Ishia Bennison
Encyclopedia
Ishia Bennison is a British
actress, best known for her television
appearances, although she is also a veteran stage
actress. Bennison is originally from Hull
in Yorkshire
.
film
, The Awakening. She also had roles in the television drama The Chinese Detective
(1981) and she played Ruth Lieberman in the BBC
drama Kessler (1981). Other notable television credits include Bergerac
(1981) and playing Ursula in a BBC Television Shakespeare
adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing
(1984).
In 1985 Bennison became a household name whilst playing Guizin Osman, the long-suffering wife of the womanising Turkish Cypriot, Mehmet
(Haluk Bilginer
), in the BBC
soap opera
EastEnders
. She remained in the role until 1989. Bennison has "mixed memories" about her role in EastEnders, commenting in 2003: "it was the start of the soap and the fame was very instant for everybody. You're in everybody's front room and everyone feels they own a bit of you. I'll never forget having to sign people's sickbags on the hovercraft to France. My daughter wouldn't walk down the street with me at the time. She would stay 10 paces behind. I still get recognised from EastEnders. I can't believe it."
Other television credits include The Storyteller
(1988); The Bill
(1988); playing Denise Skidmore in the popular ITV
drama At Home with the Braithwaites
(2000); Mrs. Mawdsley in the long-running soap opera Coronation Street
(2000); Holby City
(2000); playing Cath Foxton in Burnside
, the spin-off to The Bill (2000, 2001); Casualty (2006) and Hollyoaks: In the City
.
In 2004 she starred in the Doctor Who
audio series Dalek Empire III
and in January 2007 she joined the cast of the successful ITV soap opera, Emmerdale
, playing Jackie Stiles — mother of vet receptionist Jo Stiles
.
Bennison has had numerous roles on stage, which has included playing Mistress Overdose in the Royal Shakespeare Company
's production Measure For Measure
, which played at the Theatre Royal
in 2003. She also appeared at the Playhouse as the Queen in Cymbeline in The Tragedy of Cymbeline (2003). Bennison's previous Shakespearean roles have been with the company Northern Broadsides
, which "specialises in performing classical plays in north country accents".
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
actress, best known for her television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
appearances, although she is also a veteran stage
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
actress. Bennison is originally from Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
in 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...
.
Career
One of her earliest roles was playing a nurse in the 1980 Charlton HestonCharlton Heston
Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, The Awakening. She also had roles in the television drama The Chinese Detective
The Chinese Detective
The Chinese Detective is a British television series, transmitted by the BBC between 1981 and 1982 and created by Ian Kennedy Martin, who had previously devised The Sweeney and Juliet Bravo....
(1981) and she played Ruth Lieberman in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
drama Kessler (1981). Other notable television credits include Bergerac
Bergerac (TV series)
Bergerac was a British television show set on Jersey. Produced by the BBC in association with the Seven Network, and screened on BBC1, it starred John Nettles as the title character Detective Sergeant Jim Bergerac, a detective in "Le Bureau des Étrangers" Bergerac was a British television show...
(1981) and playing Ursula in a BBC Television Shakespeare
BBC Television Shakespeare
The BBC Television Shakespeare was a set of television adaptations of the plays of William Shakespeare, produced by the BBC between 1978 and 1985.-Origins:...
adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....
(1984).
In 1985 Bennison became a household name whilst playing Guizin Osman, the long-suffering wife of the womanising Turkish Cypriot, Mehmet
Mehmet Osman
Mehmet Osman is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Haluk Bilginer. Mehmet was portrayed as a charmer, rogue and a serial womaniser, played as a recurring character until 1989.-Storylines:...
(Haluk Bilginer
Haluk Bilginer
Haluk Bilginer is a Turkish actor. In addition to his acting career in Turkey, he has also worked in the United Kingdom and remains best known for his role as Mehmet Osman in the television soap opera EastEnders during the 1980s. He has also starred in Hollywood movies as a minor actor...
), in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
. She remained in the role until 1989. Bennison has "mixed memories" about her role in EastEnders, commenting in 2003: "it was the start of the soap and the fame was very instant for everybody. You're in everybody's front room and everyone feels they own a bit of you. I'll never forget having to sign people's sickbags on the hovercraft to France. My daughter wouldn't walk down the street with me at the time. She would stay 10 paces behind. I still get recognised from EastEnders. I can't believe it."
Other television credits include The Storyteller
The Storyteller
The StoryTeller is a live-action/puppet television series. It was an American/British co-production which originally aired in 1988 and was created and produced by Jim Henson....
(1988); The Bill
The 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...
(1988); playing Denise Skidmore in the popular ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
drama At Home with the Braithwaites
At Home with the Braithwaites
At Home with the Braithwaites is a British comedy-drama television series, created and written by Sally Wainwright . The storyline follows a suburban family from Leeds, whose life is turned upside down when the mother of the family wins 38 million pounds on the lottery...
(2000); Mrs. Mawdsley in the long-running soap opera Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
(2000); Holby City
Holby City
Holby City, stylised as Holby Ci+y, is a British medical drama television series that airs weekly on BBC One.The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama Casualty, and premiered on 12 January 1999...
(2000); playing Cath Foxton in Burnside
Burnside (TV series)
Burnside is a British television police procedural drama, broadcast on ITV in 2000. The series, a spin-off from ITV's long-running police drama The Bill, focused on DCI Frank Burnside, formerly a detective at Sun Hill and now working for the National Crime Squad...
, the spin-off to The Bill (2000, 2001); Casualty (2006) and Hollyoaks: In the City
Hollyoaks: In the City
Hollyoaks: In the City was a British television drama series set in Liverpool and first broadcast in 2006. Hollyoaks: In the City was a spin-off of Channel 4 soap opera, Hollyoaks, originally devised by Phil Redmond...
.
In 2004 she starred in the Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
audio series Dalek Empire III
The Exterminators
The Exterminators may mean:* The Exterminators , a Doctor Who audio drama* The Exterminators , a Vertigo comic book series* Billy the Exterminator, a reality series previously known as The Exterminators...
and in January 2007 she joined the cast of the successful ITV soap opera, Emmerdale
Emmerdale
Emmerdale, is a long-running British soap opera set in Emmerdale , a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, Emmerdale was first broadcast on 16 October 1972...
, playing Jackie Stiles — mother of vet receptionist Jo Stiles
Jo Stiles
Josephine Madonna "Jo" Sugden is a fictional character in the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale. She was played by Roxanne Pallett.-Overview:...
.
Bennison has had numerous roles on stage, which has included playing Mistress Overdose in the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
's production Measure For Measure
Measure for Measure
Measure for Measure is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603 or 1604. It was classified as comedy, but its mood defies those expectations. As a result and for a variety of reasons, some critics have labelled it as one of Shakespeare's problem plays...
, which played at the Theatre Royal
Theatre Royal, Newcastle
The Theatre Royal is a Grade I listed building situated on Grey Street in Newcastle upon Tyne. It was designed by local architects John and Benjamin Green as part of Richard Grainger's grand design for the centre of Newcastle, and was opened on 20 February 1837 with a performance of The Merchant...
in 2003. She also appeared at the Playhouse as the Queen in Cymbeline in The Tragedy of Cymbeline (2003). Bennison's previous Shakespearean roles have been with the company Northern Broadsides
Northern Broadsides
Northern Broadsides is a theatre company formed in 1992 and based at Dean Clough Mill in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. The founder and artistic director is Barrie Rutter. The company performs in Halifax and on tour, a mix of Shakespeare and other productions. Music is specially written for...
, which "specialises in performing classical plays in north country accents".