Kate O'Sullivan is a British

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, singer, voiceover artist and impressionist.

A graduate of Drama Centre London , she was taught by Yat Malmgren

Yat Malmgren

Yat Malmgren was a Swedish dancer and acting teacher, born in Gävle, Sweden to Gustaf Sigurd Eriksson and Signe Emma Maria Malmgren....

 and Christopher Fettes

Christopher Fettes

Christopher Fettes is a founder of the Irish Green Party and an honorary member of the International Vegetarian Union and of the World Esperanto Association....

.

Theatre

Her first job after leaving Drama Centre was in the West End

West End of London

The West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...

 playing Cecily Cardew in The Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at St. James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae in order to escape burdensome social obligations...

at the Whitehall Theatre with Hinge and Bracket. She played Magenta, the extra terrestrial French maid, in the 1991 revival of Richard O’Brien's The Rocky Horror Show

The Rocky Horror Show

The Rocky Horror Show is a long-running British horror comedy stage musical, which opened in London on 19 June 1973. It was written by Richard O'Brien, produced and directed by Jim Sharman. It came eighth in a BBC Radio 2 listener poll of the "Nation's Number One Essential Musicals"...

starring Anthony Head

Anthony Head

Anthony Stewart Head , usually credited as Anthony Head, is an English actor and musician. He rose to fame in the UK following his role in television advertisements for Nescafé Gold Blend , and is known for his roles as Rupert Giles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and as Uther Pendragon in...

 and Craig Ferguson

Craig Ferguson

Craig Ferguson is a Scottish American television host, stand-up comedian, writer, actor, director, author, and producer. He is the host of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, an Emmy Award-nominated, Peabody Award-winning late-night talk show that airs on CBS...

 at the Piccadilly Theatre

Piccadilly Theatre

The Piccadilly Theatre is a West End theatre located at 16 Denman Street, behind Piccadilly Circus and adjacent to the Regent Palace Hotel, in the City of Westminster, England.-Early years:Built by Bertie Crewe and Edward A...

. Other musicals include Lust with Denis Lawson at the Theatre Royal

Haymarket Theatre

The Theatre Royal Haymarket is a West End theatre in the Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use...

, Haymarket, and Bob Carlton’s Keep On Running at Birmingham Rep in which she played the lead Kathleen Karman. In 1994 O'Sullivan appeared with Eric Sykes

Eric Sykes

Eric Sykes, CBE is an English radio, television and film writer, actor and director whose performing career has spanned more than 50 years. He frequently wrote for and/or performed with many other leading comedy performers and writers of the period, including Tony Hancock, Spike Milligan, Peter...

 in a nationwide tour of Ray Cooney’s farce Run For Your Wife. In 2008, O'Sullivan returned to the role of Barbara or “Lofty” in Run For Your Wife in a UK tour celebrating the play's 25th Anniversary.

Television

O'Sullivan played vet Sally Freeman in two 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...

 series of Home Farm Twins

Home Farm Twins

Home Farm Twins is a series of children's books written by Jenny Oldfield. The books were later successfully adapted into a television series for the BBC, with Polly Duniam and Sophie Duniam cast as the twins...

based on Jenny Oldfield

Jenny Oldfield

Jenny Oldfield is a million selling English author. Her books include Definitely Daisy, Animal Alert, Home farm twins, the Half Moon Ranch series and many others. Her books are very high in quality and many people have been inspired to start reading because of her exciting stories.The Horses of...

's novels of the same name. She has appeared in Dead Ringers

Dead Ringers (comedy)

Dead Ringers is a UK radio and television comedy impressions broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and later BBC Two. The programme was devised by producer Bill Dare and developed with Jon Holmes, Andy Hurst and Simon Blackwell. It starred Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Phil Cornwell, Kevin Connelly and Mark Perry...

, Channel 4

Channel 4

Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

 film Bill's New Frock and BBC Scotland sketch show 2000 Not Out with Craig Ferguson

Craig Ferguson

Craig Ferguson is a Scottish American television host, stand-up comedian, writer, actor, director, author, and producer. He is the host of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, an Emmy Award-nominated, Peabody Award-winning late-night talk show that airs on CBS...

.
Other TV work includes Armando Iannucci's Time Trumpet

Time Trumpet

Time Trumpet is a six-episode satirical television comedy series which aired on BBC Two in 2006. The series was written by Armando Iannucci, Roger Drew and Will Smith in a similar manner to Iannucci's earlier one-off programmes 2004: The Stupid Version and Clinton: His Struggle with...

, 2004: The Stupid Version, BBC 4's Don't Watch That, Watch This, four series of Bremner Bird and Fortune, and the 2008 CGI BBC3 sketch show The Wrong Door

The Wrong Door

The Wrong Door is a comedy sketch show, first aired on BBC Three on 28 August 2008. The programme is the first comedy show in which almost all of the sketches have a CGI element. As such, it was produced under the working title of The CGI Sketch Show...

in which she voices a Smutty Alien, The World's Most Annoying Creature and myriad other extra terrestrial/android characters.

