Marjorie Yates
Encyclopedia
Marjorie Yates is a British actress most famous for her role as Carol Fisher in the Channel 4
drama Shameless
.
Yates was born in Birmingham
, England, and studied at the Bournville College of Art. An early TV role was in Colin Welland
's 1972 BBC1 Play for Today
Kisses At Fifty alongside Bill Maynard
, followed in 1973 with a role in Putting on the Agony in which she starred as 'Marilyn'. The role was followed throughout the 1970s with minor parts in a number of television productions including Z-Cars
in 1974 and The Sweeney
in 1976. She continued her acting career on stage and television throughout the 1980s and 1990s including minor parts in Great Expectations, Boon
, The Ruth Rendell Mysteries
, Village Hall, Crown Court
and Wycliffe
and a leading role in A Very British Coup
. During this period, she landed the female lead in the Peter Sellers
movie The Optimists of Nine Elms (often named The Optimists) and starred alongside David Swift in "Couples", a long running, twice weekly day time drama on UK ITV
about a marriage guidance counselling service.
In 1992 Yates appeared in the Terence Davies film The Long Day Closes.
In 2001, Yates appeared on stage in London's West End in Noël Coward
's "Star Quality", playing opposite Penelope Keith
and Una Stubbs
.
Yates has had parts in Where the Heart Is
in 1997 and Heartbeat in 2000. She has also appeared in The Bill in 1990, 1996, and twice in 2002.
Yates won an initially small role in Channel 4 drama Shameless playing the role of Carol Fisher, mother of Veronica in 2004, originally for one episode. After a minor role in No Angels
Marjorie was invited back to Shameless on a permanent basis.
She starred as Carol from series 2 in December 2004 to the end of series 4 in February 2007.
She left the show after three series, when it was decided to axe the Fishers from the show in 2006, following the departure of Maxine Peake
. She departed off screen and her character's absence was explained very briefly.
Yates has since been starring in theatre productions in England.
In July 2008 she appeared in the BBC series Casualty
as Val Barnaby in the episode "The things we do for..."
Yates was for a time married to Michael Freeman, a former parliamentary candidate for the Labour Party in Finchley and a councillor on Barnet Council. They had two children, but divorced in the 1980s.
In January 2010 it was revealed Marjorie would once again team up with Ex-Shameless co-star Maxine Peake
in the movie Edge. Filming began that same month.
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...
drama Shameless
Shameless
Shameless is a British television drama series set in Manchester on the fictional Chatsworth council estate. Produced by Company Pictures for Channel 4, the first seven-episode series aired weekly on Tuesday nights at 10pm from 13 January 2004...
.
Yates was born in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, England, and studied at the Bournville College of Art. An early TV role was in Colin Welland
Colin Welland
Colin Welland is a British actor and screenwriter. He won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for his script for Chariots of Fire ,,,....
's 1972 BBC1 Play for Today
Play for Today
Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted...
Kisses At Fifty alongside Bill Maynard
Bill Maynard
Walter Frederick George Williams , better known by the stage name Bill Maynard, is an English comedian and actor.-Early life and career:...
, followed in 1973 with a role in Putting on the Agony in which she starred as 'Marilyn'. The role was followed throughout the 1970s with minor parts in a number of television productions including Z-Cars
Z-Cars
Z-Cars is a British television drama series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby in the outskirts of Liverpool in Merseyside. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.-Origins:The series was developed by...
in 1974 and The Sweeney
The Sweeney
The Sweeney is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London...
in 1976. She continued her acting career on stage and television throughout the 1980s and 1990s including minor parts in Great Expectations, Boon
Boon (TV series)
Boon is a British television drama and modern-day western series starring Michael Elphick, David Daker, and later Neil Morrissey. It was created by Jim Hill and Bill Stair and filmed by Central Television for ITV...
, The Ruth Rendell Mysteries
The Ruth Rendell Mysteries
The Ruth Rendell Mysteries is a British television series made by TVS and Meridian Television for ITV between 1987 and 2000.-Description:The series comprises adaptations of the works of Ruth Rendell, many of which are based on her extensive range of short stories...
