Sharon Morgan
Encyclopedia
Sharon Morgan is a Welsh
actress of stage and screen, currently based in Cardiff. She was brought up in the village of Llandyfaelog
. She is best known for her work within the welsh film and television industries and has been the recipient of two BAFTA Cymru
awards.
, Carmarthenshire
, the daughter of a headmaster and a drama teacher. In her youth she didn't believe she could succeed as an actress, but states that her parents always supported her career choice. As a back up to her desired acting career, Morgan studied an undergraduate history course at Cardiff university
in the 1960s, before training to be a stage actress. Morgan has two children, Stephan (born 1979/1980) and Saran (born 1995/1996) and spent the largest part of her acting career juggling her work and life as a single parent. Speaking of her difficult home/work balance Morgan elaborates that "You manage with the help of friends. You find a way". A Welsh language
campaigner, Morgan was arrested in 1988 for daubing paint on the Welsh Office. The actress was afraid that this criminal conviction may have precluded her from gaining a US Visa to film Torchwood
in Los Angeles.
Morgan is trilingual, speaking Welsh - her mother tongue, English and French. Morgan is an advocate for remaining active in old age, and cites fellow actress Helen Mirren
as an inspiration to older women.
between 1994 and 2002 and portraying Stella Craven in Mine All Mine
, (2004) written by Russell T Davies.
Amongst Morgan’s other screen credits are a regular lead role in the BBC drama series Belonging
, as well as a semi-regular role in Doctors and appearances in other UK Television shows such as Midsummer Murders, Casualty
, Coronation Street
, Caerdydd
, Pobol y Cwm
and Alys
. In 2002 Morgan appeared as Kath, a frustrated middled aged houswewife in the Cardiff shot comedy short Pleasure Pill
. She played the lead role of Martha in the 2008 2 hour S4C
drama Martha, Jac a Santo which she describes as a "culturally important film" that serves as "a strong and sensitive portrayal of agricultural life in Wales". Morgan's portrayal of Martha won her her second BAFTA Cymru award for best actress (having previously won one for her performance in Tair Chwaer [1998]).
Morgan has also achieved prominence through her role in Torchwood
as Mary Cooper, the mother of principal character Gwen Cooper
, first appearing in the second series episode "Something Borrowed
" (2008) and returning for six episodes of the shows fourth series, known as "Torchwood: Miracle Day" (2011). Later in 2011, Morgan will star as Maggie Jones in Resistance
, an adaptation of the novel of the same name
written by Owen Sheers
.
In addition to her screen career, Morgan is also an established stage actress and playwrite who has also translated plays, including the Vagina Monologues, into the Welsh language. Her stage acting roles include the National Theatre Wales
production A Good night out in the Valleys which was first performed in 2010. Of her performance, The Daily Mail write that "Sharon Morgan is a riot as a dotty old bird who listens to ear-splitting rock music on her earphones".
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
actress of stage and screen, currently based in Cardiff. She was brought up in the village of Llandyfaelog
Llandyfaelog
-External links:...
. She is best known for her work within the welsh film and television industries and has been the recipient of two BAFTA Cymru
BAFTA Cymru
BAFTA Cymru is the Welsh branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.Formed in 1991, they hold an annual awards ceremony to recognise achievement by performers and production staff in Welsh-made films and television programmes...
awards.
Personal life
Morgan grew up in GlanammanGlanamman
Glanaman is a small town lying on the River Amman in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It has a population of around 2,000 people...
, Carmarthenshire
Carmarthenshire
Carmarthenshire is a unitary authority in the south west of Wales and one of thirteen historic counties. It is the 3rd largest in Wales. Its three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford...
, the daughter of a headmaster and a drama teacher. In her youth she didn't believe she could succeed as an actress, but states that her parents always supported her career choice. As a back up to her desired acting career, Morgan studied an undergraduate history course at Cardiff university
Cardiff University
Cardiff University is a leading research university located in the Cathays Park area of Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom. It received its Royal charter in 1883 and is a member of the Russell Group of Universities. The university is consistently recognised as providing high quality research-based...
in the 1960s, before training to be a stage actress. Morgan has two children, Stephan (born 1979/1980) and Saran (born 1995/1996) and spent the largest part of her acting career juggling her work and life as a single parent. Speaking of her difficult home/work balance Morgan elaborates that "You manage with the help of friends. You find a way". A Welsh language
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
campaigner, Morgan was arrested in 1988 for daubing paint on the Welsh Office. The actress was afraid that this criminal conviction may have precluded her from gaining a US Visa to film Torchwood
Torchwood
Torchwood is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. The series is a spin-off from Davies's 2005 revival of the long-running science fiction programme Doctor Who. The show has shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing audience, moving from...
in Los Angeles.
