Michelle Collins
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| Michelle Collins | |
| Born | May 28, 1963 (age 43) Hackney, East London, England |
| Notable roles | Cindy Beale in EastEnders Nicki Matthews in Sunburn Abby Wallace in Two Thousand Acres of Sky |
Michelle A. Collins (born May 28, 1963 in Hackney, East London) is a British actress best known for her roles on television in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, as Cindy Beale, and BBC drama Sunburn. At one time, she was also a TV presenter on The Word.
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[edit] Life and Career
Michelle’s acting roots are firmly theatrical, as she trained at the Royal Court Activists and Cockpit Youth Theatre from the age of fourteen and progressed to Kingsway Princeton College, where she studied drama and theatre.
After graduating, she landed a role in Bulgakov’s 'The Crimson Island' at The Gate Theatre, directed by Lou Stein. Her career changed direction when, having performed in the video for the Squeeze songs "Up The Junction" and "Cool for Cats", she joined Mari Wilson and The Wilsations as the backing singer, “Candide”. The band spent eighteen months touring the country, working with artists such as Marc Almond, Level 42, Altered Images and Kid Creole and the Coconuts. When the band broke up in 1982, she went back into acting and with the help of her friend, the British actor Tim Roth, she successfully gained a part in a musical with the late Gary Hutton and Gary Shail known as H.M.V.
Michelle’s first TV appearance was with Gary Oldman in the BBC drama Morgan's Boy. Other TV credits included: two series of the sitcom Running Wild, where she played Ray Brooks daughter; a part in ITV drama The Bill; a Screen Two production Lucky Sunil, directed by Michael Caton Jones and a BBC play Pressures. She later appeared in three films: Personal Services, Empire State and Poliakov’s Hidden City.
While she was filiming the BBC play Pressures in 1988, Michelle was spotted by EastEnder’s producer Julia Smith, and she was asked to audition for the role of Cindy, who was due to feature in eleven epiosodes of the soap. However Michelle excelled in her role, and the manipulative, reckless nature of her character was a hit with viewers so Michelle's contract was extended and the character became one of the most renowned villains in soap history. She played Cindy Beale, the unfaithful wife of EastEnders stalwart Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt), from 1988 - 1998. During breaks from Eastenders she filmed the drama Real Women for the BBC, with Pauline Quirke and Frances Barber. The drama was a success and it helped to confirm Michelle as a versatile actress of considerable stature. During other breaks from EastEnders Michelle starred in the popular comedy show Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge (with Steve Coogan; 1994) as well as in the American television shows Baywatch (1992) and Blossom (1993).
After leaving EastEnders in 1998 (when her character met an untimely demise offscreen), her career flourished with a series of drama roles, making hers one of the more successful post-EastEnders careers. These include: two series of Real Women (BBC1); two series of Sunburn (BBC1), which Michelle also sang the theme song to and had a minor hit in the UK Singles Chart in 1999; Daylight Robbery (ITV); The Sleeper (BBC1); Uprising (ITV): three series of Two Thousand Acres of Sky (BBC1): the 2-part series Perfect (ITV); Lloyd And The Hill (ITV) and Ella And The Mothers (BBC1). In 2003 Michelle played Sarah Barton in Single, which further established her reputation for playing tough, contemporary women who also have a touching vulnerability.
In 2003 Michelle filmed the BBC drama Sea Of Souls and then went on to star in a film for Granada/Channel 4 called The Illustrated Mum, which told the story of two girls coping with the unpredictable behaviour of their depressed, alcoholic mother. The film, written by Jacqueline Wilson, was based on the children’s novel of the same name. It was screened to great acclaim over Christmas 2003 and has gone on to win an Emmy Award and two BAFTA's.
In 2004 she starred in an episode of the British comic sketch show French and Saunders and also starred alongside fellow EastEnder Martin Kemp in the ITV drama Can't Buy Me Love, which was watched by nearly 8 million viewers. The programme was inspired by the real-life story of Howard Walmsley, who was jailed for fraud after pretending to win the lottery in order to keep his wife Donna (played by Michelle) from leaving him. Their lives and marriage were subsequently turned upside down by the events that unfolded.
In 2005, Michelle starred in the ITV drama The Last Detective and she starred in the BBC drama The Family Man, alongside ex-EastEnder Daniela Denby-Ashe, which aired in March 2006.
She starred in the West End musical Daddy Cool, and while working during the night there shot sequences for a cameo in the short film Broken, to be released in January 2007; and will feature in the film Don't Stop Dreaming due for release late 2006/early 2007. She left Daddy Cool in January 2007 to shot a sequence for an upcoming episode of Doctor Who.[1][2]
[edit] Personal life
Michelle has a daughter, Maia, who was born in 1996. Her pregnancy was written into her return to EastEnders that same year.
She is apparently a Swansea City F.C. fan, after appearing at the Liberty Stadium, Swansea during Swansea City's League One match with Rotherham on 17 April 2006. She took a penalty with the mascots at half time wearing a Swans shirt.
[edit] Charity work
Michelle is heavily involved in charitable causes. She is an ambassador for Oxfam and has visited Brazil and South Africa promoting the need for the basic right to education. She recently completed a heart-breaking trip to Armenia. She also continues to be involved with a variety of fund raising projects for both Stonewall and Breakthrough Breast Cancer. She is a spokesperson for Breakthrough's most current project - to recruit 100,000 women to help them with the biggest research project to date into the causes of breast cancer
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,4-2007010096,00.html
- ^ Collins cast. BBC Doctor Who website. Retrieved on January 31, 2007.