, Village Hall, Crown Court
Crown Court (TV series)
Crown Court was an afternoon television courtroom drama produced by Granada Television for the ITV network that ran from 1972, when the Crown Court system replaced Assize courts and Quarter sessions in the legal system of England and Wales, to 1984....
and Wycliffe
Wycliffe (TV series)
Wycliffe is a British TV series, based on W. J. Burley's novels about Detective Superintendent Charles Wycliffe . It was produced by HTV and broadcast on the ITV Network, following a pilot episode on 7 August 1993, between 24 July 1994 and 5 July 1998. The series was filmed in Cornwall, with a...
and a leading role in A Very British Coup
A Very British Coup
A Very British Coup is a 1982 novel by British politician Chris Mullin. In 1988, the novel was adapted for television, directed by Mick Jackson, with a screenplay by Alan Plater and starring Ray McAnally...
. During this period, she landed the female lead in the Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers
Richard Henry Sellers, CBE , known as Peter Sellers, was a British comedian and actor. Perhaps best known as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther film series, he is also notable for playing three different characters in Dr...
movie The Optimists of Nine Elms (often named The Optimists) and starred alongside David Swift in "Couples", a long running, twice weekly day time drama on UK 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...
about a marriage guidance counselling service.
In 1992 Yates appeared in the Terence Davies film The Long Day Closes.
In 2001, Yates appeared on stage in London's West End in Noël Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
's "Star Quality", playing opposite Penelope Keith
Penelope Keith
Penelope Anne Constance Keith, CBE, DL is an English actress.Having started her television career in the 1950s, Penelope Keith became a household name in the United Kingdom in the 1970s when she played Margo Leadbetter in the sitcom The Good Life...
and Una Stubbs
Una Stubbs
Una Stubbs is an English actress and former dancer who has appeared extensively on British television and in the theatre, and less frequently in films. She is particularly known for her roles in the sitcom Till Death Us Do Part and Aunt Sally in the children's series Worzel Gummidge.-Film and...
.
Yates has had parts in Where the Heart Is
Where the Heart Is (1997 TV series)
Where the Heart Is is a British television drama series set in the fictional town Skelthwaite.First shown in 1997, it was created by Ashley Pharoah and Vicky Featherstone...
in 1997 and Heartbeat in 2000. She has also appeared in The Bill in 1990, 1996, and twice in 2002.
Yates won an initially small role in Channel 4 drama Shameless playing the role of Carol Fisher, mother of Veronica in 2004, originally for one episode. After a minor role in No Angels
No Angels
The No Angels are an all-female pop trio from Germany, consisting of band members Lucy Diakovska, Sandy Mölling, and Jessica Wahls. Critically acclaimed, the band has won dozen of awards and prizes since their establishment in the early 2000s, including three ECHOs, a World Music Awards, a NRJ...
Marjorie was invited back to Shameless on a permanent basis.
She starred as Carol from series 2 in December 2004 to the end of series 4 in February 2007.
She left the show after three series, when it was decided to axe the Fishers from the show in 2006, following the departure of Maxine Peake
Maxine Peake
Maxine Peake is an English stage, film and television actress known for playing Veronica in Channel 4's Manchester-based drama series Shameless, Twinkle in Victoria Wood's sitcom Dinnerladies, and, most recently, barrister Martha Costello in BBC legal drama Silk.-Early life:Peake is the second of...
. She departed off screen and her character's absence was explained very briefly.
Yates has since been starring in theatre productions in England.
In July 2008 she appeared in the BBC series Casualty
Casualty (TV series)
Casualty, stylised as Casual+y, is a British weekly television show broadcast on BBC One, and the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast on 6 September 1986, and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The...
as Val Barnaby in the episode "The things we do for..."
Yates was for a time married to Michael Freeman, a former parliamentary candidate for the Labour Party in Finchley and a councillor on Barnet Council. They had two children, but divorced in the 1980s.
In January 2010 it was revealed Marjorie would once again team up with Ex-Shameless co-star Maxine Peake
Maxine Peake
Maxine Peake is an English stage, film and television actress known for playing Veronica in Channel 4's Manchester-based drama series Shameless, Twinkle in Victoria Wood's sitcom Dinnerladies, and, most recently, barrister Martha Costello in BBC legal drama Silk.-Early life:Peake is the second of...
in the movie Edge. Filming began that same month.