Donna Edwards (born 1963) is a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

actress. Edwards is a

Bafta Cymru BAFTA Cymru (or BAFTA in Wales or WAFTA) is the Welsh branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and was founded in 1987.

award-winning for Best Actress.

Early life and education

She was born in

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydf ...

and raised in the village of Trefechan. She was a pupil at Vaynor and Penderyn High School where she took an early interest in drama. At 14 she was chosen as the lead role of Myfanwy Llewellyn in '' Off to Philadelphia in the Morning'', a 1978 BBC drama series about the composer

Joseph Parry Joseph Parry (21 May 1841 – 17 February 1903) was a Welsh composer and musician. Born in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, he is best known as the composer of "Myfanwy" and the hymn tune "Aberystwyth", on which the African song "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" i ...

. She studied Welsh and Drama at

Aberystwyth University , mottoeng = A world without knowledge is no world at all , established = 1872 (as ''The University College of Wales'') , former_names = University of Wales, Aberystwyth , type = Public , endowment = ...

and graduated in 1984.

Career

In 1985 she was given the role of Miriam Ambrose in the Welsh-language TV drama ''Dinas''. She has appeared in other Welsh-language productions such as ''Tair Chwaer'' and ''Yr Aduniad'', although she may be most famous for playing Britt Monk in ''

Pobol y Cwm ''Pobol y Cwm'' (''People of the Valley''; ) is a Welsh-language soap opera produced by the BBC since October 1974. The longest-running television soap opera produced by the BBC, ''Pobol y Cwm'' was originally transmitted on BBC One Wales and l ...

''. She has also starred in a number of Welsh-based TV dramas in English such as ''Nuts and Bolts'' on

ITV Wales ITV Cymru Wales, previously known as Harlech Television and HTV Wales, is the ITV franchise for Wales. The new separate licence began on 1 January 2014, replacing the long-serving dual franchise region serving Wales and the West of England. Li ...

and '' Belonging'' on

BBC Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, BBC Cymru Wales is ...

. She has also appeared in the BBC comedy

Gavin & Stacey ''Gavin & Stacey'' is a British sitcom written by James Corden and Ruth Jones about two families: one in Billericay, Essex; one in Barry, South Wales. Mathew Horne and Joanna Page play the titular characters Gavin and Stacey and the writers st ...

. She has appeared in plays at the Royal Court, Clwyd Theatr Cymru and the Sherman in Cardiff. In 2012 she played 'Mo the Bap' in the Sky1 TV comedy drama series '' Stella''. She reprised this role for the second series. Two of her daughters have also acted, Lucy Borja who played Chloe Branagh in the first two series of ''

Young Dracula ''Young Dracula'' is a British children's horror drama comedy television series which aired on CBBC, loosely based on ''Young Dracula'', a 2002 children's book by Michael Lawrence. It is also based on the epistolary novel ''Dracula'', writte ...

'' and Sophie Borja who appeared in series four and five of ''

The Story of Tracy Beaker ''The Story of Tracy Beaker'' is a British children's book first published in 1991, written by Jacqueline Wilson and illustrated by Nick Sharratt. Background The book is told from the point of view of Tracy Beaker, a troubled ten-year-old gi ...

'' as Roxy Wellard. In 2015 she played Yvette in the National Theatre Wales production of Mother Courage at Merthyr Tydfil Labour Club.

Awards

She has won the

BAFTA Cymru BAFTA Cymru (or BAFTA in Wales or WAFTA) is the Welsh branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and was founded in 1987.

Best Actress Award twice – for her roles in ''Tair Chwaer'' and ''Belonging''.

Personal life

She lives in

Dinas Powys Dinas Powys (; also spelt "Dinas Powis" in English) is a small town and community (Wales), community in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales. Its name means "fort of the provincial place" and refers to the Dinas Powys hillfort, Iron Age hillfort wh ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

with her husband Ray Borja, a photographer, and two children. She has two brothers twenty years her senior; John, a policeman and Ken. She is an ambassador for the learning disability charity Mencap Cymru.

Filmography

TV

Film

References

External links

*
Personal Twitter account
Welsh soap opera actresses Welsh-speaking actors Welsh television actresses Living people People from Merthyr Tydfil 1963 births {{UK-tv-actor-1960s-stub