Julie Hesmondhalgh is an English actress.

Hesmondhalgh was born in Accrington

Accrington

Accrington is a town in Lancashire, within the borough of Hyndburn. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, north of Manchester city centre and is situated on the mostly culverted River Hyndburn...

, Lancashire. As a teenager, she was moderately interested in acting, but wished to become a social worker. She applied to drama school to be with her friends, and studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art

London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art

The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art is a leading British drama school in west London. LAMDA's president is Timothy West and its new principal is Joanna Read, who recently succeeded Peter James...

 from 1988 to 1991 (one of her classmates was Benito Martinez

Benito Martinez (actor)

Benito Martinez is an American actor most known for his role as police captain David Aceveda in FX Networks' acclaimed crime drama The Shield...

). On finishing her training, she was a part of Arts Threshold, a small independent theatre in London, for several years. In the 1990s, she appeared in such television dramas as 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...

, Catherine Cookson

Catherine Cookson

Dame Catherine Cookson DBE was a British author. She became the United Kingdom's most widely read novelist, with sales topping 100 million, while retaining a relatively low profile in the world of celebrity writers...

's The Dwelling Place, and in the Victoria Wood

Victoria Wood

Victoria Wood CBE is a British comedienne, actress, singer-songwriter, screenwriter and director. Wood has written and starred in sketches, plays, films and sitcoms, and her live stand-up comedy act is interspersed with her own compositions, which she accompanies on piano...

 comedic television movie Pat and Margaret

Pat and Margaret

Pat and Margaret is a British television film written by comedian Victoria Wood. The story follows sisters Margaret, a cook, and Pat, a successful actress in the United States, after they are reunited on a television programme after spending 27 years apart...

.

However, she is best known for playing Hayley Cropper

Hayley Cropper

Hayley Anne Cropper is a fictional character in the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street...

 on the 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...

. Debuting on the show in 1998, she plays the first transsexual character on a British serial. In March 2011 she became the first Friend of campaign group Trans Media Watch

Trans Media Watch

Trans Media Watch is a campaign group which aims to ensure "that trans people are treated with accuracy, dignity and respect by media organisations in the UK". It started as a Facebook group in 2009, collecting examples of transphobia in the UK mainstream media and providing information...

.

Julie took time off during 2000 and 2001 from "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...

" to have her daughter Martha Mo Kershaw born October 2001, during this time she was a panellist on Loose Women

Loose Women

Loose Women is a British lunchtime television programme, first broadcast in 1999 on ITV. It consists of a panel of four women who interview celebrities and discuss topical issues, ranging from daily politics and current affairs, to celebrity gossip...

 in 2000, and Live Talk in 2001.

After nearly ten years on the show, Hesmondhalgh decided to take a break from the Street for a year in order to spend more time with her family. She left on 22 October 2007, and returned on 17 November 2008.

Hesmondhalgh is married to actor and writer Ian Kershaw. The couple live near Glossop

Glossop

Glossop is a market town within the Borough of High Peak in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the Glossop Brook, a tributary of the River Etherow, about east of the city of Manchester, west of the city of Sheffield. Glossop is situated near Derbyshire's county borders with Cheshire, Greater...

, Derbyshire to the east of Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...

 with their daughters.

As well as working to raise funds for other charities, such as Mood Swings Network and the Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...

 Society, Hesmondhalgh is a patron of the following charities and groups: Press for Change, the Albert Kennedy Trust, Maundy Relief, Exodus Onstage, British Humanist Association

British Humanist Association

The British Humanist Association is an organisation of the United Kingdom which promotes Humanism and represents "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious beliefs." The BHA is committed to secularism, human rights, democracy, egalitarianism and mutual respect...

, and the Manchester Lesbian and Gay Foundation. She has also recently supported the Elizabeth Finn Care

Elizabeth Finn Care

Elizabeth Finn Care, established by Elizabeth Anne Finn in 1897 as the Distressed Gentlefolk's Aid Association, is a British charity providing help and assistance to relieve the problems of old age, illness, social isolation and disability.-Origins:...

 'Wrap Up Against Poverty' campaign by donating a red anorak (in the style of her 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...

 character Hayley Cropper

Hayley Cropper

Hayley Anne Cropper is a fictional character in the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street...

) for auction by the charity.

She is a supporter of Manchester City Football Club and the Labour Party.

External links

• Julie Hesmondhalgh at Corrie.Net
• Julie Hesmondhalgh at the Internet Movie Database
  Internet Movie Database
  Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...