Clare Perkins (born 18 August 1965) is an English

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

who is known for her roles as Denise Boulter in ''

Family Affairs ''Family Affairs'' is a British soap opera that aired on Channel 5. It debuted on 30 March 1997, the day of the launch of said channel and was the first programme broadcast on the channel. It was screened as five thirty-minute episodes per w ...

'' and Ava Hartman in '' EastEnders''.

Career

Perkins' first role was as Opal in the 1991 TV film 'Hallelujah Anyhow' in the ''

Screen Two ''Screen Two'' was a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC2 from 1985 to 1998 (not to be confused with a run of films shown on BBC2 under the billing ''Screen 2'' between April 1977 and March ...

'' strand. On TV she has appeared in ''

'', ''All in the Game'', '' Pig Heart Boy'', ''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

'', '' EastEnders'', ''

Men Behaving Badly ''Men Behaving Badly'' is a British sitcom that was created and written by Simon Nye. It follows the lives of Gary Strang (Martin Clunes) and his flatmates Dermot Povey (Harry Enfield; series 1 only) and Tony Smart (Neil Morrissey; series 2 on ...

'', ''Big Women'' and ''

Clapham Junction Clapham Junction is an urban locality around Clapham Junction railway station in London, England. Despite its name, it is not located in Clapham, but forms the commercial centre of Battersea. Clapham Junction was a scene of disturbances during ...

''. She has appeared in many theatres, such as the

Royal Court A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word "court" may also be appl ...

, Young Vic, National Theatre and

Soho Theatre The Soho Theatre is a theatre and registered charity in the Soho district of the City of Westminster, in London, England. It produces and presents new works of theatre, together with comedy and cabaret, across three performance spaces. The the ...

. Her film credits include Jill in the

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

-winning '' Ladybird, Ladybird'' (

Ken Loach Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a British film director and screenwriter. His socially critical directing style and socialist ideals are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as poverty ('' Poor Cow'', 1967), homelessn ...

), '' Secrets & Lies'' (

Mike Leigh Mike Leigh (born 20 February 1943) is an English film and theatre director, screenwriter and playwright. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and further at the Camberwell School of Art, the Central School of Art and Design ...

), ''

Bullet Boy ''Bullet Boy'' is a 2004 British crime drama film directed by Saul Dibb, written by Saul Dibb and Catherine Johnson, and stars Ashley Walters. The film's original music was composed and performed by Robert Del Naja of Massive Attack, who rel ...

'' (

Saul Dibb Saul Dibb (born 18 August 1968) is an English director and screenwriter. His father is the documentary maker Mike Dibb. Born in London, England, Saul Dibb is a graduate of the University of East Anglia. He is best known for co-writing and direc ...

) and '' 7 Lives''. Clare was part of the BBC production ''Pig Heart Boy'', which won a

Children's BAFTA The British Academy Children's Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). They have been awarded annually since 1996, before which time they were a part of the main British Aca ...

for Best Drama. Clare has worked in theatre, film, TV and radio, she has been a member of the BBC Radio Drama Company and played the character of Mel for 8 years in the

World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...

soap '' Westway''. Clare played Beverly in the acclaimed film ''Bullet Boy'' which opened the

London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and sho ...

in 2004; she won Best Actress for this role at the Screen Nation Awards. In 2011 she turned to performing in many radio dramas for Radio 4 including ''The Winter House'', ''Landfall'', ''Corrinne Come Back and Gone'' and ''Best Intentions''. Since 2021 she has played Denise Metcalf, a veterinary nurse, in the long-running soap opera

The Archers ''The Archers'' is a BBC radio drama on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now promoted as "a contemporary drama in a rural sett ...

. Clare was in two West End productions in 2019 - '' Emilia'' which transferred from The Globe, and ''

Sweat Perspiration, also known as sweating, is the production of fluids secreted by the sweat glands in the skin of mammals. Two types of sweat glands can be found in humans: eccrine glands and apocrine glands. The eccrine sweat glands are distrib ...

'' which transferred from the

Donmar Warehouse The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage and Josie Rourke have all served as artistic director, a post held since 2019 by Mi ...

, with the consequence that at one point her face was on the front of two West End theatres simultaneously for a month, The Vaudeville and The Gielgud; it is believed that she is the only actress to achieve this. Clare played Kerene Nagashi in the Amazon fantasy series ''

The Wheel of Time ''The Wheel of Time'' is a series of high fantasy novels by American author Robert Jordan, with Brandon Sanderson as a co-author for the final three novels. Originally planned as a six-book series, ''The Wheel of Time'' spans 14 volumes, in ad ...

''. She appeared in the horror film '' Censor'', and was one of the stars of the TV comedy-drama '' The Outlaws''.

Personal life

She was educated at the

Rose Bruford College Rose Bruford College (formerly Rose Bruford College of Theatre & Performance) is a drama school in the south London suburb of Sidcup. The college has degree programmes in acting, actor musicianship, directing, theatre arts and various discipl ...

from 1983–1985, and is the mother of Kali Perkins (who appeared in the TV programme ''

The Undateables ''The Undateables'' was a British reality television series that follows a range of people on dates who have long term conditions, including: disabilities, developmental disorders, neurodevelopmental conditions, and learning difficulties. The ...

''). She is based in Greater London.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Perkins, Clare Living people English film actresses People from Lewisham English television actresses Actresses from London English soap opera actresses 1965 births