Heather Craney (born 1971) is an English actress, known for portraying Joyce Drake in ''

Vera Drake ''Vera Drake'' is a 2004 British period drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh and starring Imelda Staunton, Phil Davis, Daniel Mays and Eddie Marsan. It tells the story of a working-class woman in London in 1950 who performs illegal a ...

'', Alison Weaver in '' Life of Riley'' and Emily Holroyd in ''

Torchwood ''Torchwood'' is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. A spin-off of the 2005 revival of ''Doctor Who'', it aired from 2006 to 2011. The show shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing ...

''.

Background

Craney was born in Stapleford, Cambridgeshire. Her family lived in

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

for two years during the 1980s, where Craney attended

Hummersknott School Hummersknott Academy is a secondary school in Darlington in the north east of England. It schools approximately 1,250 pupils aged eleven to sixteen. It has had specialist Language College status since 2005 and holds accreditations for Artsma ...

. She attended Stapleford Community Primary School,

Sawston Village College Sawston Village College is an academy school in Sawston, Cambridgeshire, England. It was previously the first community college in the country and the first Village College. It was founded in 1930 and realised the vision of Henry Morris, then ...

and

Long Road Sixth Form College Long Road Sixth Form College (LRSFC) is a public sector co-educational sixth form college in Cambridge, England. It is situated on Long Road, from which it draws its name, and is located next to the Cambridge Bio-Medical Campus which encompasse ...

in Cambridgeshire, and went on to study English and drama at

Liverpool Hope University , mottoeng=Hope to all who need it , established=1844 – Saint Katharine's College (as Warrington Training College)1856 – Notre Dame College (as Our Lady's Training College)1964 – Christ's College1979 – Liverpool Institute of Higher Edu ...

, graduating in 1992.Profile – Heather Craney
''Mandy Actors''; retrieved 12 August 2009. She trained in Acting and Musical Theatre at the

Central School of Speech and Drama The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a ...

, graduating in 1995.

Career

Craney has appeared in the

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 ...

films ''

Topsy-Turvy ''Topsy-Turvy'' is a 1999 British musical period drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh, starring Allan Corduner as Sir Arthur Sullivan and Jim Broadbent as W.S. Gilbert, along with Timothy Spall, Lesley Manville and Ron Cook. The s ...

'' (1999), '' All or Nothing'' (2002) and ''

'' (2004), for which she was nominated for the 2005

BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role Best Actress in a Supporting Role is a British Academy Film Award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding supporting performance in a film. This award ...

. Her other film credits include ''Drinking Crude'' (1997), ''Loop'' (1997) and ''

Dangerous Parking ''Dangerous Parking'' is a 2007 drama film written and directed by Peter Howitt based on the novel of the same name by Stuart Browne, who died in 1999. Plot ''Dangerous Parking'' tells the story of Noah Arkwright, a cult director in the indie f ...

'' (2007). On television, Craney played Alison Weaver in the sitcom '' Life of Riley'', and Cheryl Matthews in ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...

''. She also played Emily Holroyd in the ''

'' episode " Fragments". She has also appeared in ''

Silent Witness ''Silent Witness'' is a British crime drama television series produced by the BBC, which focuses on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. First broadcast in 1996, the series was created by Nigel McC ...

'', ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused on ...

'', ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama ''Casualty'', and pr ...

'' and the

television films A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

The Mark of Cain The curse of Cain and the mark of Cain are phrases that originated in the story of Cain and Abel in the Book of Genesis. In the stories, if someone harmed Cain, the damage would come back sevenfold. Some interpretations view this as a physica ...

'' and '' Ahead of the Class''. In May 2022, she appeared in an episode of the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

Background

Career

Filmography

Theatre

References

External links