Emma Chambers
Encyclopedia
Emma G. Chambers is an English actress. Her work includes the role Alice Tinker in the BBC comedy The Vicar of Dibley
and Honey Thacker in the film Notting Hill (1999).
, Yorkshire
, where she went to school at St. Mary's (now Hill House School, Doncaster). Her secondary education was at St Swithun's School, Winchester
. She then trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art
in the 1980s, where she was a classmate of actor Ross Kemp
.
Her sister is Sarah Doukas of Storm Model Management.
, in November 1994 Chambers played the role of Charity Pecksniff in the TV serialisation of the Dickens novel Martin Chuzzlewit
. In the same month she first played the role of Alice Tinker in the BBC comedy The Vicar of Dibley
. Chambers appeared in all 24 episodes. In 1998 Chambers won the British Comedy Award for Best Actress for her performance. Her last outing as Alice was the Comic Relief
Special in March 2007.
In 1998 Chambers took the role of Helen Yardley in the TV series How Do You Want Me?
, and 1999, she appeared in the film Notting Hill
, as Honey, the sister of Hugh Grant
's character.
In 2000 she was cast as Martha Thompson in Take a Girl Like You
, a made for TV drama based on the Kingsley Amis
novel and a remake of the 1970 film.
Chambers worked as a voice performer in the animated
made-for-TV movie
The Wind in the Willows
in 1995. In 2003 she provided the voice of Spotty for two episodes in the TV series Little Robots
. Her episodes were called "Spotty Rules" and "Spotty's Clean Machine".
She was in theatre for about 10 years before her major break in television. She has appeared in a number of stage productions including Tartuffe
and Invisible Friends. In 2002 she toured with the Michael Frayn
play, Benefactors, where she starred opposite Neil Pearson
.
She currently lives with husband and fellow actor Ian M. Dunn in Lymington
, Hampshire
.
The Vicar of Dibley
The Vicar of Dibley is a British sitcom created by Richard Curtis and written for its lead actress, Dawn French, by Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer, with contributions from Kit Hesketh-Harvey. It aired from 1994 to 2007...
and Honey Thacker in the film Notting Hill (1999).
Early life
Chambers was born in DoncasterDoncaster
Doncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...
, Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, where she went to school at St. Mary's (now Hill House School, Doncaster). Her secondary education was at St Swithun's School, Winchester
St Swithun's School, Winchester
St Swithun's School is an independent school for girls in Winchester, Hampshire. The school consists of St Swithun's Junior School and St Swithun's Senior School...
. She then trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art
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 comprehensive training for those intending to pursue a...
in the 1980s, where she was a classmate of actor Ross Kemp
Ross Kemp
Ross James Kemp is a BAFTA award-winning British actor, author and journalist, who rose to prominence in the role of Grant Mitchell in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders...
.
Her sister is Sarah Doukas of Storm Model Management.
Career
After taking some smaller parts on television productions such as The BillThe Bill
The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
, in November 1994 Chambers played the role of Charity Pecksniff in the TV serialisation of the Dickens novel Martin Chuzzlewit
Martin Chuzzlewit
The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit is a novel by Charles Dickens, considered the last of his picaresque novels. It was originally serialized between 1843-1844. Dickens himself proclaimed Martin Chuzzlewit to be his best work, but it was one of his least popular novels...
. In the same month she first played the role of Alice Tinker in the BBC comedy The Vicar of Dibley
The Vicar of Dibley
The Vicar of Dibley is a British sitcom created by Richard Curtis and written for its lead actress, Dawn French, by Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer, with contributions from Kit Hesketh-Harvey. It aired from 1994 to 2007...
. Chambers appeared in all 24 episodes. In 1998 Chambers won the British Comedy Award for Best Actress for her performance. Her last outing as Alice was the Comic Relief
Comic Relief
Comic Relief is an operating British charity, founded in 1985 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Lenny Henry in response to famine in Ethiopia. The highlight of Comic Relief's appeal is Red Nose Day, a biennial telethon held in March, alternating with sister project Sport Relief...
Special in March 2007.
In 1998 Chambers took the role of Helen Yardley in the TV series How Do You Want Me?
How Do You Want Me?
How Do You Want Me? is a British television sitcom, produced by Kensington Films & Television, written by Simon Nye, and directed by John Henderson....
, and 1999, she appeared in the film Notting Hill
Notting Hill (film)
Notting Hill is a 1999 British romantic comedy film set in Notting Hill, London, released on 21 May 1999. The screenplay was by Richard Curtis, who had written Four Weddings and a Funeral. It was produced by Duncan Kenworthy and directed by Roger Michell...
, as Honey, the sister of Hugh Grant
Hugh Grant
Hugh John Mungo Grant is an English actor and film producer. He has received a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA, and an Honorary César. His films have earned more than $2.4 billion from 25 theatrical releases worldwide. Grant achieved international stardom after appearing in Richard Curtis's...
