Natalie J. Robb
Encyclopedia
Natalie J. Robb is a Scottish
actress born in Bellshill
, Glasgow
on 3 December 1974.
, where she was discovered by director Alan Macmillan, later going to the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama
. She made her screen debut as a nine-year-old starring in an STV docudrama with veteran
Scots star Tom Conti
. At 13, she was awarded the BBC
Young Entertainer of the Year award on kids' TV show, Going Live!
At age fourteen, she got the role of Trish McDonald in Scottish Soap, Take the High Road
, which launched her TV career, with Taggart
, Sunburn
, Dream Team
, Doctors and The Bill
following respectively. Robb's parents split up when she was fifteen and she rarely talks to her father, but remains close to her mother, who lives in Spain
. Robb plans to set up her own website and work on a long-term goal of making a film telling the story of her mother's life. Robb was once in a band called The Kinky People and also sang "I Will Be There" by a group called Absolutely. In 1997, she released a single with dance group Partizan called "Keep Your Love". Both videos can be found on YouTube
.
, initially playing Trish McDonald in Take the High Road
before spending one season in the Sky One
series Dream Team
. She then spent three years in the BBC One
daytime soap Doctors before leaving for her most high profile role of an undercover journalist
posing as a police officer
PC Andrea Dunbar in The Bill
. Her character was based on the BBC's Secret Policeman, Mark Daly, who infiltrated Greater Manchester
Police
and exposed shocking racism
among officers. Robb named Daly as a huge influence on her, and says she was thrilled to meet him at BAFTAs, where he picked up a gong for his work. Robb appeared in EastEnders
in July 2006 as Gemma Clewes, the mistress
of Max Branning
. Later that year she appeared in New Tricks. In March 2007, she appeared in a TV show called Kitchen with Eddie Izzard
and in April played the part of museum curator Carla in Sea of Souls
. In July 2008, she appeared in The Shepherd: Border Patrol
with Jean Claude Van Damme, where she played Ramona Garcia, a no nonsense Captain of Border Patrol and love interest of Van Damme. In 2009, she played the part of a counsellor in BBC One drama Waterloo Road
. Later in 2009, it was announced that Robb had joined the cast of Emmerdale
as part of a new farming family, the Bartons. She plays mother-of-three Moira Barton
, alongside James Thornton
, Adam Thomas
, Sophie Powles
and Grace Cassidy
. She made her Emmerdale debut on 17 July 2009.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
actress born in Bellshill
Bellshill
Bellshill is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, 10 miles south east of Glasgow city centre and 37 miles west of Edinburgh. Other nearby towns are Motherwell , Hamilton and Coatbridge . Since 1996, it has been situated in the Greater Glasgow metropolitan area...
, Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
on 3 December 1974.
Personal life
Born Natalie Joy Robb, she is the youngest of three children. As a child, Robb attended weekend drama groups in GlasgowGlasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, where she was discovered by director Alan Macmillan, later going to the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama
Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama
The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland is a conservatoire of music, drama, and dance in the centre of Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1845 as the Glasgow Educational Association, it is the busiest performing arts venue in Scotland...
. She made her screen debut as a nine-year-old starring in an STV docudrama with veteran
Veteran
A veteran is a person who has had long service or experience in a particular occupation or field; " A veteran of ..."...
Scots star Tom Conti
Tom Conti
Thomas "Tom" Conti is a Scottish actor, theatre director and novelist.-Early life:Born Thomas Conti in Paisley, Renfrewshire, he was brought up Roman Catholic, but he considers himself anti-religious...
. At 13, she was awarded 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...
Young Entertainer of the Year award on kids' TV show, Going Live!
Going Live!
Going Live! was a Saturday morning magazine show, broadcast on BBC1 between 1987 and 1993. It was presented by Phillip Schofield and Sarah Greene.Other presenters included Trevor and Simon, Peter Simon, Emma Forbes, and puppet Gordon the Gopher....
At age fourteen, she got the role of Trish McDonald in Scottish Soap, Take the High Road
Take the High Road
Take the High Road was a Scottish soap opera produced by Scottish Television, and set in the fictional village of Glendarroch , and claims to have about 2 million fans, including the Queen Mother...
, which launched her TV career, with Taggart
Taggart
Taggart is a Scottish detective television programme, created by Glenn Chandler, who has written many of the episodes, and made by STV Productions for the ITV network...
