Raquel Cassidy

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Raquel Josephine Dominic Cassidy^{[citation needed]} (born 22 January 1968)^{[citation needed]} is an English actress. She played the role of Phyllis Baxter in the last three seasons of the television series Downton Abbey (2013–2015), winning a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, and the 2019 feature film sequel of the same name.

She has played leading roles in the casts of the television series Teachers, Party Animals, Moving Wallpaper, Lead Balloon and The Worst Witch.

Early life and education[]

Born to a Spanish mother and an English father, she was the third child and only daughter born to the couple.^[1] Born and brought up in Fleet, Hampshire,^[2] she was educated at Farnborough Hill Convent,^[3][4] and then Girton College, Cambridge, where she studied modern languages and then biological anthropology.^{[citation needed]} She later^[when?] pursued a PhD in biological anthropology, but she abandoned it to pursue a career in acting.^[5]

Career[]

In an early role, Cassidy played Lola Chaves in an episode of The Bill, speaking predominantly in Spanish. In 2001 she took the role of Susan Gately in Teachers, returning for the second series in 2002. She has also played the Home Office Junior Minister Jo Porter in Party Animals, Cassie Turner in The Worst Week of My Life, Nancy Weeks in Moving Wallpaper and Mel in Lead Balloon.

In 2013 Cassidy joined the cast of Downton Abbey, playing the role of rehabilitated thief and ladies maid Phyllis Baxter for the show's final three series. In 2015 the cast won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. She reprised the role for the show's 2019 feature film sequel, also called Downton Abbey.

She has subsequently played the role of Miss Hardbroom in four series of the 2017 television revival of The Worst Witch.

Filmography[]

Selected television[]

Selected radio[]

Theatre[]

References[]

External links[]

• Raquel Cassidy at IMDb

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