Lesley Sharp (born 3 April 1960) is an English actress, She was nominated for the

BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role Best Actress in a Supporting Role is a British Academy Film Awards, British Academy Film Award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding supporting perfo ...

for her part in the film ''

The Full Monty ''The Full Monty'' is a 1997 comedy film directed by Peter Cattaneo, starring Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy, William Snape, Steve Huison, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Barber and Hugo Speer. The screenplay was written by Simon Beaufoy. The film is set ...

'' (1997), and for the

British Academy Television Award for Best Actress This is a list of the British Academy Television Awards for Best Actress. The British Academy Television Awards began in 1955. The Best Actress award was initially given as an "individual honour", without credit to a particular performance, until ...

in 2002 for her role in '' Bob & Rose'' (2001). Her credits include '' Rita, Sue and Bob Too'' (1987), '' The Rachel Papers'' (1989), ''

Naked Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. While estimates vary, for the first 90,000 years of pre-history, anatomically modern humans were naked, having lost their body hair, living in hospitable climates, and not ...

'' (1993), ''

Priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

'' (1994), ''

The Moonstone ''The Moonstone: A Romance'' by Wilkie Collins is an 1868 British epistolary novel. It is an early example of the modern detective novel, and established many of the ground rules of the modern genre. Its publication was started on 4 January 18 ...

'' (1996), ''

Great Expectations ''Great Expectations'' is the thirteenth novel by English author Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. The novel is a bildungsroman and depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip. It is Dickens' second novel, after ''Dav ...

'' (1999), '' Daylight Robbery'' (1999), '' Clocking Off'' (2000–2001), '' From Hell'' (2001), ''

Vera Drake ''Vera Drake'' is a 2004 British period drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh and starring Imelda Staunton, Phil Davis, Daniel Mays and Eddie Marsan. It tells the story of a working-class woman in London in 1950 who performs illegal ...

'' (2004), ''

Afterlife The afterlife or life after death is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's Stream of consciousness (psychology), stream of consciousness or Personal identity, identity continues to exist after the death of their ...

'' (2005–2006), '' Scott & Bailey'' (2011-2016), ''This Cop Life'' (2022), and ''The Full Monty'' (TV series) (2023).

Early life

Sharp was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

to Elsie Makinson and Norman Patient, a married tram driver. She was adopted at six weeks old. Her adoptive father, Jack, was a tax inspector, and she grew up in Merseyside. Sharp has stated that she started acting because, as a child, she felt "invisible" and did not "quite fit in". She has said that her inspiration to act came from watching Dick Emery on television.Billen, Andrew
"Lesley Sharp shows she's married to the job in The Children"
''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 30 August 2008 (Retrieved: 21 July 2009) Sharp attended the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music school, music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz al ...

in the class of 1982.

Career

Sharp's screen debut was in Alan Clarke's '' Rita, Sue and Bob Too'' (1986), playing Bob's wife, Michelle. Further film appearances included supporting roles in '' The Rachel Papers'' (1989), and

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 ...

's '' Close My Eyes'', with

Clive Owen Clive Owen (born 3 October 1964) is an English actor. He first gained recognition in the United Kingdom for playing the lead role in the ITV series '' Chancer'' from 1990 to 1991. He received critical acclaim for his work in the film '' Close ...

and

Alan Rickman Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (21 February 1946 – 14 January 2016) was an English actor and director. Known for his distinctive deep, wikt:languid#Etymology 1, languid voice, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and b ...

. Sharp starred in

Mike Leigh Mike Leigh (born 20 February 1943) is an English screenwriter, producer, director and former actor with a film, theatre, and television career spanning more than 60 years. His accolades include prizes at the Cannes Film Festival, the Berlin In ...

's ''

'' (1993), and the

Jimmy McGovern James Stanley McGovern (born September 1949) is an English screenwriter and producer. He is best known for creating the drama series '' Cracker'' (1993–1995), for which he received two Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America. He als ...

-penned ''

'' (1994). She made appearances in '' Prime Suspect 4: The Lost Child'' (1995), and ''

'' (1997). She was offered lead roles in '' Common As Muck'' (1997), followed by '' Playing the Field'' (1998–2002), a drama about a female football team which ran for five series. Sharp had supporting parts in ''

'' (1999), as Mrs Joe, and in ''Nature Boy'' (2000), as Martha Tyler, before landing the role of Trudy Graham in Paul Abbott's

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 ...

-award-winning '' Clocking Off'' (2000–2003), Russell T. Davies then cast her opposite Alan Davies in '' Bob & Rose'', which resulted in a

nomination in 2002. Further film roles in '' From Hell'', starring

Johnny Depp John Christopher Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Johnny Depp, multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for ...

