Debbie Arnold
Encyclopedia
Jeanette Debbie Arnold (born 14 June 1955 in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear
) is an English
actress and voice artiste. She is best known for her work on British
television, although she is also a veteran stage
actress. She is one of the top voiceover artistes in England.
Eddie Arnold and her mother, Mary Arnold, was a theatrical agent. She began her career on television, such as the BBC
comedy The Liver Birds
. She inherited her father's mimicry talents and when she was 18 years old she was given a job impersonating Marilyn Monroe
on Now Who Do You Do?. She then focused on acting but she has continued to use her vocal talents and has spearheaded many advertising campaigns for well known brands. She specialises in British and American dialect
s.
She has had roles in many successful television programmes, including: Shoestring, Terry and June
, Minder
, The Two Ronnies
, C.A.T.S. Eyes
, Rockliffe's Babies
, The Bill
, The Russ Abbott Show, The Jim Davidson Show
, Miss Marple
(in The Body in the Library
), All Creatures Great and Small, Virtual Murder
, Birds of a Feather
, Jonathan Creek
, M.I.T.: Murder Investigation Team, Footballers' Wives: Extra Time
, Holby City
; Doctors among many others - She has also appeared in such features as 'Minder on the Orient Express', 'Oliver Twist' and in 2009 she won an award for best actress starring opposite John Altman
in the feature film 'Photoshoot'.
Arnold has also played regular characters in several major British soap opera
s. She played Sylvie Hicks in the ITV
soap opera Coronation Street
, Debbie Wilson in Emmerdale
, April Branning
in EastEnders
, Janice Bolton in Hollyoaks
and she also appeared in its spin off Hollyoaks: In the City
Her theatre credits include The Sleeping Prince at the Haymarket Theatre
in London
and the festival theatre in Chichester playing opposite Omar Sharif
, for which she won many awards and accolades. Other West End appearances include "Hollywood Babylon", Woman Behind Bars, Four in a Million and Last of the Red Hot Lovers at Strand
. She has appeared in many fringe
productions and numerous national and international tours . She turns up occasionally in the touring play Seven Deadly Sins
and is currently touring in the 2010 version of 'Keeping Up Appearances' as Rose.
Arnold has formed her own production company, Debbie Arnold Productions which has produced numerous radio and TV productions. She has also been the face of the clothing company Etam UK
and the hair company Goldwell.
Debbie is also founder and face of the online beauty recommendation service Looking Gorgeous. She has written many beauty articles for top magazines and is writing a book on self development.
, best known for playing Boycie in the hit BBC comedy Only Fools and Horses
. They divorced in 1982.
In 1989 she married the actor David Janson
, best known for playing Herr Otto Flick
in the 9th series of 'Allo 'Allo!
. They have two children together, one of whom is the actress Ciara Janson
— who played Nicole Owen
in Hollyoaks and is also a top voice artiste — and a younger daughter named Talia who is at present the lead singer with girl band 'Phacebook'. They both acted in the BBC English language-teaching series A Weekend Away and A Week By The Sea. Arnold and Janson divorced in 2002.
Tyne and Wear
Tyne and Wear is a metropolitan county in north east England around the mouths of the Rivers Tyne and Wear. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972...
) is an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
actress and voice artiste. She is best known for her work on British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
television, although she is also a veteran stage
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
actress. She is one of the top voiceover artistes in England.
Career
Arnold was born into showbusiness. Her father was the impressionistImpressionist (entertainment)
An impressionist or a mimic is a performer whose act consists of imitating the voice and mannerisms of others. The word usually refers to a professional comedian/entertainer who specializes in such performances and has developed a wide repertoire of impressions, including adding to them, often to...
Eddie Arnold and her mother, Mary Arnold, was a theatrical agent. She began her career on television, such as the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
comedy The Liver Birds
The Liver Birds
The Liver Birds is a British situation comedy, set in Liverpool, Merseyside, North-West of England, which aired on BBC1 from 1969 to 1978, and again in 1996. It was created by Carla Lane and Myra Taylor. The two Liverpool housewives had met at a local writers club and decided to pool their talents...
. She inherited her father's mimicry talents and when she was 18 years old she was given a job impersonating Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
on Now Who Do You Do?. She then focused on acting but she has continued to use her vocal talents and has spearheaded many advertising campaigns for well known brands. She specialises in British and American dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
s.
She has had roles in many successful television programmes, including: Shoestring, Terry and June
Terry and June
Terry and June is a British sitcom that was broadcast on BBC1 from 1979 to 1987. The programme is largely a continuation of Happy Ever After, and stars Terry Scott and June Whitfield as a middle-class suburban couple, Terry and June Medford...