's character.
In 2000 she was cast as Martha Thompson in Take a Girl Like You
Take a Girl Like You (TV series)
Take a Girl Like You is a 2000 British television comedy series adapted by Andrew Davies from the 1960 novel Take a Girl Like You by Kingsley Amis. It starred Sienna Guillory, Rupert Graves, Hugh Bonneville, Robert Daws, Leslie Phillips, Emma Chambers, Ian Driver and Deborah Cornelius. It was...
, a made for TV drama based on the Kingsley Amis
Kingsley Amis
Sir Kingsley William Amis, CBE was an English novelist, poet, critic, and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, various short stories, radio and television scripts, along with works of social and literary criticism...
novel and a remake of the 1970 film.
Chambers worked as a voice performer in the animated
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
made-for-TV movie
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
The Wind in the Willows
The Wind in the Willows
The Wind in the Willows is a classic of children's literature by Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. Alternately slow moving and fast paced, it focuses on four anthropomorphised animal characters in a pastoral version of England...
in 1995. In 2003 she provided the voice of Spotty for two episodes in the TV series Little Robots
Little Robots
Little Robots is a stop-motion animated children's TV series, produced by Cosgrove Hall Films for Create TV and Film Limited and broadcast on CBeebies . The fiction series was based on the eponymous book by Mike Brownlow, published by Ragged Bears Publishing...
. Her episodes were called "Spotty Rules" and "Spotty's Clean Machine".
She was in theatre for about 10 years before her major break in television. She has appeared in a number of stage productions including Tartuffe
Tartuffe
Tartuffe is a comedy by Molière. It is one of his most famous plays.-History:Molière wrote Tartuffe in 1664...
and Invisible Friends. In 2002 she toured with the Michael Frayn
Michael Frayn
Michael J. Frayn is an English playwright and novelist. He is best known as the author of the farce Noises Off and the dramas Copenhagen and Democracy...
play, Benefactors, where she starred opposite Neil Pearson
Neil Pearson
Neil Joshua Pearson is a British actor best known for his work on television.-Biography:Pearson grew up in Battersea, London, the son of a panel beater, who left home when he was five, and a legal secretary, and was educated at Woolverstone Hall School, Suffolk, a boarding school, where he first...
.
She currently lives with husband and fellow actor Ian M. Dunn in Lymington
Lymington
Lymington is a port on the west bank of the Lymington River on the Solent, in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England. It is to the east of the South East Dorset conurbation, and faces Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight which is connected to it by a car ferry, operated by Wightlink. The town...
, Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
.
Filmography
- Drop The Dead DonkeyDrop the Dead Donkey- Major characters :* Gus Hedges — The unctuous Chief Executive of the company, and yes-man to Sir Roysten Merchant. A management stereotype, complete with clichés and clumsy metaphors, he swiftly transforms GlobeLink from a serious news network to a ratings-chasing tabloid channel...
(1996) (TV) - How Do You Want Me?How Do You Want Me?How Do You Want Me? is a British television sitcom, produced by Kensington Films & Television, written by Simon Nye, and directed by John Henderson....
(1998) (TV) - Notting Hill (19991999 in filmThe year 1999 in film involved several noteworthy events and has been called "The Year That Changed Movies". Several significant feature films, including Stanley Kubrick's final film Eyes Wide Shut, Pedro Almodóvar's first Oscar-winning film All About My Mother, science fiction The Matrix, Deep...
) - The Clandestine MarriageThe Clandestine Marriage (film)The Clandestine Marriage is a 1999 British comedy film directed by Christopher Miles and starring Nigel Hawthorne, Joan Collins, Timothy Spall and Tom Hollander. It is based on the 1766 play The Clandestine Marriage by David Garrick and George Colman....
(1999) - Take a Girl Like YouTake a Girl Like You (TV series)Take a Girl Like You is a 2000 British television comedy series adapted by Andrew Davies from the 1960 novel Take a Girl Like You by Kingsley Amis. It starred Sienna Guillory, Rupert Graves, Hugh Bonneville, Robert Daws, Leslie Phillips, Emma Chambers, Ian Driver and Deborah Cornelius. It was...
(2000) - The Vicar of DibleyThe Vicar of DibleyThe Vicar of Dibley is a British sitcom created by Richard Curtis and written for its lead actress, Dawn French, by Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer, with contributions from Kit Hesketh-Harvey. It aired from 1994 to 2007...
(1994–2007) (TV) - The Vicar of DibleyThe Vicar of DibleyThe Vicar of Dibley is a British sitcom created by Richard Curtis and written for its lead actress, Dawn French, by Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer, with contributions from Kit Hesketh-Harvey. It aired from 1994 to 2007...
(2013) (TV)