Jenny Carrington. Bracknell won the 'Best Exit' award at the

British Soap Awards The British Soap Awards (BSAs) are an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom which honours the best moments in British soap operas. The ceremony is televised on ITV (TV network), ITV. The trophies given to the winners are made from metal a ...

in May 2006 for her exit from the role of Zoe Tate. In 2002, she was nominated for 'Most Popular Actress' at the

National Television Awards 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 ...

and "Best Dramatic Performance" at the British Soap Awards.

Personal life

Bracknell had two children, and lived her final years in

Worthing Worthing ( ) is a seaside town and borough in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 113,094 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Br ...

, Sussex. She taught

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique to train attention and awareness and detach from reflexive, "discursive thinking", achieving a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state, while not judging the meditat ...

and

yoga Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...

in Baildon, Bradford, after leaving ''Emmerdale''. In October 2016, Bracknell announced she had been diagnosed with stage IV terminal

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

. A fundraising appeal to pay for experimental treatment in Germany reached its target of £50,000 within three days. She appeared on '' This Morning'' and '' Loose Women'' to talk about her cancer and determination to fight it. She married her longtime partner Jez Hughes in 2017. In August 2019, Bracknell said she was in an immunotherapy clinical trial. She died on 15 September 2019 at the age of 55, which was announced on 16 October.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bracknell, Leah 1964 births 2019 deaths 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses Alumni of the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art British expatriate actresses in New Zealand Deaths from lung cancer in England English child actresses English expatriates in Fiji English expatriates in New Zealand English people of Chinese descent English people of Malaysian descent English soap opera actresses English stage actresses English television actresses Actresses from London People from Westminster British yoga teachers Actors from the City of Westminster