, Sunburn
Sunburn (TV series)
Sunburn is a British television series that followed the lives of a group of British holiday reps. It was broadcast on BBC One between 16 January 1999 and 1 May 2000, running for two series of six and eight episodes respectively. The first was set and filmed in Cyprus and the second in Algarve...
, Dream Team
Dream Team (TV series)
Dream Team is a British television series produced by Hewland International which aired on Sky1 and Sky3 from 1997 to 2007; it chronicled the on-field and off-field affairs of the fictional Harchester United Football Club....
, Doctors and 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...
following respectively. Robb's parents split up when she was fifteen and she rarely talks to her father, but remains close to her mother, who lives in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. Robb plans to set up her own website and work on a long-term goal of making a film telling the story of her mother's life. Robb was once in a band called The Kinky People and also sang "I Will Be There" by a group called Absolutely. In 1997, she released a single with dance group Partizan called "Keep Your Love". Both videos can be found on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
.
Career
Robb is best known for her roles in continuing dramasSoap 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,...
, initially playing Trish McDonald in Take the High Road
Take the High Road
Take the High Road was a Scottish soap opera produced by Scottish Television, and set in the fictional village of Glendarroch , and claims to have about 2 million fans, including the Queen Mother...
before spending one season in the Sky One
Sky One
Sky1 is the flagship BSkyB entertainment channel available in the United Kingdom and Ireland.The channel first launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, and is the fourth-oldest TV channel in the United Kingdom, behind BBC One , ITV and BBC Two...
series Dream Team
Dream Team (TV series)
Dream Team is a British television series produced by Hewland International which aired on Sky1 and Sky3 from 1997 to 2007; it chronicled the on-field and off-field affairs of the fictional Harchester United Football Club....
. She then spent three years in the BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
daytime soap Doctors before leaving for her most high profile role of an undercover journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
posing as a police officer
Police officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...
PC Andrea Dunbar in 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...
. Her character was based on the BBC's Secret Policeman, Mark Daly, who infiltrated Greater Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
Police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
and exposed shocking racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
among officers. Robb named Daly as a huge influence on her, and says she was thrilled to meet him at BAFTAs, where he picked up a gong for his work. Robb appeared 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...
in July 2006 as Gemma Clewes, the mistress
Mistress (lover)
A mistress is a long-term female lover and companion who is not married to her partner; the term is used especially when her partner is married. The relationship generally is stable and at least semi-permanent; however, the couple does not live together openly. Also the relationship is usually,...
of Max Branning
Max Branning
Max Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Jake Wood. He made his first appearance on 27 June 2006.-Backstory:Max is the fifth child and second son of Jim and Reenie Branning...
. Later that year she appeared in New Tricks. In March 2007, she appeared in a TV show called Kitchen with Eddie Izzard
Eddie Izzard
Edward John "Eddie" Izzard is a British stand-up comedian and actor. His comedy style takes the form of rambling, whimsical monologue and self-referential pantomime...
and in April played the part of museum curator Carla in Sea of Souls
Sea of Souls
Sea of Souls is a BBC paranormal drama series, based around the fictional activities of a group of investigators into psychic and other paranormal events. Produced in-house by BBC Scotland, initially in association with Sony Pictures Television International, the series debuted on BBC One in the UK...
. In July 2008, she appeared in The Shepherd: Border Patrol
The Shepherd: Border Patrol
The Shepherd: Border Patrol is a 2008 action film starring Jean Claude Van Damme and Scott Adkins and directed by Isaac Florentine, the director of Undisputed 2...
with Jean Claude Van Damme, where she played Ramona Garcia, a no nonsense Captain of Border Patrol and love interest of Van Damme. In 2009, she played the part of a counsellor in BBC One drama Waterloo Road
Waterloo Road (TV series)
Waterloo Road is an award-winning British television drama series, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 9 March 2006. Set in a troubled comprehensive school in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, the series focuses on the lives of the school's teacher and students, and confronts social...
. Later in 2009, it was announced that Robb had joined the cast of 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...
as part of a new farming family, the Bartons. She plays mother-of-three Moira Barton
Moira Barton
Moira Barton is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Natalie J. Robb. She made her first on-screen appearance on 17 July 2009.-Creation and casting:...
, alongside James Thornton
James Thornton (actor)
James Thornton is an English actor and Voice-over artist.-Early life and career:Thornton was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire. He starred in the BBC One police series Holby Blue and currently appears as John Barton in the British soap opera Emmerdale...
