Linda Valiris (''née'' Henry; born 24 August 1959) is an English actress, known for her roles as

Yvonne Atkins Yvonne Atkins is a fictional character from the British prison drama series '' Bad Girls'', portrayed by Linda Henry. The character Yvonne first appeared in the finale episode of Series 1. She played a prominent role in Series 2, 3, 4 and 5 as To ...

in the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: Television TV stations/networks/channels ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network and company, including: **ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network in the United Kingd ...

prison drama series '' Bad Girls'' and

Shirley Carter Shirley Carter is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Linda Henry. She first appeared on 7 December 2006, during episodes set in Dorset. This is Henry's second role in 'EastEnders', as she previously p ...

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 opera ''

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 ...

''. She had previously appeared in ''EastEnders'' as the original

Lorraine Salter The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' in 1991, by order of first appearance. Eibhlin O'Donnell Eibhlin O'Donnell, played by Mary Conlon, is an Irish woman who met and dated Eddie Roy ...

, the mother of

Mandy Salter Mandy Salter is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Nicola Stapleton. Introduced on 12 March 1992 by executive producer Leonard Lewis, Mandy was portrayed as a teenage tearaway. She was featured in storylin ...

(

Nicola Stapleton Nicola Kathleen Stapleton (born 9 August 1974) is an English actress. She is best known for her roles in ''EastEnders'' as Mandy Salter and ''Emmerdale'' as Danielle Hutch. A graduate of the Sylvia Young Theatre School, Stapleton began her care ...

), from 1991 to 1992. Her other acting credits include ''

Cracker Cracker, crackers or The Crackers may refer to: Animals * ''Hamadryas'' (butterfly), or crackers, a genus of brush-footed butterflies * '' Sparodon'', a monotypic genus whose species is sometimes known as "Cracker" Arts and entertainment Films ...

'' (1995), ''

Prime Suspect ''Prime Suspect'' is a British police procedural television series devised by Lynda La Plante. Broadcast on ITV between 1991 and 2006, it stars Helen Mirren as Jane Tennison, one of the first female Detective Chief Inspectors in Greater Lo ...

'' (1997) and ''

Trial & Retribution ''Trial & Retribution'' is a feature-length ITV police procedural television drama series that first aired on 19 October 1997. Written and devised by Lynda La Plante as a follow-on from her successful television series ''Prime Suspect'', each e ...

'' (1998). She has also appeared in the films '' Beautiful Thing'' (1996) and '' The Business'' (2005).

Early life

Henry was born on 24 August 1959 and was brought up in

Peckham Peckham ( ) is a district in south-east London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720. History "Peckham" is a Saxon place name meaning the vi ...

, London. She spent some time with the Old Vic Youth Theatre. At 17, she went to 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 ...

Career

In 1996, Henry played Sandra in the film '' Beautiful Thing''. In 1999, Henry began portraying

in the

prison series '' Bad Girls'', a role she played until she quit the series in 2003. She has appeared in various other British television programmes including ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...

'', ''

Birds of a Feather Birds of a feather flock together is an English proverb. Birds of a Feather may also refer to: Film * ''Birds of a Feather'' (1917 film), a film starring Harold Lloyd * ''Birds of a Feather'' (1931 film), Walt Disney ''Silly Symphony'' animate ...

'', ''

Touching Evil ''Touching Evil'' is a British television drama serial following the exploits of a crack squad on the Organised & Serial Crime Unit, a rapid response police force that serves the entire country. The serial was produced by United Productions f ...

'', ''

A Touch of Frost ''A Touch of Frost'' is a British television detective mystery drama series starring David Jason produced by Yorkshire Television (later ITV Studios) for ITV from 6 December 1992 until 5 April 2010, initially based on the Frost novels by R. ...

'',''

'' as Marilyn Spark and ''

'', where she played

, the mother of

(

). She also appeared in British film '' The Business'', alongside

Danny Dyer Danial John Dyer (born 24 July 1977) is an English actor and presenter. Dyer's breakthrough role was as Moff in ''Human Traffic'' (1999), with other notable roles Billy the Limpet in ''Mean Machine (film), Mean Machine'' (2001) and as Tommy J ...

. On 8 September 2006, it was announced Henry would be returning to ''EastEnders'' in a different role, this time playing

, mother to

Carly Carly is a given name, a feminine form of Carl. Hanks; Hardcastle; Hodges (2006) p. 47. It is also a pet form of given names such as Carla and Caroline. Variant different spellings include Carley, Carlie, Carlee, Carleigh and Carli, as well as ...

(

Kellie Shirley Kelly Jane Shirley (born 11 July 1981) is an English actress who works in film, television, theatre and radio. She is known for her roles as Kirsty De La Croix in Sky One comedy series ''In the Long Run'' and Carly Wicks in the BBC soap opera ' ...

) and Deano (

Matt Di Angelo Mario Angelo Stavrou Constantinou (born 1 May 1987), professionally known as Matt Di Angelo, is a British actor and singer, best known for his role as Dean Wicks in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. He also portrayed Sean Kennedy in the BBC d ...

) and ex-wife of

Kevin Kevin is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; ; ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant ''Kevan'' is anglicised from , an Irish diminutive form.''A Dictiona ...

(

Phil Daniels Philip William Daniels (born 25 October 1958) is an English actor, musician and singer, most noted for film and television roles playing Londoners, such as the lead role of Jimmy Cooper in ''Quadrophenia'', Richards in '' Scum'', Stewart in '' T ...

). Dyer, who she had worked with previously, was cast in 2013 as Shirley's son,

Mick Mick is a masculine given name or nickname, usually a hypocorism of Michael. Because of its popularity in Ireland, it is often used in the English-speaking world as an ethnic slur for Irish people. In Australia, the meaning also broadened to incl ...

. In late 2022, Henry embarked on what was initially described as an "extended break" from ''EastEnders''. She was expected to return, but in July 2025, reports emerged that she had no intention of reprising the role. That same month, she appeared as Pam in the second series of ''

Mr. Bigstuff ''Mr. Bigstuff'' is a 2024 English comedy series written by Ryan Sampson and starring Sampson, Harriet Webb and Danny Dyer. It premiered on ''Sky Max'' on 17 July 2024. It was renewed for a second series in September 2024. Dyer won for Male P ...

'', once again working with Dyer.

Personal life

Henry married Stavros Valiris in 1992. Their daughter was born in 1993. In 2014, she was arrested for racially aggravated harassment. Henry pleaded not guilty and stood trial on 11 February 2015 at Bexley Magistrates' Court in south London. She was later cleared of all charges.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Henry, Linda 1959 births Living people English film actresses English television actresses English soap opera actresses Alumni of the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art Actors from the London Borough of Southwark Actresses from London People from Peckham