Denise Black
Encyclopedia
Denise Black is an English
actress, best known for playing Denise Osbourne in the ITV1
soap Coronation Street
and Hazel Tyler in Channel 4 TV
's Queer As Folk
in 1999 and 2000, written by Russell T Davies. After attending Portsmouth's Girls Public Day School, she studied Psychology at London University
. She had taken a number of jobs, including working in a local psychiatric care home. After graduating, she started travelling to Gibraltar and later the West Indies, where she decided she wanted to become an actress. Her first professional role was as a cat in Miniatures at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre. She worked in several fringe theatres before gaining her Equity card in 1980. Black joined the Actor's Touring Company
and performed Shakespeare around South America and in Israel, Greece and Yugoslavia.
When she returneed to the UK
, she appeared with fellow-actors Josie Lawrence
and Kate McKenzie at the Newcastle Playhouse in La Pasionaria - and, to further their interests in music and singing, they formed a jazz group, Denise Black & the Kray Sisters. Her friendship with Josie Lawrence landed Black parts in Channel 4
's Saturday Live and Josie. Black then joined Julian Clary
on stage at London's Donmar Warehouse
. Black took a break from acting while expecting her first child, Sam. In 1988 she appeared at the Oldham Coliseum in The Threepenny Opera, the following year she toured with Art of Success. In 1990 she made her television drama debut in Casualty as a woman woking as a street prostitute and appeared at Bolton
's Octagon Theatre in Stop Children's Laughter. Black appeared in 1991 on TV as Carrie Evans in Shoscombe Old Place, episode 60 of ITV
's and WGBH, Boston
's The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes and on stage as Goneril in Shakespeare's King Lear
, toured in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night with the Cambridge Touring Company - and gave birth to a daughter, Dandy.
Black appeared in ITV
's prime-time soap
Coronation Street from 1992 to 1996 and returned in 2007. She has also appeared on The Bill
, Casualty
, New Tricks, Doc Martin
and Bad Girls
. She also performed for a period with the touring show Grumpy Old Women Live
. In 2000, she played Emily Bathuirst in BBC 1's daytime soap Doctors.
Black lives in Brighton
with vocal coach husband Paul Sand, whom she met while with the Actor's Touring Company and again in La Pasionaria with their children and sings with a band, 'The Loose Screw', which also consists of Michael Gregory (drums), Ben Grove (guitar), Hedi Pinkerfeld (bass) and Graeme Taylor (lead guitar). They gave a series of cabaret shows in November 2009. In August 2010, Black's band played at the Edinburgh Festival
when she was in mid-UK
national tour of a stage version of Calendar Girls
.
On 26 September 2011, Denise played the role of Mother Superior, in the first UK tour of Sister Act the musical, alongside Michael Starke as Monsignor Howard and Cynthia Eviro as Deloris.
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, best known for playing Denise Osbourne in the ITV1
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
soap 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...
and Hazel Tyler in Channel 4 TV
Channel 2
Channel 2 or variations thereof may refer to:*ABC1, Australian Broadcasting Corporation's main channel, broadcasting on VHF channel 2 in most Australian Capital Cities...
's Queer As Folk
Queer as Folk (UK TV series)
Queer as Folk is a 1999 British television series that chronicles the lives of three gay men living in Manchester's gay village around Canal Street. Both Queer as Folk and Queer as Folk 2 were written by Russell T Davies...
in 1999 and 2000, written by Russell T Davies. After attending Portsmouth's Girls Public Day School, she studied Psychology at London University
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
. She had taken a number of jobs, including working in a local psychiatric care home. After graduating, she started travelling to Gibraltar and later the West Indies, where she decided she wanted to become an actress. Her first professional role was as a cat in Miniatures at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre. She worked in several fringe theatres before gaining her Equity card in 1980. Black joined the Actor's Touring Company
ATC Theatre
ATC is a touring theatre company based in London, founded in 1980 by Artistic Director John Retallack. Previous ATC Artistic Directors include Ceri Sherlock, Nick Philippou, Gordon Anderson and Bijan Sheibani...
and performed Shakespeare around South America and in Israel, Greece and Yugoslavia.
