Morag Siller (1 November 1969 – 15 April 2016) was a Scottish actress,

voice artist Voice acting is the art of performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animated, off-stage, off-scr ...

, and

radio personality A radio personality is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host (North American English), radio presenter (British English) or radio jockey. Radio personali ...

. Siller died of breast cancer aged 46.

Biography

Early life and education

Siller was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, Scotland, and was adopted at the age of three with her twin brother. While in school, she initially wanted to be a pianist but realised she would probably never be able to do it as a profession. Her attention then turned to becoming a policewoman but discovered she couldn’t apply as she was an inch shy of the department's height requirement of 5'4". During her school years, she had appeared in plays, but only as an excuse to get out of classes. She attended the Edinburgh Acting School part-time, until she moved to London at the age of 18. She attended the

Sylvia Young Theatre School Sylvia Young Theatre School is an independent school in Marble Arch, London, England. It is a specialist performing arts school named after its founder and principal, Sylvia Young OBE. Outline The Sylvia Young Theatre School was founded in 19 ...

followed by a postgraduate degree at the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central London ...

. While still in school, she landed a small part in the

David Puttnam David Terence Puttnam, Baron Puttnam, CBE, HonFRSA, HonFRPS, MRIA (; born 25 February 1941), is a British-Irish film producer, educator, environmentalist and former member of the House of Lords. His productions include '' Chariots of Fire' ...

film '' Memphis Belle''.

Acting career

Since 1992 Siller has performed in films, West End theatre, television, and radio. She has also appeared in numerous television commercials and pop videos, including

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 ...

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Thompson Twins Thompson Twins were an English Pop music, pop band, formed in 1977 in Sheffield. Initially a New wave music, new wave group, they switched to a more mainstream pop sound and achieved considerable popularity during the early and mid-1980s, scori ...

and

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 ...

. In 2000 she fulfilled an ambition by writing and co-directing a comedy sketch show, ''The Brushed Forward Arrangement.'' She created semi-regular roles on television, such as Flora Kilwillie in '' Monarch of the Glen'', Marilyn Dingle in ''

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 ...

'' and Leona in ''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

'', (for which she won

AOL AOL (formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City, and a brand marketed by Yahoo! Inc. The service traces its history to an online ...

's award for Best Dramatic Performance in a Television Series in 2000). She performed in two musicals, ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' (, ) is a 19th-century French literature, French Epic (genre), epic historical fiction, historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published on 31 March 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. '' ...

'' and '' Mamma Mia!''. She also played Karen alongside

Maureen Lipman Dame Maureen Diane Lipman (born 10 May 1946) is an English actress, columnist and comedian. She trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and her stage work has included appearances with the National Theatre and the Royal Shakesp ...

and

Anne Reid Anne Reid (born 28 May 1935) is an English stage, film and television actress, known for her roles as Valerie Barlow in the soap opera ''Coronation Street'' (1961–1971); Jean in the sitcom '' dinnerladies'' (1998–2000); and her role as C ...

in the ITV

comedy drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

, '' Ladies of Letters''.

Personal life

In May 2005 Morag married her long term partner, classical musician Tim Nicholson. The couple lived in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, England. She had no children.

Credits

Theatre

TV

Film

References

Content source

External links

Morag Siller's official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Siller, Morag 1969 births 2016 deaths Actresses from Edinburgh Scottish film actresses Scottish child actresses Scottish television actresses Scottish voice actresses Scottish radio presenters Scottish women radio presenters Alumni of the Sylvia Young Theatre School Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Actresses from Manchester