Julia Margaret Deakin (born 20 May 1952)Clarke, Gemma (5 September 2016)
"GRAND RE-OPENING OF GAINSBOROUGH HERITAGE CENTRE"
''Gainsborough Heritage Association''. Retrieved 10 August 2021. is an English actress. She is known for her roles in the

sitcoms A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use new ...

So Haunt Me ''So Haunt Me'' is a British television sitcom about a family that moves into a home occupied by the ghost of its previous resident, a middle-aged Jewish mother. The show was created by Paul Mendelson who was also credited on another British sit ...

'' (1992–1994), '' Oh Doctor Beeching!'' (1996–1997) and ''

Spaced ''Spaced'' is a British television sitcom created, written by and starring Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson, and directed by Edgar Wright, about the (comedic and sometimes farcical and action-packed) misadventures of Daisy Steiner and Tim Bis ...

'' (1999–2001). Her film appearances include ''

Shaun of the Dead ''Shaun of the Dead'' is a 2004 zombie comedy film directed by Edgar Wright and written by Wright and Simon Pegg. Pegg stars as Shaun, a downtrodden salesman in London who is caught in a zombie apocalypse with his friend Ed (Nick Frost). The fi ...

'' (2004), ''

Hot Fuzz ''Hot Fuzz'' is a 2007 action comedy film directed by Edgar Wright and written by Wright and Simon Pegg. Starring Pegg, Nick Frost, Timothy Dalton, and Jim Broadbent, the film centres on two police officers investigating a series of mysteriou ...

'' (2007) and '' High-Rise'' (2015).

Early life

Deakin was born in

Gainsborough Gainsborough or Gainsboro may refer to: Places * Gainsborough, Ipswich, Suffolk, England ** Gainsborough Ward, Ipswich * Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, a town in England ** Gainsborough (UK Parliament constituency) * Gainsborough, New South Wales, ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

, where her parents Wyn and Bill were shopkeepers. She attended Gainsborough High School for Girls (became part of

Queen Elizabeth's High School Queen Elizabeth's High School is a mixed grammar school in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. The school, established in 1983, but with a timeline to 1589, is an amalgamation of the previous Gainsborough High School and Queen Elizabeth's Gr ...

in 1983), a girls'

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

. She started French and Drama teacher training near Manchester, then attended Mountview Theatre School.

Career

In theatre, she has played Mrs. Sowerberry in the West End cast of ''

Oliver! ''Oliver!'' is a coming-of-age stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel '' Oliver Twist'' by Charles Dickens. It premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre, southwest London in 1960 before op ...

'', singing the song "That's Your Funeral" with David Delve on a recording. On television, Deakin played Stella Tulley in '' Side by Side'' and Marsha, the ageing divorcée landlady, in the sitcom ''

'' (1999). Deakin earlier appeared in the television sitcom ''

Oh, Doctor Beeching! ''Oh, Doctor Beeching!'' is a BBC television sitcom written by David Croft and Richard Spendlove which, after a broadcast pilot on 14 August 1995, ran for two series from 8 July 1996, with the last episode being broadcast on 28 September 1997. ...

'' (1996–1997), where she played the role of May Skinner, replacing

Sherrie Hewson Sherrie Lynn Hutchinson (born 17 September 1950) is an English actress, television personality and novelist. She is known for her roles as Maureen Holdsworth in ''Coronation Street'' (1993–1997, 2006), Virginia Raven in ''Crossroads'' (2001– ...

from the original pilot. She has also made many single television appearances, including playing Jill, the receptionist from Pear Tree Productions, in one episode of the first series of ''

I'm Alan Partridge ''I'm Alan Partridge'' is a British sitcom written by Steve Coogan, Peter Baynham and Armando Iannucci. Coogan stars as Alan Partridge, a tactless and inept radio DJ and television presenter who has been left by his wife and dropped from the BB ...

'', a rural

dominatrix A dominatrix (; ) or femdom is a woman who takes the dominant role in BDSM activities. A dominatrix can be of any sexual orientation, but this does not necessarily limit the genders of her submissive partners. Dominatrices are known for inflic ...

in ''

Doc Martin ''Doc Martin'' is a British medical comedy drama television series starring Martin Clunes as Doctor Martin Ellingham. It was created by Dominic Minghella after the character of Dr Martin Bamford in the 2000 comedy film '' Saving Grace''. The ...

