Tracie Bennett
Encyclopedia
Tracie Bennett is an English stage and television actress. She trained at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in Clapham
, London. She has won two Laurence Olivier Awards.
, before appearing in Coronation Street
between 1982 and 1984 as Sharon Gaskell, the Fairclough
's foster daughter. She returned to the role in 1999. She also played Milandra in the comedy film Shirley Valentine
. She played dim-witted blonde Tracy Glazebrook in the pilot of Steven Moffat
's sitcom Joking Apart
, a role which she reprised for the subsequent two full length series in 1993 and 1995.
Tracie was winner of Celebrity Stars in their Eyes
, as Judy Garland
, in 2000.
In 1995, she won a Laurence Olivier Award
as Best Supporting Performance in a Musical for She Loves Me
at the Savoy Theatre
.
She played Ida in Honk!
, which won the 2000 Olivier award for Best Musical. http://www.aord.co.uk/honk/gallery.htm
In 2003, she was critically acclaimed for her role in High Society
in the West End, and for which she was nominated for an Olivier Award in 2004. She then appeared in Sex, Chips and Rock 'n' Roll at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester
, for which she was nominated for a TMA Theatre Award as Best Supporting Actress in a Musical.
In January 2006, Tracie joined the London
production of Les Misérables
in the role of Madame Thénardier at the Queen's Theatre
, which she continued to play through to July 2007.
In October 2007, she began her run in the role of Velma Von Tussle in the London premiere of the Broadway musical Hairspray
at the Shaftesbury Theatre
. She mentioned on a televised interview that it was a "great show" and that she enjoyed doing it, but also said it was exhausting, pointing out that to begin with, the wiring under her wig weighs 10 lbs, making some of the dancing difficult, and they had to take a bit out. Her efforts were rewarded when on 9 March 2008, it was announced that she had won the Olivier Award in a supporting role.
In February 2010, Bennett took the leading role as Judy Garland
in a revival of Peter Quilter
's play with music, End of the Rainbow
, at Northampton
's Royal Theatre. When the production transferred to London, she was nominated for the 2011 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress.
(for Carlton
), and won an Audie Award
for Comedy Best Actress for her narrations for the audio book
s of Helen Fielding
's Bridget Jones's Diary
and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
.
Clapham
Clapham is a district in south London, England, within the London Borough of Lambeth.Clapham covers the postcodes of SW4 and parts of SW9, SW8 and SW12. Clapham Common is shared with the London Borough of Wandsworth, although Lambeth has responsibility for running the common as a whole. According...
, London. She has won two Laurence Olivier Awards.
Career
Tracie's television debut was in the children's series Going OutGoing Out
"Going Out" was the first single to be taken from In It for the Money, the second album by Britpop band Supergrass. It was released in February 1996, and reached 5 in the UK Charts. Apparently the song was originally written in the key of E, because the engine of Supergrass' tour bus would tick at...
, before appearing in 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...
between 1982 and 1984 as Sharon Gaskell, the Fairclough
Rita Sullivan
Rita Sullivan is a long-standing character in the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street...
's foster daughter. She returned to the role in 1999. She also played Milandra in the comedy film Shirley Valentine
Shirley Valentine
Shirley Valentine is a one-character play by Willy Russell. Taking the form of a monologue by a middle-aged, working class Liverpool housewife, it focuses on her life before and after a transforming holiday abroad.-Plot:...
. She played dim-witted blonde Tracy Glazebrook in the pilot of Steven Moffat
Steven Moffat
Steven Moffat is a Scottish television writer and producer.Moffat's first television work was the teen drama series Press Gang. His first sitcom, Joking Apart, was inspired by the breakdown of his first marriage; conversely, his later sitcom Coupling was based upon the development of his...
's sitcom Joking Apart
Joking Apart
Joking Apart is a BBC television sitcom written by Steven Moffat about the rise and fall of a relationship. It juxtaposes a couple, Mark and Becky , who fall in love and marry, before getting separated and finally divorced...
, a role which she reprised for the subsequent two full length series in 1993 and 1995.
Film
- French Fries on the Golden Front (short) - Princess, Executive Producer (2004)
- f2point8 (short) - Kika (2002)
- Revenge of Billy the Kid - Boom Operator (1991)
- Shirley ValentineShirley ValentineShirley Valentine is a one-character play by Willy Russell. Taking the form of a monologue by a middle-aged, working class Liverpool housewife, it focuses on her life before and after a transforming holiday abroad.-Plot:...
- Millandra Bradshaw (1989) - Knights & Emeralds - Tina (1986)
Television
- DoctorsDoctors (BBC Soap Opera)Doctors is a British daytime television soap opera, set in the fictional Midland town of Letherbridge, defined as being close to the City of Birmingham. It was created by Chris Murray; Mal Young drove its development, and Carson Black was the original producer. The first episode was broadcast on...
- Jean Hobbs / Julie Bolton (2 episodes, 2005–2007) - CasualtyCasualty (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...
- Gina Driscoll / Linda Riley / Sally / Seonaidh (5 episodes, 1992–2007, 2011) - Dalziel and PascoeDalziel and Pascoe (BBC TV series)Dalziel and Pascoe is a popular British television crime drama based on the Dalziel and Pascoe books by Reginald Hill, which was first broadcast in March 1996. It is set in Yorkshire, and is about two detectives...
(TV series) - Grace Beck (2 episodes, 2007) - Northern LightsNorthern Lights (TV series)Northern Lights is a 2006 comedy-drama broadcast on ITV starring Mark Benton and Robson Green. It is a spin-off of the 2004 Christmas special Christmas Lights....
- Maureen (1 episode, 2006) - VincentVincent (TV series)Vincent is an ITV drama series. An initial series was made and aired in 2005 and starred Ray Winstone, in the title role, and Suranne Jones as two members of a team of private eyes hired by people to spy on their partners or indeed anyone else they need to keep tabs on. The four part series also...
- Deborah Finnigan (1 episode, 2005) - The RoyalThe RoyalThe Royal is a British medical drama series produced by ITV. The show comprises one hour episodes which were normally first aired on ITV in the Sunday early evening slot....
(TV series) - Sylvia (1 episode, 2005) - The Long Firm (TV movie) - Judy Garland (2004)
- The Courtroom - Diane Eaton (1 episode, 2004)
- Keen EddieKeen EddieKeen Eddie is an American action, comedy-drama television series that aired in 2003 on the Fox Network. The series follows a brash NYPD detective who goes to London when one of his cases goes sour and remains to work with New Scotland Yard...
(TV series) - Charlotte (1 episode, 2003) - Murder Investigation Team - Celia Seagrove (1 episode, 2003)
- The BillThe BillThe 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...
(TV series) - Lisa Brooks / Shirley Fielding (2 episodes, 1993–2003) - Burn ItBurn ItBurn It was a drama series, with touches of dark comedy, following the lives of three twenty-somethings in present-day Manchester.-About:The series followed Carl, Andy and Jon as three self-proclaimed Generation X-ers going through life without any real responsibilities to worry them...
(TV series) - Bev (5 episodes, 2003) - The Afternoon PlayThe Afternoon PlayThe Afternoon Play is a series of individual plays which sometimes appear on BBC One during weekday afternoons. The first series began on 27 January 2003, and as of 2008 there have been five series...
(TV series) - Yvonne (1 episode, 2003) - Mersey BeatMerseybeat (TV series)Merseybeat is a British police procedural television series shown on BBC One, with a total of four series broadcast between 2001 and 2004. The series follows the personal and professional lives of one shift of police officers from the fictional Newton Park police station on Merseyside, England.In...
(TV series) - Jacqui McHale (1 episode, 2002) - Where the Heart IsWhere 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...
(TV series) - Julie Sprake (1 episode, 2002) - Coronation StreetCoronation StreetCoronation 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...
(TV series) - Sharon Gaskell (multiple episodes, 1982–1984, 1999) - The Ambassador (TV series) - Annette (1 episode, 1999)
- Verdict - Sally Taylor (1 episode, 1998)
- Heartbeat - Lieutenant (1 episode, 1997)
- Next of Kin (TV series)Next of Kin (TV series)Next of Kin is a British sitcom that aired on BBC1 from 1995 to 1997. It starred Penelope Keith in her last regular sitcom role. It was written byGavin Petrie and Jan Etherington....
- Liz (13 episodes, 1995–1996) - Joking ApartJoking ApartJoking Apart is a BBC television sitcom written by Steven Moffat about the rise and fall of a relationship. It juxtaposes a couple, Mark and Becky , who fall in love and marry, before getting separated and finally divorced...
- Tracy Glazebrook (12 episodes, 1991–1995) - The Gingerbread GirlThe Gingerbread Girl"The Gingerbread Girl" is a novella by Stephen King that was originally published in the July issue of Esquire magazine on June 15 of 2007. It was later included in King's Just After Sunset collection in 2008. "The Gingerbread Girl" was also released as an audiobook, read by Mare Winningham, by...
(TV series) - Stella (1993) - The Upper HandThe Upper HandThe Upper Hand is a sitcom, produced by Central Independent Television and broadcast by ITV from 1990 to 1996. The programme was adapted from the American sitcom Who's the Boss?....
(TV series) - Michelle (1 episode, 1992) - Making OutMaking OutMaking Out is a British television series, shown by the BBC between 1989 and 1991.The series, written by Debbie Horsfield, mixed comedy and drama in its portrayal of the women who worked on the factory floor at New Lyne Electronics in Manchester, tackling the personal lives of the characters as...
