Sue Holderness
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Sue Holderness | |
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Born | Susan Joan Pringle Holderness 28 May 1949 Hampstead, London, England |
Other names | Susan Holderness |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1967–present |
Spouse(s) | Mark Piper (m. 1989) |
Children | 2 |
Susan Joan Pringle Holderness (born 28 May 1949) is an English actress. She is known for portraying the role of Marlene Boyce in the British sitcom Only Fools and Horses from 1985 to 2003, and its spin-off The Green Green Grass from 2005 to 2009.[1][2]
Career[]
Holderness was born in Hampstead, London. After taking her A-levels, she trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama.
She began her acting career with Manchester's 69 Theatre Company in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Peer Gynt and as Desdemona in Catch My Soul (Jack Good's rock-musical version of Othello). She has worked consistently in theatre, radio, film and television. West End plays include The Female Odd Couple, Why Not Stay for Breakfast, The Male of the Species and the highly acclaimed one-woman play Our Kid (based on Myra Hindley).
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ef/Sue_Holderness.jpg/170px-Sue_Holderness.jpg)
Sue regularly appears in The Vagina Monologues[3] and she is part of the cast of the touring play Seven Deadly Sins Four Deadly Sinners. She has toured the country in numerous plays and worked in several repertory companies. Much of Sue's career has been spent doing Alan Ayckbourn plays, three of which (Relatively Speaking, Time and Time Again, and How the Other Half Loves) she toured with John Challis, who plays Boycie to Sue's long-suffering Marlene in Only Fools And Horses. The Green, Green Grass ran from 2005 – 2009. A total of four series and three Christmas Specials were created.
Sue played the role of Annie in the 2010 UK Tour of Calendar Girls (April–August). She played Annie again in 2011(April–August.)She played Celia in the 2012 tour(Jan – May) and went back to playing Annie in the Autumn 2012 tour (Sep – December).
Television roles include Marianne in The Sandbaggers (two series), Bless This House, as Pamela Huntley-Johnson in the episode The Bells Are Ringing (1974) in which she was credited as Susan Holderness, as Liz in It Takes a Worried Man (two series), Jo in The Brief, Cleopatra IV in The Cleopatras;[4] as Laura Doolan, a wife of serial bigamist "Confident" Clive Cosgrove in the Minder episode A Number of Old Wives Tales (1984); episodes of The New Avengers, Thriller, Sob Sisters, Growing Pains, Doctors, Lime Street with Robert Wagner, and Murder in Suburbia. She played Rowan Atkinson's love interest, Lorraine, in Canned Laughter, and did numerous impersonations in two series of End of Part One. She played Maggie in Dear John, by John Sullivan, Joan Forrester (Oscar Blaketon's former wife) in Heartbeat for YTV, Joan Travis in Revelations, and Rachel's mother in Cold Feet, also for Granada. In April 2021, she is set to appear in the BBC soap opera EastEnders as Estelle.[5]
Films include That'll Be the Day (1973) and It Could Happen to You (aka Intimate Teenage Secrets) (1976). Sue also appeared in the low budget feature Meat Draw and Out of Sight for Granada.
Sue regularly appears in pantomime.[6] and has appeared in productions across the UK. In 2014, Holderness appeared in the BBC One medical drama Casualty as Alice Sweeney.
In 2018 onwards, Holderness has appeared as Mrs Rossi in the sitcom Still Open All Hours.
Filmography[]
Film[]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1973 | That'll Be The Day | Shirley | |
1976 | It Could Happen to You | Christine |
Television[]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1971 | Lollipop | Receptionist | Episode: "Doctor Fruit Cake" |
1972 | Tightrope | Joanna | 5 episodes |
1972 | Fly Into Danger | Sarah Davenport | All 7 episodes |
1972 | Harriet's Back in Town | Jennifer Grant | 2 episodes |
1974 | Bless This House | Pamela Huntley-Johnson | Episode: "The Bells Are Ringing" |
1975 | Thriller | Betty | Episode: "If It's a Man, Hang Up" |
1976 | 4 Idle Hands | Miss Pemberton | Episode: "Out of the Frying Pan" |
1977 | The New Avengers | Victoria Stanton | Episode: "Medium Rare" |
1978 | The One and Only Phyllis Dixey | Mildred Challenger | TV film |
1979 | Canned Laughter | Lorraine | TV film |
1979–1980 | End of Part One | Various | All 14 episodes |
1980 | The Sandbaggers | Marianne Straker | 8 episodes |
1983 | The Cleopatras | Cleopatra | 2 episodes |
1983 | It Takes a Worried Man | Liz | 13 episodes |
1984 | The Brief | Jo Gould | All 13 episodes |
1984 | Minder | Laura | Episode: "A Number of Old Wives Tales" |
1985–2003 | Only Fools and Horses | Marlene Boyce | 20 episodes |
1986–1987 | Dear John | Maggie | 3 episodes |
1989 | Sob Sisters | Marion | Episode: "I Don't Think We're in Kansas Anymore" |
1989 | Young, Gifted and Broke | Diane | Episode: #1.7 |
1992 | Growing Pains | Various | Episode: "The Lady and the Tramp" |
1993 | You, Me and It | Sonia | Episode: #1.2 |
1993 | Heartbeat | Joan Forrester | 2 episodes |
1996 | Revelations | Joan | 11 episodes |
1998 | Out of Sight | Bride's Mother | Episode: "Photo Finish" |
1998 | Colour Blind | Mrs. Barton | Episode: #1.2 |
2000,2003 | Cold Feet | Mary Bradley | 2 episodes |
2004 | Murder in Suburbia | Penny Gregson | Episode: "Sanctuary" |
2004 | Doctors | Sheila Kelly | Episode: "Watching Myself Die" |
2005–2009 | The Green Green Grass | Marlene Boyce | All 32 episodes |
2011 | Doctors | Beryl Mellor | Episode: "Light Blue Touch Paper" |
2012 | Crime Stories | Hazel Wood | Episode: #1.11 |
2013 | Casualty | Alice Sweeney | Episode: "Between the Cracks" |
2014 | Doctors | Rose Day | Episode: "Scullery Boy" |
2018–2019 | Still Open All Hours | Mrs. Rossi | 10 episodes |
2020 | Holby City | Gloria Davidson | Episode: #22.10 |
2021 | EastEnders | Estelle Jones | Guest role |
References[]
- ^ "Comedy – Only Fools and Horses – Marlene".
- ^ BBC. "The Green Green Grass".
- ^ "Interview: Sue Holderness, star of The Vagina Monologues".
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 21 February 2006. Retrieved 27 March 2006.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^ "EastEnders casts Only Fools and Horses' Sue Holderness as Billy Mitchell's love interest". Daily Mirror. Reach plc. 25 March 2021.
- ^ "All you need for Christmas".
External links[]
- 1949 births
- Living people
- 20th-century English actresses
- 21st-century English actresses
- Actresses from London
- British comedy actresses
- English stage actresses
- English television actresses
- People from Hampstead