'' as well as roles in ''

Midsomer Murders ''Midsomer Murders'' is a British crime drama television series, adapted by Anthony Horowitz and Douglas Watkinson from the novels in the '' Chief Inspector Barnaby'' book series (created by Caroline Graham), and broadcast on two channels of I ...

'' and ''

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. Origi ...

''. She appeared in the sketch comedy series ''

Big Train ''Big Train'' is a British television sketch show created by Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan. The first series was broadcast on BBC Two in 1998, while the second, in which Linehan was not involved, aired in 2002. Overview The series starr ...

'' alongside fellow ''

'' cast members

Simon Pegg Simon John Pegg (né Beckingham; born 14 February 1970) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. He came to prominence in the UK as the co-creator of the Channel 4 sitcom ''Spaced'' (1999–2001), directed by Edgar Wright. H ...

and

Mark Heap Mark Heap (born 13 May 1957) is an English actor and comedian. He is known for his roles in television comedies, including, ''Brass Eye'', ''Big Train'', ''Spaced'', ''Jam (TV series), Jam'', ''Green Wing'', ''Friday Night Dinner'', ''Upstart ...

. She plays Dr. Jean in the ''Alan'' segments on ''

Modern Toss ''Modern Toss'' is a British comic by Jon Link and Mick Bunnage. Renowned for their scurrilous humour and highly stylised animation, it was created in 2004, initially as a website publishing single panel jokes and then as series of irregularly ...

''. She played Luella's mother, Genevieve Shakespeare in "The Envious Court", '' Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators'' S2:E9 (2019). She has appeared on radio, as Eva Tattle in ''

The Maltby Collection ''The Maltby Collection'' is a BBC Radio 4 sitcom set in a small, threatened art gallery. The first series was broadcast in six parts, at 11.30am on Fridays from 15 June 2007. Its theme tune is " I'm on My Way". The show was written by David N ...

''. She also guest starred in the ''

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 u ...

'' audio drama ''

Terror Firma ''Terror Firma'' is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. The story follows on directly from the previous Eighth Doctor audio drama '' The Next Life'' and flash ...

'' for

Big Finish Productions Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on cult science fiction properties. These include ''Doctor Who'', the ...

. And appeared in an episode of ''Agatha Raisin'' with Penelope Keith. She portrayed Daphne Andrews in ''

House of Anubis ''House of Anubis'' is a Mystery fiction, mystery television series developed for Nickelodeon based on the Dutch–Belgian television series ''Het Huis Anubis''. The series was created by Hans Bourlon and Gert Verhulst and premiered on Nickel ...

''. Her character left in series two.

Film

Deakin had a cameo in the feature film ''

'' (2004) and played the pub landlady Mary Porter in the film ''

'' (2007) by

and

Edgar Wright Edgar Howard Wright (born 18 April 1974) is an English filmmaker. He is known for his fast-paced and kinetic, satirical genre films, which feature extensive utilisation of expressive popular music, Steadicam tracking shots, dolly zooms and a ...

. In 2009 she was cast as Maggie, a

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

mother in Ben Wheatley's

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

Down Terrace ''Down Terrace'' is a 2009 British crime film directed by Ben Wheatley and starring Robin Hill, Robert Hill and Julia Deakin. Plot Upon release from prison, Bill and his son Karl arrive home at Down Terrace in Brighton. With the help of his ...

''. She later appeared in

Ben Wheatley Benjamin Wheatley (born 7 May 1972) is an English filmmaker and screenwriter. Beginning his career in advertising, Wheatley first gained recognition and acclaim for his commercials and short films, before transitioning into feature films and tel ...

's 2015 cinema adaptation of '' High-Rise'' as Jean, the assistant to protagonist Dr. Laing.

Personal life

She is married to actor and author Michael Simkins.

Filmography

Television roles

Film roles

References

External links

*
More about her character in ''Spaced''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deakin, Julia 1952 births Actresses from Lincolnshire Alumni of the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts English television actresses Living people People educated at Queen Elizabeth's High School People from Gainsborough, Lincolnshire 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses