Linda Frances Elide Lusardi (born 18 September 1958) is an English actress,
television presenter
A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television show, television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for ...
and former
glamour model
A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Though ...
.
Career
Modelling
Lusardi was born in
Wood Green
Wood Green is a suburban district in the borough of Haringey in London, England. Its postal district is N22, with parts in N8 or N15. The London Plan identifies it as one of the metropolitan centres in Greater London, and today it forms a maj ...
, London to Lilian (née Glassman, b. 1933) and Nello Lusardi (1930–2017). Her mother was born in
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
,
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...
and her father in
Hackney,
East London
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...
to Italian parents. Lusardi grew up in
Palmers Green
Palmers Green is a suburban area and electoral ward in North London, England, within the London Borough of Enfield. It is located within the N13 postcode district, around north of Charing Cross. It is home to the largest population of Greek Cy ...
. In 1976, at the age of 18, she began appearing as a
Page 3
Page 3, or Page Three, was a British newspaper convention of publishing a large image of a topless female glamour model (known as a Page 3 girl) on the third page of mainstream red-top tabloids. '' The Sun'' introduced the feature, publishing ...
girl in ''
The Sun'' and continued to appear until 1988. She also appeared nude in the men's magazines
''Mayfair'' in February 1977 and
''Fiesta'' in November 1977.
Television, film and stage acting
As an actress, Lusardi has appeared in the drama series ''
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 ...
'' playing the girlfriend of corrupt officer
DS Don Beech and also in ''Hollyoaks'' and ''
Brookside Brookside may refer to:
Geography Canada
* Brookside, Edmonton
* Brookside, Newfoundland and Labrador
* Brookside, Nova Scotia
United Kingdom
* Brookside, Berkshire, England
* Brookside, Telford, an area of Telford, England
United States
* Br ...
''. On 12 February 2007, she joined the cast of ''
Emmerdale
''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, '' ...
'' as
Carrie Nicholls
The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the British soap opera ''Emmerdale'' in 2007, by order of first appearance. All characters were introduced by the soap's executive producer, Keith Richardson.
Jackie Stiles
Jackie St ...
, an ex-girlfriend of
Tom King and mother of his secret child,
Scarlett. She left the programme after a year.
Lusardi has appeared in movies including ''Snappers'', ''
The Zero Imperative'', ''Oh Minnie'', ''
Consuming Passions
''Consuming Passions'' is a 1988 black comedy film which stars Vanessa Redgrave, Jonathan Pryce, and Sammi Davis and was directed by Giles Foster.
Synopsis
The film is based on ''Secrets'' by Michael Palin and Terry Jones a BBC television play ...
'' and ''
The Krays: Dead Man Walking''.
Lusardi has starred as Eliza Doolittle in ''
Pygmalion
Pygmalion or Pigmalion may refer to:
Mythology
* Pygmalion (mythology), a sculptor who fell in love with his statue
Stage
* ''Pigmalion'' (opera), a 1745 opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau
* ''Pygmalion'' (Rousseau), a 1762 melodrama by Jean-Jacques ...
'' at the
Malvern Festival and toured in ''Happy as a Sandbag'', ''Funny Peculiar'', ''Bedside Manners'', ''
Not Now, Darling
''Not Now, Darling'' is a 1967 farce written by English playwrights John Chapman and Ray Cooney, first staged at the Richmond Theatre, in Richmond, England prior to a long West End run. The production starred Donald Sinden and Bernard Cribbin ...
'', ''Rock with Laughter'', ''
No Sex Please, We're British
''No Sex Please, We're British'' is a British farce written by Alistair Foot and Anthony Marriott, which premiered in London's West End on 3 June 1971 at the Strand Theatre. It was panned by critics, but ran until 5 September 1987, transferri ...
'', and ''Doctor on the Boil''. Lusardi took her own show to the British Forces in Belize, the Falklands and Northern Ireland.
She is a supporter of UK
pantomime
Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...
and often stars with her husband
Sam Kane each
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...
at major theatres in the UK. Recent venues have been
Woking
Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...