Impressions

First television appearance as an impressionist was as a child on Seaside Special (1976), hosted by Roger Kitter. This was followed by appearances on BBC children's show Crackerjack under the name "Tracy Browne".
In 2DTV

2DTV

2DTV is a British satirical animated television show that was broadcast on ITV in the United Kingdom, directed by Tim Searle.2DTV employs the same satirical style as Spitting Image, but using animation rather than puppets. The animation was produced on computer, frequently with animators working up...

 (series 4 & 5) O'Sullivan supplied all female impressions/characters. Produced by Giles Pilbrow and directed by Tim Searle with Enn Reitel

Enn Reitel

Enn Reitel is a Scottish actor and impressionist who specialises in voice work.- Early life :Reitel's family arrived in Scotland as refugees from Estonia, German Empire...

, Lewis MacLeod

Lewis MacLeod

Euan Lewis MacLeod is a prolific Scottish character actor, who can be heard as the voice of a huge number of television commercials, movie trailers and cartoons in his native UK. He voices characters such as Sebulba from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and Postman Pat...

, and Dave Lamb

Dave Lamb

Dave Lamb is a British actor and voice-over artist best known for his work on Come Dine with Me as well as appearances in British television and radio programmes, especially comedy programmes. He also currently presents the CBBC game show Horrible Histories: Gory Games.- Early work :Lamb's first...

.
Hedz

Hedz

Hedz was a children's satirical show produced by BBC Scotland for CBBC. Hedz parodied various celebrities and politicians as large cardboard cut-outs over people's faces...

: comedy sketch show for CBBC/ BBC Scotland.O'Sullivan supplied all female impressions except the Queen, who was voiced by Peter Dickson. (Bafta:- Best Children’s Light Entertainment 2008).
DoubleTake, created by Alison Jackson, purported to show celebrities in embarrassing situations. The effect was created using lookalike actors and CCTV style camera techniques. The footage was then re-voiced by soundalikes. (Bafta for Innovation 2001).O'Sullivan's impressions, namely Nancy Dell'Olio and Ulrika Jonsson, featured in Jackson's 2006 production Sven: The Coach, The Cash and his Lovers for Channel 4.

Radio

A recommendation from Rob Brydon in 1998 secured her first radio job on Five Live's The Treatment. Directed by Steve Punt and Talkwell McCloud, it was hosted by Stuart Maconie from 1994–2001. In October 2008, she was a guest on Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis' sitcom The Party Line for Radio 4, She has played Queen Question in BBC7's Quizland for two series. Other radio includes Hot Gas for Radio 1

Blagger's guide

O'Sullivan has worked with David Quantick and Lewis Macleod in 5 series of The Blagger's Guide (2005–2008) for Radio 2. In the first two series, Quantick demonstrates his encyclopaedic knowledge of Rock and Pop and pairs it with fake archive footage and spoof adverts supplied by O'Sullivan, Lewis and producer Simon Poole. Series Three explores the Classics. Series Four returns to Rock and Pop, and Series Five is The Blagger's Guide To Country. Over the five series, O'Sullivan plays all female voices, characters and celebrities, among them Dolly Parton, a schoolgirl Kate Bush, all 3 Shangri-Las, Gary Numan

Gary Numan

Gary Numan is an English singer, composer, and musician, most widely known for his chart-topping 1979 hits "Are 'Friends' Electric?" and "Cars". His signature sound consisted of heavy synthesizer hooks fed through guitar effects pedals.Numan is considered a pioneer of commercial electronic music...

's bride-to-be and Beethoven's wife. Series 6, The Blagger's Guide to Jazz and a one-off special: The Blagger's Guide to Bob Dylan, Radio 2 ( May/July 2009).

Voiceover

She has supplied the voiceover for thousands of British television and radio commercials since 1996. Recent notable campaigns include Halifax, Marks & Spencer, station voice for Virgin/Absolute Xtreme

Absolute Xtreme

Absolute Xtreme was a digital radio station broadcasting in the United Kingdom, which played new alternative music.-History:Virgin Radio Xtreme, as it was initially branded, launched at 12.15am on 5 September 2005 by then Virgin Radio DJ, Steve Harris...

, and Vauxhall Corsa's "C'mon" TV campaign in which Kate voices "Moo", one of four bizarre miniature puppets whose limited vocabulary leads to their repeated use of the phrase "C'mon!"

Cartoons

O'Sullivan is the voice behind all six Singing Sockroaches for Milkshake, Channel 5's children’s channel. The Sockroaches are a gang of mischievous and singing socks who appear in every episode of the animated TV show The Beeps

The Beeps

The Beeps is an animated pre-school children's television series of 65 x 11 minute episodes, produced using computer-generated imagery by Impossible Television for the United Kingdom television network, Channel Five Broadcasting Ltd. Broadcast in the UK by Five on their early morning pre-school...

narrated by Tom Baker. Other cartoons: Treasure; MechaNick; Audrey and Friends; Big Barn Farm.

