Sarah Preston (born in

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

), is an English actress and writer, who is best known for playing

Karen Newburn ''Holby City'' is a British medical drama television series that premiered on 12 January 1999 on BBC One. The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama ''Casualty''. It is set in the sa ...

in '' Holby City'', Amanda Parry in '' EastEnders'' and the "Make-up Woman" whose name no-one can remember in '' Extras'' with

Ricky Gervais Ricky Dene Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. He co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms '' The Office'' (2001–2003), '' Extras'' (2005–2007), and '' An Idiot Abroad ...

Early life

Sarah Preston is the daughter of Madge Preston and Arthur Ernest Preston and has one brother and one sister.

Acting career

Sarah Preston started her career on stage at the age of five in her native

Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

of England. Some of her early acting experience was with Stockton Youth Theatre where she performed in acclaimed productions of ''Hair'', ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' and ''Sweet Charity'' alongside Mark Benton and Marcus Bentley. Sarah continued to be involved in many theatre and independent productions until she left for London where she trained at the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Sena ...

(RADA) for three years and gained a diploma in acting. Classmates included Andrew Lincoln and Stephen Mangan. During her time at

RADA The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Sena ...

, Sarah developed skills in stage fighting. She excelled in this, earning high qualifications and the coveted John Barton Prize. One of her first jobs after leaving RADA was in the feature film '' The House of Angelo''. Sarah's first major TV role was playing

in the BBC drama series, '' Holby City''. She played the straight-talking, no-nonsense Ward Sister who clashes with ex-husband and cardiothoracic registrar Nick Jordan, played by Michael French. They battled throughout the first two series and their tempestuous relationship became one of the leading story-lines. Other regular appearances include '' EastEnders'', '' In Deep'' with Stephen Tompkinson, '' Steel River Blues'' and '' Extras'' with

. Sarah has guested in a number of other shows including ''

Vera Vera may refer to: Names *Vera (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) *Vera (given name), a given name (including a list of people and fictional characters with the name) **Vera (), archbishop of the archdiocese of Tarrag ...

'' with Brenda Blethyn, '' The Last Detective'' alongside Peter Davison, '' Where The Heart Is'' and '' Doctors''.

Writing

Sarah Preston founded the TV and film production company, Bamboo Media Productions Limited.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Preston, Sarah Alumni of RADA Living people People from Middlesbrough English television actresses English soap opera actresses 1970 births