, Minder
Minder (TV series)
Minder is a British comedy-drama about the London criminal underworld. Initially produced by Verity Lambert, it was made by Euston Films, a subsidiary of Thames Television and shown on ITV...
, The Two Ronnies
The Two Ronnies
The Two Ronnies is a British sketch show that aired on BBC1 from 1971 to 1987. It featured the double act of Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett, the "Two Ronnies" of the title.-Origins:...
, C.A.T.S. Eyes
C.A.T.S. Eyes
C.A.T.S. Eyes is a British television series made by TVS for ITV between 1985 and 1987.-Premise:The series was a spin-off from The Gentle Touch and saw Jill Gascoine reprise her role as Det. Insp. Maggie Forbes, having left the police force to join a private detective agency called "Eyes" that is...
, Rockliffe's Babies
Rockliffe's Babies
Rockliffe's Babies was a British television drama produced by the BBC which ran for two series between 1987 and 1988. The series was devised by Richard O`Keeffe and produced by Leonard Lewis. Writers included Richard O`Keeffe, Don Webb, Charlie Humphreys and Nick Perry...
, The Bill
The Bill
The 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...
, The Russ Abbott Show, The Jim Davidson Show
Jim Davidson
Jim Davidson may refer to:* Jim Davidson , American actor* Jim Davidson , American football player, played for Ohio State Buckeyes and drafted by the Buffalo Bills* Jim Davidson , Australia author, see Meanjin...
, Miss Marple
Miss Marple (TV series)
Miss Marple is a British television series based on the Miss Marple murder mystery novels by Agatha Christie. It starred Joan Hickson in the title role, and aired from 1984 to 1992. All twelve original Miss Marple Christie novels have been dramatised. The screenplays were written by T. R...
(in The Body in the Library
The Body in the Library (1984 TV film)
The Body in the Library is a 1984 television film adaption of Agatha Christie's 1942 detective novel The Body in the Library which was co-produced by the BBC and the A&E Network. The film uses an adapted screenplay by T. R. Bowen and was directed by Silvio Narizzano...
), All Creatures Great and Small, Virtual Murder
Virtual Murder
Virtual Murder was an unusual investigative drama series shown on BBC television in 1992. It starred Nicholas Clay as Dr John Cornelius, a psychology lecturer at a provincial university, and Kim Thomson as his vivacious, red-headed partner, Samantha Valentine.- Subject matter and cast :Virtual...
, Birds of a Feather
Birds of a Feather
Birds of a Feather was a British sitcom that was broadcast on BBC1 from 1989 until 1998. Starring Pauline Quirke, Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph, it was created by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, who also wrote some of the episodes along with many other writers.The first episode sees sisters...
, Jonathan Creek
Jonathan Creek
Jonathan Creek is a British mystery series produced by the BBC and written by David Renwick. Primarily a crime drama, the show is also peppered with broadly comic touches...
, M.I.T.: Murder Investigation Team, Footballers' Wives: Extra Time
Footballers' Wives: Extra Time
Footballers' Wives: Extra Time is a British drama programme. A spin-off of Footballers' Wives, the programme aired on ITV2 for two series...
, Holby City
Holby City
Holby City, stylised as Holby Ci+y, is a British medical drama television series that airs weekly on BBC One.The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama Casualty, and premiered on 12 January 1999...
; Doctors among many others - She has also appeared in such features as 'Minder on the Orient Express', 'Oliver Twist' and in 2009 she won an award for best actress starring opposite John Altman
John Altman
John Altman is an English actor and singer, perhaps best known for playing "Nasty" Nick Cotton in the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders. In 2010 he became the new frontman of the band Heavy Metal Kids following the death of former frontman Gary Holton in 1985.-Career:Altman was born in Reading,...
in the feature film 'Photoshoot'.
Arnold has also played regular characters in several major British soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
s. She played Sylvie Hicks in the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
soap opera 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...
, Debbie Wilson in Emmerdale
Emmerdale
Emmerdale, is a long-running British soap opera set in Emmerdale , a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, Emmerdale was first broadcast on 16 October 1972...
, April Branning
April Branning
April Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Debbie Arnold. April is the second eldest child of Jim and Reenie Branning, and sister of Carol Jackson, Derek, Suzy, Max and Jack Branning.- Storylines:...
in EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
, Janice Bolton in Hollyoaks
Hollyoaks
Hollyoaks is a long-running British television soap opera, first broadcast on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was originally devised by Phil Redmond, who has also devised shows including Brookside and Grange Hill...
and she also appeared in its spin off Hollyoaks: In the City
Hollyoaks: In the City
Hollyoaks: In the City was a British television drama series set in Liverpool and first broadcast in 2006. Hollyoaks: In the City was a spin-off of Channel 4 soap opera, Hollyoaks, originally devised by Phil Redmond...