Audiobooks

O'Sullivan plays the Queen Mother and Susan the Student, among others in the audio adaptation of Robert Rankin’s novel Brightonomicon. She is also the voice of Professor Peabody in Orion's 2008 audio version of cult comic strip Dan Dare- Voyage To Venus by Frank Hampson, with Rupert Degas, Tom Goodman-Hill and Christian Rodska.
She narrates Orion books 1 & 2 of the Charmseekers series by Amy Tree, namely The Queen's Bracelet and The Silver Pool, which chronicle Sesame Brown's quest to find the 13 stolen magical charms belonging to Queen Charm of Karisma .

Writing

While co-presenting the children’s series, O'Sullivan wrote material for Wham! Bam! Strawberry Jam!(BBC 1995) and was commissioned by Thames TV Head of Comedy John Howard Davies to co-write a sitcom pilot "Different Drummers".

Trivia

As a child, O'Sullivan was awarded the title Crackerjack Young Entertainer of the Year 1978 for her impressions of Frank Spencer, the Muppet Show

The Muppet Show

The Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes...

, Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...

 and Lena Zavaroni

Lena Zavaroni

Lena Hilda Zavaroni was a Scottish child singer and a television show host. With her album Ma! He's Making Eyes At Me at ten years of age, she is the youngest person in history to have an album in the UK album chart top ten. Later in life she hosted TV shows and appeared on stage...

 on the popular children’s TV show Crackerjack, hosted by Ed Stewpot. On winning the competition, for which 900 other hopefuls had auditioned, she was given an Aiwa sound system, a signed photograph of Bernie Clifton and a coveted Crackerjack pen.

Filmography

Actress:

1. "The Wrong Door" .... Various / ... (6 episodes, 2008)
- Bondo (2008) TV episode .... Various
- The Wizard of Office (2008) TV episode .... Annoying Creature
- The Train Pirates (2008) TV episode
- The Smutty Aliens (2008) TV episode .... Various
- Njarnia (2008) TV episode .... Various
(1 more)
2. "Hedz" .... Various (8 episodes, 2007)
- Episode #1.8 (2007) TV episode .... Various
- Episode #1.7 (2007) TV episode .... Various
- Episode #1.6 (2007) TV episode .... Various
- Episode #1.5 (2007) TV episode .... Various
- Episode #1.4 (2007) TV episode .... Various
(3 more)
3. "Don't Watch That, Watch This" .... Various (4 episodes, 2006)
- Episode #3.6 (2006) TV episode .... Various
- Episode #3.5 (2006) TV episode .... Various
- Episode #3.4 (2006) TV episode .... Various
- Episode #3.3 (2006) TV episode .... Various
4. "Time Trumpet" .... Various (6 episodes, 2006)
- Episode #1.6 (2006) TV episode .... Various
- Episode #1.5 (2006) TV episode .... Various
- Episode #1.4 (2006) TV episode .... Various
- Episode #1.2 (2006) TV episode .... Various
- Episode #1.1 (2006) TV episode .... Various
(1 more)
5. "Dead Ringers" .... Joanna Lumley (2 episodes, 2005–2006)
- Episode #6.1 (2006) TV episode .... Joanna Lumley
Bremner, Bird and Fortune: A Bunch of Counts (2005) (TV) .... Various
6. 2004: The Stupid Version (2004) (TV) .... Various
7. "2DTV" .... All female impressions (1 episode, 2004)
- Episode #6.3 (2004) TV episode .... All female impressions
8. "Home Farm Twins" .... Sally Freeman (2 episodes, 1999–2004)
- Long Live... (2004) TV episode .... Sally Freeman
- Episode dated 7 January 1999 (1999) TV episode .... Sally Freeman
9. The Getaway: Black Monday (2004) (VG) (voice) .... Additional Voices
... aka Getaway 2 (International: English title: informal title)
10. "Double Take" (2003) TV mini-series .... Various
11. "Pen Monkeys" (2001) TV series
12. "Audrey and Friends" (2000) TV series Constance
13. "An Actor's Life for Me" (1 episode, 1991)
- A Kiss Is Just a Kiss (1991) TV episode
14. "Tonight at 8.30" .... Lena - Maid / ... (2 episodes, 1991)
- Shadow Play (1991) TV episode .... Lena - Maid
- Ways and Means (1991) TV episode .... Princess Elena Krassiloff
15. Dead Cat (1989) .... Girl
16. "The Return of Shelley" .... Dee Halliday (1 episode, 1988)
- The Return of Shelley (1988) TV episode .... Dee Halliday

External links

• Source IMDB