Annie Wallace (born 6 May 1965) is a British actress, known for portraying the role of

Sally St. Claire Sally St. Claire is a fictional character from the Channel 4 soap opera, ''Hollyoaks'', played by Annie Wallace. The character made her first on-screen appearance on 29 October 2015 and Wallace is the first transgender person to play a regula ...

in the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

soap opera ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera '' Brookside''. Since 2005, episodes have been aired on sister channel E4 a ...

'', a role she has portrayed since 2015. She is the first

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

person to portray a regular transgender character in British soap opera history.

Life and career

Wallace was previously a member of the

National Youth Theatre The National Youth Theatre of Great Britain (NYT) is a youth theatre and registered charity in London. Its aim is to develop and nurture young people through creative arts and theatrical productions. Founded in 1956 as the world's first youth the ...

in 1981, but she temporarily stopped acting to work in computer science and sound engineering. After eighteen months as a research assistant for the ITV soap opera ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Orig ...

'', from 1998 to 2000, where she advised for and inspired the character of Hayley Patterson (later Cropper), she auditioned successfully for the Manchester School of Theatre in 2001, graduating in 2004. She then appeared in various Manchester theatre productions, including ''Withnail and I'' and ''Wyrd Sisters''. In 2011, she appeared in an episode of '' Shameless'' as school headmistress Miss Heller. Wallace is also a musician, with two albums written and recorded with collaborator John Beresford. She has also worked on several podcast comedy series, as well as sound and video design for various theatrical productions. On 9 October 2015, it was announced that she would be joining the

soap opera ''

'', in a new regular role as

. Wallace made her first appearance on 29 October 2015. On 5 January 2018, Wallace took part in an edition of ''

Celebrity Mastermind ''Celebrity Mastermind'' is a celebrity version of ''Mastermind'', a British television quiz show broadcast by BBC television. It began in 2002 as a one-off special, expanding to the current arrangement of 10 episodes, broadcast during December ...

'', where her specialist subject was "''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the ...

'' – 1970–1980". She came in second place with 21 points, losing to journalist

Martin Bell Martin Bell, (born 31 August 1938) is a British UNICEF (UNICEF UK) Ambassador, a former broadcast war reporter and former independent politician who became the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tatton from 1997 to 2001. He is sometimes known as " ...

with 24 points. Her chosen charity was

Mermaids In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are sometimes asso ...

Filmography

Awards and nominations

On 15 November 2015, she was placed at number 17 on the ''

Rainbow List The Rainbow List (called the Pink List until 2014) is a list of the most influential openly LGBT individuals in the United Kingdom, published annually in the British national newspaper ''The Independent on Sunday''. The list was started in 2000 ...

'', published by ''

The Independent on Sunday ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was published ...

''; a list of the most influential openly

LGBTI Intersex people are born with sex characteristics (such as genitals, gonads, and chromosome patterns) that "do not fit the typical definitions for male or female bodies". They are substantially more likely to identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, ...

individuals in the United Kingdom, published annually. On 25 June 2016, Wallace was placed at number 39 on the Pride Power List, published by Out News Global as part of Pride in London; another list of in celebration of the achievements of 100 most influential lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people in Britain, voted for by the public. On 16 September 2016, she won

The National Diversity Awards The National Diversity Awards is an awards ceremony which honours positive role models, entrepreneurs and community organisations across several different strands within the equality and diversity sector. It is held annually in various venues ac ...

"Celebrity of the Year" award, at

Liverpool Cathedral Liverpool Cathedral is the Cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Liverpool, built on St James's Mount in Liverpool, and the seat of the Bishop of Liverpool. It may be referred to as the Cathedral Church of Christ in Liverpool (as recorded in th ...

. On the same day she was placed at No.38 on the

DIVA Diva (; ) is the Latin word for a goddess. It has often been used to refer to a celebrated woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, theatre, cinema, fashion and popular music. If referring to an actress, the meaning of ''diva'' is cl ...

Power List. On 5 October 2016, she was nominated in the BAFTA Scotland Awards 2016 in the category of "Best Actress - Television" for her role in Hollyoaks; the first ever British transgender actress to be nominated for a BAFTA award. On 2 October 2021 she was presented with the Judges Award for Outstanding Trans Activism at the Proud Scotland Awards.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wallace, Annie 1965 births Living people Actresses from Aberdeen 21st-century Scottish actresses National Youth Theatre members Alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University Scottish television actresses Scottish soap opera actresses Scottish stage actresses Scottish LGBT actors Transgender actresses 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people People educated at Aberdeen Grammar School