(TV series) - Norma (24 episodes, 1989–1991) - Rich Tea and Sympathy (TV series) - Nikki (1991)
- The Ruth Rendell MysteriesThe Ruth Rendell MysteriesThe 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...
(TV series) - Marilyn Thompson (1 episode, 1990) - Brush StrokesBrush StrokesBrush Strokes is a British television sitcom, broadcast on BBC television from 1986 to 1991. Written by Esmonde and Larbey and set in South London, it depicted the amorous adventures of a good-looking, wisecracking house painter, Jacko...
(TV series) - Miss Naomi Wilson (1 episode, 1987) - Unnatural CausesUnnatural CausesYou may be looking for UNNATURAL CAUSES: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?, a documentary series broadcast on PBS in 2008.Unnatural Causes is a detective novel by English crime writer P. D. James.-Synopsis:...
(TV series) - Actress (1 episode, 1986) - BoonBoon (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...
- Patsy (1 episode, 1986)
Tracie was winner of Celebrity Stars in their Eyes
Stars In Their Eyes
Stars in Their Eyes is a British television talent show that ran on Saturdays nights from 21 July 1990 until 23 December 2006 in which contestants impersonate showbiz stars...
, as Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
, in 2000.
Stage
Theatrography- La Cage aux Folles
- CarouselCarousel (musical)Carousel is the second stage musical by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II . The work premiered in 1945 and was adapted from Ferenc Molnár's 1909 play Liliom, transplanting its Budapest setting to the Maine coastline...
- She Stoops to ConquerShe Stoops to ConquerShe Stoops to Conquer is a comedy by the Irish author Oliver Goldsmith, son of an Anglo-Irish vicar, first performed in London in 1773. The play is a great favourite for study by English literature and theatre classes in Britain and the United States. It is one of the few plays from the 18th...
- One for the RoadOne for the Road (Willy Russell play)One For The Road is a comedic play by Willy Russell, written in 1976 and published in 1980. The script was revised and updated by Russell in 1985 and the rights are held by Samuel French Ltd. It is not to be confused with the Harold Pinter play of the same name...
- GreaseGrease (musical)Grease is a 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. The musical is named for the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as the greasers. The musical, set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School , follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of love,...
- ChicagoChicago (musical)Chicago is a musical set in Prohibition-era Chicago. The music is by John Kander with lyrics by Fred Ebb and a book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity criminal"...
- Blood Brothers
- Educating RitaEducating RitaEducating Rita is a stage comedy by British playwright Willy Russell. It is a play for two actors set entirely in the office of an Open University lecturer....
- She Loves MeShe Loves MeShe Loves Me is a musical with a book by Joe Masteroff, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and music by Jerry Bock.The musical is the fifth adaptation of the play Parfumerie by Hungarian playwright Miklos Laszlo, following the 1940 James Stewart-Margaret Sullavan film The Shop around the Corner and the...
- Honk!Honk!Honk! is a musical adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen story The Ugly Duckling, incorporating a message of tolerance. The book and lyrics are by Anthony Drewe and music is by George Stiles...
- High SocietyHigh SocietyHigh Society is a musical film starring Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, and Frank Sinatra, and made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in VistaVision and Technicolor with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The movie was directed by Charles Walters and produced by Sol C. Siegel from a screenplay by John Patrick, based...
- Sex, Chips and Rock 'n' Roll
- Les MisérablesLes Misérables (musical)Les Misérables , colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz , is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg, based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo....
- HairsprayHairspray (musical)Hairspray is a musical with music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman and a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, based on the 1988 John Waters film Hairspray. The songs include 1960s-style dance music and "downtown" rhythm and blues...
- End of the RainbowEnd of the rainbowEnd of the Rainbow is a musical drama by Peter Quilter, centred upon the intriguing personality of Judy Garland in the months leading up to her death...
In 1995, she won a Laurence Olivier Award
Laurence Olivier Awards
The Laurence Olivier Award is presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre. Named after the renowned British actor Laurence Olivier, they are given for West End shows and other productions staged in London...
as Best Supporting Performance in a Musical for She Loves Me
She Loves Me
She Loves Me is a musical with a book by Joe Masteroff, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and music by Jerry Bock.The musical is the fifth adaptation of the play Parfumerie by Hungarian playwright Miklos Laszlo, following the 1940 James Stewart-Margaret Sullavan film The Shop around the Corner and the...
at the Savoy Theatre
Savoy Theatre
The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre located in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre opened on 10 October 1881 and was built by Richard D'Oyly Carte on the site of the old Savoy Palace as a showcase for the popular series of comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan,...
.
She played Ida in Honk!
Honk!
Honk! is a musical adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen story The Ugly Duckling, incorporating a message of tolerance. The book and lyrics are by Anthony Drewe and music is by George Stiles...
