Lorraine Marie Stanley (born 28 June 1976) is a British actress from

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

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 ...

, known for playing Kelly in the 2006 film '' London to Brighton'' and Karen Taylor 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 ...

'' (2017–2024).

Early life

Lorraine Marie Stanley was born on 28 June 1976 in

, the daughter of June ( ''née'' Almy), and David Stanley. She was brought up in Portsmouth by her parents, who divorced when she was ten years old. She has

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

, English and Polish ancestry from her father and mother respectively. She then trained at London's

Arts Educational Schools Arts Educational Schools, or ArtsEd, is an independent performing arts school in Chiswick, West London, England. Overview ArtsEd provides specialist vocational training at secondary, further and higher education level in musical theatre an ...

Career

Stanley made her acting debut in 2000, when she appeared in the crime drama film '' Gangster No. 1'' in a minor role as the attacker's friend. She also appeared in episodes of ''

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 ...

'' and '' London's Burning''. In 2006, Stanley took the lead role in the neo-noir crime film '' London to Brighton''. She portrayed Kelly, a prostitute who is coerced into procuring an 11-year-old girl for a paedophile. In 2014, Stanley was cast to play the role of Simone in Spencer Hawken's 2016 film '' No Reasons''.

''EastEnders''

In 2004, Stanley appeared as a young

Mo Harris Mo Harris (also Porter, also known as Big Mo), is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', who made her first appearance on 18 September 2000, played by Laila Morse. Mo was also played by Lorraine Stanley in the 2004 spin-of ...

in the ''

'' spin off '' Pat and Mo'' which aired in April 2004 and revealed what caused the feud between Mo and sister-in-law

Pat Butcher Pat Butcher (also Harris, Wicks and Evans) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. Played by Pam St Clement from 12 June 1986, just over a year after the show first aired, until her departure on 1 January 2012. Pat was ...

, who was played by Emma Cooke. In 2016, Stanley appeared in ''

'' as Thelma Bragg, the mother of Linzi Bragg who enters an illegal relationship with Jay Brown ( Jamie Borthwick). She appeared in eight episodes. A year later, Stanley returned to ''EastEnders'', this time on a permanent basis portraying Karen Taylor, the head of the newly introduced Taylor family, who arrived in June 2017. In July 2023, it was announced that Stanley had been "written out" of the show after six years, and Stanley's final scenes aired on 8 December 2023. She returned to the series for two guest stints in 2024.

Personal life

Stanley and her partner Mark Perez have been together since 2014, and have a daughter, named Nancy, born in 2015.

Filmography

Theatre

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stanley, Lorraine 1976 births Living people 21st-century English actresses British film actresses British television actresses English stage actresses British soap opera actresses Actresses from Portsmouth Actresses from London Anglo-Scots British people of Polish descent British Soap Award for Best Newcomer winners