Morgan is trilingual, speaking Welsh - her mother tongue, English and French. Morgan is an advocate for remaining active in old age, and cites fellow actress Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren
Dame Helen Mirren, DBE is an English actor. She has won an Academy Award for Best Actress, four SAG Awards, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards, and two Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards.-Early life and family:...
as an inspiration to older women.
Career
Since beginning her acting career in the 1970s Morgan has appeared in a variety of TV series, films and stage productions, both in English and Welsh language. Welsh Newspaper the Western Mail refer to her as "one of the most respected actors of her generation." Notable roles include her portrayal of Professor Margaret Edwards in A Mind to KillA Mind to Kill
A Mind to Kill is a police detective series developed from a 1991 pilot. The programme ran from 1994 to 2004 and aired first on S4C .-Synopsis:...
between 1994 and 2002 and portraying Stella Craven in Mine All Mine
Mine All Mine
Mine All Mine is a British television series produced by Red Production Company for ITV. It was written by Russell T Davies and starred Griff Rhys Jones...
, (2004) written by Russell T Davies.
Amongst Morgan’s other screen credits are a regular lead role in the BBC drama series Belonging
Belonging
Belonging is an English-language Welsh television drama series, produced by BBC Wales and broadcast on BBC One Wales.The programme revolved around the lives of the Lewis family, and their various trials and tribulations in the changing environment of their South Wales town Bryncoed and modern Wales...
, as well as a semi-regular role in Doctors and appearances in other UK Television shows such as Midsummer Murders, 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...
, 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...
, Caerdydd
Caerdydd
Caerdydd is a Welsh language television programme set in Cardiff made by Fiction Factory for Welsh public service television station S4C...
, Pobol y Cwm
Pobol y Cwm
Pobol y Cwm is a Welsh-language television soap opera which has been produced by the BBC since October 1974. The longest-running television soap opera produced by the BBC, Pobol y Cwm was originally transmitted on BBC Wales television and later transferred to the Welsh-language station S4C when it...
and Alys
Alys
Alys is a feminine given name, and may refer to:* Alys, Countess of the Vexin , French princess* Alys Clare , English historical novelist...
. In 2002 Morgan appeared as Kath, a frustrated middled aged houswewife in the Cardiff shot comedy short Pleasure Pill
Pleasure Pill
Pleasure Pill is a short film, made in Cardiff, Wales as part of the Screen Gems scheme run by Sgrin Media Agency, HTV and the UK Film Council in 2002....
. She played the lead role of Martha in the 2008 2 hour S4C
S4C
S4C , currently branded as S4/C, is a Welsh television channel broadcast from the capital, Cardiff. The first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speaking audience, it is the fifth oldest British television channel .The channel - initially broadcast on...
drama Martha, Jac a Santo which she describes as a "culturally important film" that serves as "a strong and sensitive portrayal of agricultural life in Wales". Morgan's portrayal of Martha won her her second BAFTA Cymru award for best actress (having previously won one for her performance in Tair Chwaer [1998]).
Morgan has also achieved prominence through her role in Torchwood
Torchwood
Torchwood is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. The series is a spin-off from Davies's 2005 revival of the long-running science fiction programme Doctor Who. The show has shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing audience, moving from...
as Mary Cooper, the mother of principal character Gwen Cooper
Gwen Cooper
Gwen Cooper is a fictional character in the BBC television programme Torchwood, a spin-off to the long-running show Doctor Who, portrayed by Welsh actress Eve Myles. The series' lead female character, Gwen has featured in every episode of the sci-fi programme to date as well as two crossover...
, first appearing in the second series episode "Something Borrowed
Something Borrowed (Torchwood)
"Something Borrowed" is the ninth episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood. It was broadcast by BBC Three on 5 March 2008 and repeated on BBC Two one week later.-Synopsis:...