, and ''Cheeky'' (1993), which was directed by ''Naked'' co-star David Thewlis, preceded another television drama written by Russell T. Davies. She starred in '' The Second Coming'' (2003). Sharp again worked with Mike Leigh in ''

'' (2004), which was followed by the television drama ''Planespotting'', The same year, she played the clairvoyant lead role of Alison Mundy opposite Andrew Lincoln's sceptical Robert Bridge in ITV's supernatural drama series ''

''. After a ten-year break from stagework, in October 2005 Sharp returned to the theatre as Emma in

Sam Shepard Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American playwright, actor, director, screenwriter, and author whose career spanned half a century. He wrote 58 plays as well as several books of short stories, essays, ...

's '' The God of Hell'' at the

Donmar Warehouse The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit Off-West End theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage, Josie Rourke and Michael Longhurst have all served as artistic direc ...

. In 2008, she starred in the three-part

Lucy Gannon Lucy Gannon, MBE (born 1948) is a British playwright, television writer, and producer. She is best known for creating series such as ''Soldier Soldier'', ''Bramwell (TV series), Bramwell'', and ''Peak Practice''. Early life Gannon was born to a m ...

-penned drama '' The Children''. Later in 2008, she worked with Russell T. Davies for a third time when she played Sky Silvestry in the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' episode "

Midnight Midnight is the transition time from one day to the next – the moment when the date changes, on the local official clock time for any particular jurisdiction. By clock time, midnight is the opposite of noon, differing from it by 12 hours. ...

". Davies later tipped Sharp to become the first woman to play the Doctor.Wallis, Sara
"Writer Russell T. Davies backs Lesley Sharp to be first female Doctor Who"
'' Daily Record'', 19 December 2008 (Retrieved: 21 July 2009) In early 2009 Sharp played Petronella van Daan in the BBC's new version of '' The Diary of Anne Frank''. She subsequently played

Paddy Considine Patrick George Considine (born 5 September 1973) is an English actor, director, screenwriter and musician. He is known for playing antiheros in independent films. He has received two British Academy Film Awards, three Evening Standard British ...

's wife in

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 ...

's acclaimed drama series '' Red Riding''. Sharp starred in a 2009 revival of ''

The Rise and Fall of Little Voice ''The Rise and Fall of Little Voice'' is a 1992 play written by English dramatist Jim Cartwright. Production history Sam Mendes directed the first production at the Royal National Theatre that transferred to the Aldwych Theatre in London's ...

'' at the Vaudeville Theatre with Marc Warren and

Diana Vickers Diana Vickers (born 30 July 1991) is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She was a semi-finalist on ''The X Factor (British series 5), The X Factor'' in 2008, finishing in fourth place. Vickers signed a record deal with RCA Records and, ...

, which ran from October to the following January. Between 2011 and 2016, Sharp co-starred as Janet Scott in

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 ...

's crime drama series '' Scott & Bailey''. In May 2012 she starred in the Sky1 comedy series '' Starlings'' as Jan Starling. In 2015, Sharp played the part of Mary, the daughter of Petunia Howe, in the three-part BBC series ''

Capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

'' based on John Lanchester's novel of the same name. She appeared in several episodes of the Netflix original '' Fate: The Winx Saga'' as Rosalind but was replaced in this role with Miranda Richardson after the first season. In 2021 she took the lead role in Kae Tempest’s ''

Philoctetes Philoctetes ( ''Philoktētēs''; , ), or Philocthetes, according to Greek mythology, was the son of Poeas, king of Meliboea (Magnesia), Meliboea in Thessaly, and Demonassa or Methone (Greek myth), Methone. He was a Greek hero, famed as an archer ...

'' at the National Theatre. In 2022 she narrated the police documentary ''This Cop Life''.

Personal life

Sharp married Nicholas Gleaves in 1994, and they have two children.

Filmography

Theatre

In October 2005, Sharp starred in her first theatre role for a decade in the play '' The God of Hell'' at the

, London. In 2008, she played the lead character in the play '' Harper Regan'' at

Royal National Theatre The National Theatre (NT), officially the Royal National Theatre and sometimes referred to in international contexts as the National Theatre of Great Britain, is a performing arts venue and associated theatre company located in London, England, ...

. In 2014, she played the character Helen in the play '' A Taste of Honey'' at

Awards and nominations

References and notes

External links

Lesley Sharp
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sharp, Lesley Living people 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses Actresses from Liverpool Actresses from Manchester Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama English adoptees English film actresses English stage actresses English television actresses Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners People from Formby Royal Shakespeare Company members Year of birth missing (living people)