When she returneed to the UK
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...
, she appeared with fellow-actors Josie Lawrence
Josie Lawrence
Josie Lawrence is a British comedienne and actress best known for her work with the Comedy Store Players improvisational troupe, the television series Whose Line Is It Anyway? and more recently her role as Manda Best in EastEnders....
and Kate McKenzie at the Newcastle Playhouse in La Pasionaria - and, to further their interests in music and singing, they formed a jazz group, Denise Black & the Kray Sisters. Her friendship with Josie Lawrence landed Black parts in Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
's Saturday Live and Josie. Black then joined Julian Clary
Julian Clary
Julian Peter McDonald Clary is an English comedian and novelist, known for his deliberately stereotypical camp style, with a heavy reliance on innuendo and double entendre.-Early life and education:...
on stage at London's Donmar Warehouse
Donmar Warehouse
Donmar Warehouse is a small not-for-profit theatre in the Covent Garden area of London, with a capacity of 251.-About:Under the artistic leadership of Michael Grandage, the theatre has presented some of London’s most memorable award-winning theatrical experiences, as well as garnered critical...
. Black took a break from acting while expecting her first child, Sam. In 1988 she appeared at the Oldham Coliseum in The Threepenny Opera, the following year she toured with Art of Success. In 1990 she made her television drama debut in Casualty as a woman woking as a street prostitute and appeared at Bolton
Bolton
Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...
's Octagon Theatre in Stop Children's Laughter. Black appeared in 1991 on TV as Carrie Evans in Shoscombe Old Place, episode 60 of 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...
's and WGBH, Boston
WGBH-TV
WGBH-TV, channel 2, is a non-commercial educational public television station located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. WGBH-TV is a member station of the Public Broadcasting Service , and produces more than two-thirds of PBS's national prime time television programming...
's The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes and on stage as Goneril in Shakespeare's King Lear
King Lear
King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...
, toured in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night with the Cambridge Touring Company - and gave birth to a daughter, Dandy.
Black appeared in 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...
's prime-time soap
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,...
Coronation Street from 1992 to 1996 and returned in 2007. She has also appeared on 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...
, Casualty
Casualty (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...
, New Tricks, Doc Martin
Doc Martin
Doc Martin is a British television comedy drama series starring Martin Clunes in the title role. It was created by Mark Crowdy, Craig Ferguson and Dominic Minghella. The show is filmed on location in the fishing village of Port Isaac, Cornwall, United Kingdom, with filming of most interior scenes...
and Bad Girls
Bad Girls (TV series)
Bad Girls is an award-winning British television drama series that was broadcast on ITV from 1999 to 2006. It is produced by Shed Productions, the company which later produced Footballers' Wives and Waterloo Road...
. She also performed for a period with the touring show Grumpy Old Women Live
Grumpy Old Women Live
Grumpy Old Women Live is a stage show based on the series BBC television series Grumpy Old Women.-Inception:The idea of a live show of Grumpy Old Women, which had already been successful on the television, came about in Spring 2005 to producer Judith Holder and Grumpy contributor Jenny Eclair, and...
. In 2000, she played Emily Bathuirst in BBC 1's daytime soap Doctors.
Black lives in Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
with vocal coach husband Paul Sand, whom she met while with the Actor's Touring Company and again in La Pasionaria with their children and sings with a band, 'The Loose Screw', which also consists of Michael Gregory (drums), Ben Grove (guitar), Hedi Pinkerfeld (bass) and Graeme Taylor (lead guitar). They gave a series of cabaret shows in November 2009. In August 2010, Black's band played at the Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
when she was in mid-UK
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...
national tour of a stage version of Calendar Girls
Calendar Girls
Calendar Girls is a 2003 comedy film directed by Nigel Cole. Produced by Buena Vista International and Touchstone Pictures, it features a screenplay by Tim Firth and Juliette Towhidi based on a true story of a group of Yorkshire women who produced a nude calendar to raise money for Leukaemia...
.
On 26 September 2011, Denise played the role of Mother Superior, in the first UK tour of Sister Act the musical, alongside Michael Starke as Monsignor Howard and Cynthia Eviro as Deloris.