" (2008) and returning for six episodes of the shows fourth series, known as "Torchwood: Miracle Day" (2011). Later in 2011, Morgan will star as Maggie Jones in Resistance
Resistance (2011 film)
Resistance is a 2011 Welsh film based on the novel of the same name by Owen Sheers. It is scheduled to have a UK release on 25 November 2011 .-Cast:*Andrea Riseborough - Sarah*Michael Sheen - Tommy Atkins*Kimberley Nixon - Bethan*Iwan Rheon - George...
, an adaptation of the novel of the same name
Resistance (Owen Sheers novel)
Resistance is a novel by Welsh poet and author Owen Sheers. The plot centres around the inhabitants of a valley near Abergavenny in Wales in 1944–45, shortly after the failure of Operation Overlord and a successful German counter-invasion of Britain , and a group of German Wehrmacht soldiers who...
written by Owen Sheers
Owen Sheers
Owen Sheers is a Welsh poet, author, playwright, actor and TV presenter.-Biography:Owen Sheers was born in Suva, Fiji in 1974 and brought up in Abergavenny, South Wales...
.
In addition to her screen career, Morgan is also an established stage actress and playwrite who has also translated plays, including the Vagina Monologues, into the Welsh language. Her stage acting roles include the National Theatre Wales
National Theatre Wales
National Theatre Wales is the English language national theatre company in Wales. Focused on producing work in the English language, the company's opening programme of work included twelve shows in twelve months....
production A Good night out in the Valleys which was first performed in 2010. Of her performance, The Daily Mail write that "Sharon Morgan is a riot as a dotty old bird who listens to ear-splitting rock music on her earphones".
Selected Filmography
| Year(s) | Title | Role | | More information |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Resistance Resistance (2011 film) Resistance is a 2011 Welsh film based on the novel of the same name by Owen Sheers. It is scheduled to have a UK release on 25 November 2011 .-Cast:*Andrea Riseborough - Sarah*Michael Sheen - Tommy Atkins*Kimberley Nixon - Bethan*Iwan Rheon - George... |
Maggie Jones | |
| Alys Alys Alys is a feminine given name, and may refer to:* Alys, Countess of the Vexin , French princess* Alys Clare , English historical novelist... |
Lisabeth | Three episodes - Pennod Five, Pennod Six, Pennod Seven | |
| 2008,2011 | Torchwood Torchwood Torchwood is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. The series is a spin-off from Davies's 2005 revival of the long-running science fiction programme Doctor Who. The show has shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing audience, moving from... |
Mary Cooper | "Something Borrowed Something Borrowed (Torchwood) "Something Borrowed" is the ninth episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood. It was broadcast by BBC Three on 5 March 2008 and repeated on BBC Two one week later.-Synopsis:... " "The New World The New World (Torchwood) "The New World" is the first episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, and was broadcast in the United States on Starz on 8 July 2011, in Canada on Space on 9 July 2011, and in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 14 July 2011.-Synopsis:In Kentucky, convicted... " "The Categories of Life The Categories of Life "The Categories of Life" is the fifth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, and was first broadcast in the United States on Starz on 5 August 2011 and in the UK on 11 August.-Plot summary:... " "Immortal Sins Immortal Sins "Immortal Sins" is the seventh episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, and was broadcast in the United States on Starz on 19 August 2011.-Plot summary:... " "End of the Road End of the Road (Torchwood) "End of the Road" is the eighth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, and was first broadcast in the United States on Starz on 26 August 2011.-Plot summary:... " "The Gathering The Gathering (Torchwood) "The Gathering" is the ninth and penultimate episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, and was first broadcast in the United States on Starz on 2 September 2011.-Plot summary:... " "The Blood Line The Blood Line "The Blood Line" is the tenth and final episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, and was first broadcast in the United States on Starz on 9 September 2011.-Plot summary:... " |