, Adam Thomas
Adam Thomas
For the Welsh rugby union player see Adam Thomas Adam Thomas is a British actor, currently starring in British ITV soap opera Emmerdale as Adam Barton well known for his role in BBC drama Waterloo Road as Donte Charles-Career:It was in 2002, at the age of 15, that Adam started his television career...
, Sophie Powles
Sophie Powles
Sophie Powles , originally from Cleethorpes, a seaside town in North East Lincolnshire, is an English actress most famous for her role as Holly Barton in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale.-Career:...
and Grace Cassidy
Grace Cassidy
-Career:Cassidy's most notable role so far is that of Rachel Towers in BBC children's drama Grange Hill, but she has had a number of smaller roles in some of the biggest television series of the past few years, including The Street, The Chase and Marian, Again...
. She made her Emmerdale debut on 17 July 2009.
Filmography
- Silent WitnessSilent WitnessSilent Witness is a BBC crime thriller series focusing on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. First broadcast in February 1996, the series is still airing to the present day, with a fifteenth series expected to air in January 2012. The series was...
- (2009) - EmmerdaleEmmerdaleEmmerdale, 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...
- Moira BartonMoira BartonMoira Barton is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Natalie J. Robb. She made her first on-screen appearance on 17 July 2009.-Creation and casting:...
- (2009–present) - Waterloo RoadWaterloo Road (TV series)Waterloo Road is an award-winning British television drama series, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 9 March 2006. Set in a troubled comprehensive school in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, the series focuses on the lives of the school's teacher and students, and confronts social...
- Charlotte Monk - (2009) - The Shepherd: Border PatrolThe Shepherd: Border PatrolThe Shepherd: Border Patrol is a 2008 action film starring Jean Claude Van Damme and Scott Adkins and directed by Isaac Florentine, the director of Undisputed 2...
- Captain Ramona Garcia - (2008) - Sea of SoulsSea of SoulsSea of Souls is a BBC paranormal drama series, based around the fictional activities of a group of investigators into psychic and other paranormal events. Produced in-house by BBC Scotland, initially in association with Sony Pictures Television International, the series debuted on BBC One in the UK...
- Carla Vigo - (2007) - Kitchen - Grace - (2007)
- EastEndersEastEndersEastEnders 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...
- Gemma Clewes - (2006) - New Tricks - Isabella Gennaro - (2006)
- Good Girl, Bad Girl - (2006)
- Waking the DeadWaking the Dead (TV series)Waking the Dead is a British television police procedural crime drama series produced by the BBC featuring a fictional Cold Case Unit comprising CID police officers, a psychological profiler and a forensic scientist. A pilot episode aired in September 2000 and there have been a total of nine series...
- Emma Lloyd - (2005) - Holby CityHolby CityHolby 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...
- Kirsty Winton - (2005) - Where the Heart IsWhere the Heart Is (1997 TV series)Where the Heart Is is a British television drama series set in the fictional town Skelthwaite.First shown in 1997, it was created by Ashley Pharoah and Vicky Featherstone...
- Laura Miller - (2005) - The BillThe BillThe 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...
- PC Andrea Dunbar - (2004–2005) - Doctors - Doctor Jude Carlyle - (2001–2004)
- London's BurningLondon's BurningLondon's Burning was a British television drama programme produced by London Weekend Television for the ITV network that focused on the lives of members of the London Fire Brigade, principally those of the Blue Watch at a fictional fire station called Blackwall.It was broadcast between 1986 and...
- Kate - (2001) - Dream TeamDream Team (TV series)Dream Team is a British television series produced by Hewland International which aired on Sky1 and Sky3 from 1997 to 2007; it chronicled the on-field and off-field affairs of the fictional Harchester United Football Club....
- Lizzie Conlon - (2000–2001) - SunburnSunburn (TV series)Sunburn is a British television series that followed the lives of a group of British holiday reps. It was broadcast on BBC One between 16 January 1999 and 1 May 2000, running for two series of six and eight episodes respectively. The first was set and filmed in Cyprus and the second in Algarve...
- Maria Lonnides - (1999) - TaggartTaggartTaggart is a Scottish detective television programme, created by Glenn Chandler, who has written many of the episodes, and made by STV Productions for the ITV network...
- Sheila MacIntosh (1992)/Kate McCready - (1995) - Take the High RoadTake the High RoadTake the High Road was a Scottish soap opera produced by Scottish Television, and set in the fictional village of Glendarroch , and claims to have about 2 million fans, including the Queen Mother...
- Trish McDonald - (1990-1999)