,
Southend-on-Sea
Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...
,
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
, and
Llandudno
Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2011 UK census, the community – which includes Gogarth, Penrhyn Bay, Craigsi ...
. Lusardi has starred in over 25 pantomimes.
Other television work
Lusardi appeared in two series of ''A Kind of Magic'', as assistant to
Wayne Dobson
Wayne Dobson (born 5 July 1957, Leicester, England) is an English magician, who became well-known through various television appearances in the late 1980s and 1990s. At the height of his fame he had his own television series ''Wayne Dobson - A Ki ...
on ITV, and a season of ''
Loose Women
''Loose Women'' (previously known as ''Live Talk'' from 2000 to 2001) is a British talk show that broadcasts on ITV1 weekdays from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm. The show focuses on a panel of four female presenters who interview celebrities, talk about ...
''in 2002. She later returned in 2014 to 2015 and made a few guest panellist appearances. She regularly presented ''
Wish You Were Here...?'',
Miss Northern Ireland, chat show ''It's Bizarre'', Film Review and No Smoking on ITV. Lusardi took part in the reality show ''
The Games'' in 2004, ITV daytime programme ''
Have I Been Here Before?
''Have I Been Here Before?'' is an ITV daytime programme, presented by Phillip Schofield, made by ITV Productions. The programme offers celebrity guests the chance to see if they have lived before, in a past life. The celebrities are regressed ...
'' and BBC One's ''
Hole in the Wall'' in 2009. She also sells ''Lusardi My Miracle'', a range of skin-care products, on shopping television channel
Ideal World
Ideal World is a British TV shopping channel, broadcasting on Freeview, Satellite, Cable and online, with transactional websites, broadcast from studios in Peterborough.
History
Ideal World has its origins in the 1980s as a mail order compan ...
.
In 1992, she appeared in the "Dead Ringer" observation round of ''
The Krypton Factor
''The Krypton Factor'' is a British game show produced by Granada Television for broadcast on ITV. The show originally ran from 7 September 1977 to 20 November 1995, and was hosted by Gordon Burns and usually broadcast on the ITV network on ...
'' and appeared in a special edition of ''Bullseye'' presented by
Jim Bowen
James Brown Whittaker (born Peter Williams; 20 August 1937 – 14 March 2018), known professionally as Jim Bowen, was an English stand-up comedian, actor and television personality. He was the long-time host of the ITV game show ''Bullseye'', ...
. Lusardi appeared on ''
Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway
''Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway'' (referred to simply as ''Saturday Night Takeaway'' or ''SNT'') is a British television variety show, created and presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquially known as Ant & Dec), and b ...
'' on ITV and in the
Royal Variety Performance
The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British royal f ...
, as well as ''
Celebrity Eggheads'' and ''
Pointless Celebrities
''Pointless'' is a British television quiz show produced by Banijay subsidiary Remarkable Television for the BBC. It is hosted by Alexander Armstrong. In each episode four teams of two contestants attempt to find correct but obscure answers to ...
'' on 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. ...
...
. She also appeared briefly as herself in the BBC sitcom ''
'', finishing in sixth place. Her professional skating partner was
, who temporarily moved into her family home to make training more convenient. Lusardi had to catch up with her fellow skaters after falling and breaking a bone in her foot during her first hour on the ice. She also won the
show ''Celebrity Come Dine With Me'' in 2008. In the show, she was voted the best dinner host by her fellow contestants
. Lusardi participated in the 2011 series of ''
'', where she reached the final five. In December 2020, she took part in The Real Full Monty on Ice for charity.
During the 1980s, Lusardi married a builder named Terry Bailey and they were often featured in the ''
s Sunday supplement magazine, "Sunday". They divorced in 1996. In 1998, Lusardi married actor Samuel Kane and they have two children, son Jack and daughter Lucy. She is patron of two charities, the
and was admitted to hospital.
that she had "never felt this ill" but later made a full recovery.