| 2008 | Martha, Jac a Sianco | Martha | Won Bafta Cymru BAFTA Cymru BAFTA Cymru is the Welsh branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.Formed in 1991, they hold an annual awards ceremony to recognise achievement by performers and production staff in Welsh-made films and television programmes... for Best Actress |
| After You've Gone | Beryl | TV episode - "Going Solo" | |
| 2007 | Midsomer Murders Midsomer Murders Midsomer Murders is a British television detective drama that has aired on ITV since 1997. The show is based on the books by Caroline Graham, as originally adapted by Anthony Horowitz. The lead character is DCI Tom Barnaby who works for Causton CID. When Nettles left the show in 2011 he was... |
Delyth Mostyn | TV episode - "Death and Dust" |
| 2006 | Caerdydd Caerdydd Caerdydd is a Welsh language television programme set in Cardiff made by Fiction Factory for Welsh public service television station S4C... |
Anne Davies | Two episodes |
| High Hopes High Hopes (TV series) High Hopes is a sitcom made in Wales, produced and directed by Gareth Gwenlan for BBC Wales and is set in a fictional area of the South Wales Valleys called Cwm-Pen-Ôl... |
Professor Blunt | Two episodes | |
| Calon Gaeth | Aunt Hetty | Welsh TV film | |
| 2005–2007 | Doctors | Gwyneth Powis | Recurring character |
| 2005 | Mabel | Janice | Film short |
| Down to Earth Down to Earth (UK TV series) Down to Earth was a BBC One television series first broadcast in 2000 about a couple who start a new life on a Devon farm. The early episodes of the series were based on a series of books written by Faith Addis about their real-life move from London to Devon.The music in the series was composed by... |
Rita Powell | TV episode - "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye" | |
| 2004 | Mine All Mine Mine All Mine Mine All Mine is a British television series produced by Red Production Company for ITV. It was written by Russell T Davies and starred Griff Rhys Jones... |
Stella Craven | Lead Role |
| Pobol y Cwm Pobol y Cwm Pobol y Cwm is a Welsh-language television soap opera which has been produced by the BBC since October 1974. The longest-running television soap opera produced by the BBC, Pobol y Cwm was originally transmitted on BBC Wales television and later transferred to the Welsh-language station S4C when it... |
Sylvia Bevan | One-off appearance | |
| 2002 | Pleasure Pill Pleasure Pill Pleasure Pill is a short film, made in Cardiff, Wales as part of the Screen Gems scheme run by Sgrin Media Agency, HTV and the UK Film Council in 2002.... |
Kath | Comedy Short; Lead Role |
| 1994 | Gadael Lenin | Eileen | feature Film |
| 1994–2002 | A Mind to Kill A Mind to Kill A Mind to Kill is a police detective series developed from a 1991 pilot. The programme ran from 1994 to 2004 and aired first on S4C .-Synopsis:... |
Professor Margaret Edwards, pathologist | Series regular |
| 1992 | 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... |
Jean Collins | TV episode - "Cascade" |
| 1986 | No Place Like Home | Daphne Davies | TV episode - "Trevor's Last Stand" |
| 1984 | The Magnificent Evans The Magnificent Evans The Magnificent Evans is a 1984 BBC situation comedy written by Roy Clarke and starring Ronnie Barker, Sharon Morgan and Myfanwy Talog.-Plot:... |
Rachel Harris | Leading role (six episodes) |
| 1983 | The Gentle Touch The Gentle Touch The Gentle Touch is a British police drama television series made by London Weekend Television for ITV which ran from 1980-1984. Commencing transmission on 11 April 1980, the series is notable for being the first British series to feature a female police detective as its leading character, ahead of... |
Carrie Harrison | TV episode - "Private Views" |
| 1982 | Giro City Giro City Giro City is a 1982 British drama film written and directed by Karl Francis and starring Glenda Jackson, Jon Finch and Kenneth Colley. A team of reporters come up against censorship when they pursue a story... |
Social Worker | feature film |
| 1979 | 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... |
Mrs Ellis | One off appearance |
| Thomas & Sarah Thomas & Sarah Thomas & Sarah is a British drama series that aired on ITV in 1979. The only spin-off from the BAFTA Award-winning series Upstairs, Downstairs, it stars John Alderton and Pauline Collins reprising their Upstairs, Downstairs roles.-Background:... |
Alice Williams | TV episode = "Made in Heaven" | |
| 1978 | Grand Slam Grand Slam (1978 film) Grand Slam is a 1978 sports comedy film produced by BBC Wales. The film starred Oscar-winning actor Hugh Griffith, Windsor Davies, Dewi "Pws" Morris and Sion Probert... |
Odette | Television film |