Susan Tully

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Susan Tully
Born (1967-10-20) 20 October 1967 (age 53)
Highgate, London, England
Occupationtelevision producer
director
actress
Years active1981–present

Susan Tully (born 20 October 1967) is an English former actress, television producer and director.

Her most prominent television acting roles were those of rebellious teenager Suzanne Ross in Grange Hill and single mother Michelle Fowler in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. Tully played one of EastEnders original characters, appearing in the first episode on 19 February 1985 and remaining central to the series until 1995.

Tully then gave up acting to work behind the camera and has directed and produced British television programmes since then.

Early life[]

Tully's father was a watch-case maker. Her mother was a housewife. Tully was brought up on a London council estate.[1]

While at school in Barnsbury, Islington, she took up acting as a hobby and attended the Anna Scher children's theatre, which began a fast track into television work.[1]

Career[]

Acting[]

At the age of nine Tully hosted the live television children's programme Our Show and later worked on The Saturday Banana with Bill Oddie.[2]

She was cast in the BBC children's television serial Grange Hill. She played schoolgirl Suzanne Ross for three years (1981–1984).[3] At the age of 17, Tully secured a major role in the BBC's new soap opera EastEnders. She played Michelle Fowler from the show's inception in 1985 to 1995. During her time on the show, her character became pregnant at the age of 16 after having an affair with the 39-year-old adulterer Den Watts. In December 2016, EastEnders recast the role of Michelle Fowler to actress Jenna Russell after Tully repeatedly turned down offers to return. The show's executive producer at the time, Sean O'Connor has said that Tully gave her blessing for the recast to take place.[4]

Directing and producing[]

In the late 1990s, Tully began concentrating on directing for television (credited as "Sue Tully"). Shows of which she has directed episodes include EastEnders, The Story of Tracy Beaker (2002), London's Burning, 55 Degrees North (2004), The Bill (1999–2004), Funland (2005), Secret Diary of a Call Girl (2007), Lark Rise to Candleford (2009), Silent Witness(2010),'The Paradise Series 1 Episode 4,16 October 2012 and Series 1 Episode 6, 30 October 2012.’Stella (2012), Good Cop (2012), Getting On (2009–2012), Truckers (2013), Puppy Love (2014), The A Word (2016–2017), Britannia (2018), Tin Star (2019) Line of Duty (2019), Strike: Lethal White (2020) and Too Close (2021).[5]

Personal life[]

Tully is a supporter of The Meningitis Trust and she has also been involved in the Comic Relief fundraising event.[6] She is close friends with Letitia Dean, who played her best friend Sharon Watts in EastEnders.[7] Tully was a bridesmaid at Dean's wedding to Jason Pethers in 2002.[8]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "After 10 years as TV's most famous single mother, Susan Tully now craves an escape from soap megastardom – and a bit of adventure", The Independent. 29 October 1995. Accessed 14 March 2007.
  2. ^ Kingsley, Hilary (1990). The EastEnders Handbook. BBC books. ISBN 978-0-685-52957-7.
  3. ^ Koncienzcy, Rebecca (17 August 2019). "BBC EastEnders actress Susan Tully now works as a director for Sky". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  4. ^ "Jenna Russell reveals she was 'very scared' at taking Michelle Fowler role in EastEnders". What' s on TV. 26 December 2016. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  5. ^ Palmer, Katie (14 April 2021). "Who is Too Close director Sue Tully? Meet the Line of Duty and EastEnders star". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  6. ^ "The Comedy Guide:Comic Relief 1997".
  7. ^ "LIFE AFTER SHARON", Sunday Mirror. URL last accessed on 18 September 2006.
  8. ^ "EastEnd Letitia's diamond geezer", Sunday Mirror. URL last accessed on 18 September 2006.

External links[]

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