, which won the 2000 Olivier award for Best Musical. http://www.aord.co.uk/honk/gallery.htm
In 2003, she was critically acclaimed for her role in High Society
High Society
High Society is a musical film starring Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, and Frank Sinatra, and made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in VistaVision and Technicolor with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The movie was directed by Charles Walters and produced by Sol C. Siegel from a screenplay by John Patrick, based...
in the West End, and for which she was nominated for an Olivier Award in 2004. She then appeared in Sex, Chips and Rock 'n' Roll at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, for which she was nominated for a TMA Theatre Award as Best Supporting Actress in a Musical.
In January 2006, Tracie joined the London
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
production of Les Misérables
Les Misérables (musical)
Les Misérables , colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz , is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg, based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo....
in the role of Madame Thénardier at the Queen's Theatre
Queen's Theatre
The Queen's Theatre is a West End theatre located in Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. It opened on 8 October 1907 as a twin to the neighbouring Gielgud Theatre which opened ten months earlier. Both theatres were designed by W.G.R...
, which she continued to play through to July 2007.
In October 2007, she began her run in the role of Velma Von Tussle in the London premiere of the Broadway musical Hairspray
Hairspray (musical)
Hairspray is a musical with music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman and a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, based on the 1988 John Waters film Hairspray. The songs include 1960s-style dance music and "downtown" rhythm and blues...
at the Shaftesbury Theatre
Shaftesbury Theatre
The Shaftesbury Theatre is a West End Theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, in the London Borough of Camden.-History:The theatre was designed for the brothers Walter and Frederick Melville by Bertie Crewe and opened on 26 December 1911 with a production of The Three Musketeers, as the New...
. She mentioned on a televised interview that it was a "great show" and that she enjoyed doing it, but also said it was exhausting, pointing out that to begin with, the wiring under her wig weighs 10 lbs, making some of the dancing difficult, and they had to take a bit out. Her efforts were rewarded when on 9 March 2008, it was announced that she had won the Olivier Award in a supporting role.
In February 2010, Bennett took the leading role as Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
in a revival of Peter Quilter
Peter Quilter
Peter Quilter is a playwright whose plays have been translated into 20 languages and performed in 33 countries. His shows have been performed in cities across six continents, including London, Cape Town, Rome, Prague, Warsaw, Amsterdam, Rio de Janeiro, Toronto, Chicago, Madrid, Sydney and New...
's play with music, End of the Rainbow
End of the rainbow
End of the Rainbow is a musical drama by Peter Quilter, centred upon the intriguing personality of Judy Garland in the months leading up to her death...
, at Northampton
Northampton
Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...
's Royal Theatre. When the production transferred to London, she was nominated for the 2011 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress.
Other work
She presented Tracie Goes To Hollywood for OK! TVOK! TV
OK! TV is an early evening magazine programme, broadcast on Channel 5 as a brand extension of celebrity title OK! Magazine. It replaced Live from Studio Five on 14 February 2011, and was presented by Kate Walsh and Matt Johnson, both of which have since left the programme. Jeff Brazier and Jenny...
(for Carlton
Carlton Television
Carlton Television was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties including the cities of Solihull and Coventry of the West Midlands, south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire,...
), and won an Audie Award
Audie Awards
The Audie Awards are annually bestowed annually in the USA for outstanding audiobooks. The Audies have been granted by the Audio Publishers Association, a not-for-profit trade organization, since 1996. The nominees are announced each year in January, and the winners are announced at a gala banquet...
for Comedy Best Actress for her narrations for the audio book
Audio book
An audiobook or audio book is a recording of a text being read. It is not necessarily an exact audio version of a book or magazine.Spoken audio has been available in schools and public libraries and to a lesser extent in music shops since the 1930s. Many spoken word albums were made prior to the...
s of Helen Fielding
Helen Fielding
Helen Fielding is an English novelist and screenwriter, best known as the creator of the fictional character Bridget Jones, a sequence of novels and films that chronicle the life of a thirtysomething single woman in London as she tries to make sense of life and love.Her novels Bridget Jones's...
's Bridget Jones's Diary
Bridget Jones's Diary
Bridget Jones's Diary is a 1996 novel by Helen Fielding. Written in the form of a personal diary, the novel chronicles a year in the life of Bridget Jones, a thirty-something single working woman living in London. She writes about her career, self-image, vices, family, friends, and romantic...
and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason is a 1999 novel by Helen Fielding, a sequel to her popular Bridget Jones's Diary. It chronicles Bridget Jones's adventures after she begins to suspect that her boyfriend, Mark Darcy, is falling for a rich young solicitor who works in the same firm as him, a woman...
.
External links
- Biography at Corrie.net
- Les Misérables Extensive list of credits
- - interview with Tracie Bennett on westendtheatre.com