Her theatre credits include The Sleeping Prince at the Haymarket Theatre
Haymarket Theatre
The Theatre Royal Haymarket is a West End theatre in the Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and the festival theatre in Chichester playing opposite Omar Sharif
Omar Sharif
Omar Sharif is an Egyptian actor who has starred in Hollywood films including Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago and Funny Girl. He has been nominated for an Academy Award and has won two Golden Globe Awards.-Early life:...
, for which she won many awards and accolades. Other West End appearances include "Hollywood Babylon", Woman Behind Bars, Four in a Million and Last of the Red Hot Lovers at Strand
Strand, London
Strand is a street in the City of Westminster, London, England. The street is just over three-quarters of a mile long. It currently starts at Trafalgar Square and runs east to join Fleet Street at Temple Bar, which marks the boundary of the City of London at this point, though its historical length...
. She has appeared in many fringe
Fringe theatre
Fringe theatre is theatre that is not of the mainstream. The term comes from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which name comes from Robert Kemp, who described the unofficial companies performing at the same time as the second Edinburgh International Festival as a ‘fringe’, writing: ‘Round the fringe...
productions and numerous national and international tours . She turns up occasionally in the touring play Seven Deadly Sins
Seven deadly sins
The 7 Deadly Sins, also known as the Capital Vices or Cardinal Sins, is a classification of objectionable vices that have been used since early Christian times to educate and instruct followers concerning fallen humanity's tendency to sin...
and is currently touring in the 2010 version of 'Keeping Up Appearances' as Rose.
Arnold has formed her own production company, Debbie Arnold Productions which has produced numerous radio and TV productions. She has also been the face of the clothing company Etam UK
Etam UK
Etam UK was a British women's, retail clothing brand owned by the French firm Etam Developement.The brand included a subsidiary called Tammy which specialized in clothing for girls in their early teens....
and the hair company Goldwell.
Debbie is also founder and face of the online beauty recommendation service Looking Gorgeous. She has written many beauty articles for top magazines and is writing a book on self development.
Personal life
Arnold has been married twice. In 1980 she married the actor John ChallisJohn Challis
John Challis is an English actor.-Career:He is probably best known for his role as Terrance Aubrey "Boycie" Boyce in the long running comedy show Only Fools and Horses, and its 2005 spin-off, The Green Green Grass....
, best known for playing Boycie in the hit BBC comedy Only Fools and Horses
Only Fools and Horses
Only Fools and Horses is a British sitcom, created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom between 1981 and 1991, with sporadic Christmas specials until 2003...
. They divorced in 1982.
In 1989 she married the actor David Janson
David Janson
David Janson is an English actor whose stage debut was in Oliver! in 1962. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1963 in A Midsummer Night's Dream and appeared as the young boy in The Beatles film A Hard Day's Night.Janson became well known for his role as Jimmy Harker in the 1960s British...
, best known for playing Herr Otto Flick
Herr Otto Flick
Herr Otto Flick is a fictional character in the BBC sitcom Allo 'Allo!, which ran from 1982 to 1992. He was played by the actors Richard Gibson and David Janson...
in the 9th series of 'Allo 'Allo!
'Allo 'Allo!
'Allo 'Allo! is a British sitcom broadcast on BBC One from 1982 to 1992 comprising eighty-five episodes. It is a parody of another BBC programme, the wartime drama Secret Army, and was created by David Croft, who also wrote the theme music, and Jeremy Lloyd. Lloyd and Croft wrote the first 6...
. They have two children together, one of whom is the actress Ciara Janson
Ciara Janson
Ciara Janson is an English actress best known for her role in Hollyoaks as Nicole Owen.The character of Nicole Owen was Ciara Janson's first major television work. Previous parts include the role of Heidi for a BBC radio drama...
— who played Nicole Owen
Nicole Owen
Nicole Owen is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Ciara Janson. First appearing in 2004, Janson left the soap in 2006, making a brief return in 2007.-Storylines:...
in Hollyoaks and is also a top voice artiste — and a younger daughter named Talia who is at present the lead singer with girl band 'Phacebook'. They both acted in the BBC English language-teaching series A Weekend Away and A Week By The Sea. Arnold and Janson divorced in 2002.