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Bonita Melody Lysette "Bonnie" Langford (born 22 July 1964) is an English actress, dancer and singer. She came to prominence as a child star in the 1970s, when she had a notable role in the TV series ''
Just William ''Just William'' is the first book of children's short stories about the young school boy William Brown, written by Richmal Crompton, and published in 1922. The book was the first in the series of William Brown books which was the basis for ...
''. In the 1980s, she played companion Mel Bush in '' Doctor Who''. She has also been known for appearing in various musicals in the West End and on
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
, including shows such as ''
Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...
'', '' Cats'', ''
The Pirates of Penzance ''The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. Its official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 187 ...
'' and ''
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
''. From 2015 to 2018, she portrayed the role of
Carmel Kazemi The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'' in 2015, by order of first appearance. All characters were introduced by the show's executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins. January saw the ar ...
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. ...
...
soap opera '' EastEnders'', for which she received the 2016 British Soap Award for Best Newcomer.


Early career

Bonnie Langford attended the Arts Educational School, St Catherine's School, Twickenham and the Italia Conti Academy stage school. She first came to public attention when, aged six years old, she won the talent show '' Opportunity Knocks''. This led to the role of Scarlett O'Hara's daughter in the London production of Scarlett (1972), and work in the 1974 Broadway revival of ''
Gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...
'' starring
Angela Lansbury Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American film, stage, and television actress. Her career spanned eight decades, much of it in the United States, and her work received a great deal ...
, in the 1976 film ''
Bugsy Malone ''Bugsy Malone'' is a 1976 gangster musical comedy film written and directed by Alan Parker (in his feature film directorial debut). A co-production of United States and United Kingdom, it features an ensemble cast, featuring only child actor ...
'', the 1977 film ''
Wombling Free ''Wombling Free'' is a 1977 British film adaptation of the children's television series ''The Wombles''. Directed by Lionel Jeffries, it stars The Wombles, David Tomlinson, Frances de la Tour, and Bonnie Langford. Plot Based on the BBC children ...
'', and to still greater fame playing
Violet Elizabeth Bott The ''Just William'' series is a sequence of thirty-eight books written by English author Richmal Crompton. The books chronicle the adventures of the unruly schoolboy William Brown. The books were published over a period of almost fifty years ...
in the 1977-78 television series ''
Just William ''Just William'' is the first book of children's short stories about the young school boy William Brown, written by Richmal Crompton, and published in 1922. The book was the first in the series of William Brown books which was the basis for ...
''. During this time, she was appearing as a regular on a children's prime-time show made by
Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...
called ''
Junior Showtime ''Junior Showtime'' was a British variety show for children made by Yorkshire Television and shown on ITV between 1969 and 1974. The series' executive producer was Jess Yates. Jeff Evans ''The Penguin TV Companion'', London: Penguin, 2006, p. 4 ...
'', along with child stars
Lena Zavaroni Lena Hilda Zavaroni (4 November 1963 – 1 October 1999) was a Scottish singer and a television show host. At ten years of age, with her album ''Ma! (He's Making Eyes at Me)'', she was the youngest person in history to have an album in the top ...
,
Neil Reid Neil Reid (born 1959) is a Scottish former child singing star, winner of ITV's '' Opportunity Knocks,'' and the youngest person to reach number one on the UK Albums Chart. Career Known also as "Wee Neil Reid", he was eight when he was discov ...
,
Perry Cree Perry, also known as pear cider, is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally the perry pear. It has been common for centuries in England, particularly in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire. It is also mad ...
, and Glynn Poole among others.Kit Hesketh-Harvey in ''Country Life'', 22 January 2014, page 32


Career


''Doctor Who''

Between 1986 and 1987, Langford played the role of Mel, companion to both the Sixth and
Seventh Seventh is the ordinal form of the number seven. Seventh may refer to: * Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution * A fraction (mathematics), , equal to one of seven equal parts Film and television *"The Seventh", a second-season e ...
Doctors in the classic science fiction series '' Doctor Who''. She returned to the role in 1993 for ''
Dimensions in Time ''Dimensions in Time'' is a charity special crossover between the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'' and the soap opera '' EastEnders'' that ran in two parts on 26 and 27 November 1993. It was filmed on location at Greenwic ...
'', a special charity '' Doctor Who''/'' EastEnders''
crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...
episode as part 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. ...
...
's '' Children in Need''. She has continued to reprise the role in several
audio dramas Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...
alongside the Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy Doctors and in a cameo in the episode "
The Power of the Doctor "The Power of the Doctor" is the third and final of the 2022 specials of the British science fiction television programme '' Doctor Who'', and was broadcast on BBC One on 23 October 2022. The episode was ordered for the occasion of the 100th ann ...
".


Dancing

Langford was a featured dancer in
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
's popular light entertainment series ''The Hot Shoe Show'' which she co-presented with
Wayne Sleep Wayne Philip Colin Sleep (born 17 July 1948) is a British dancer, director, choreographer, and actor who appeared on the BBC series '' The Real Marigold on Tour'' and ITV's '' The Real Full Monty''. Early life Sleep was born in Plymouth, D ...
. On 23 October 2005, she performed in '' Children Will Listen'', a 75th birthday tribute to Stephen Sondheim at the
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Dr ...
. She is also a panto regular; recent credits include Peter in ''
Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...
'' at the
Richmond Theatre The present Richmond Theatre, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is a British Victorian theatre located on Little Green, adjacent to Richmond Green. It opened on 18 September 1899 with a performance of ''As You Like It''. One of ...
in Surrey (2008–2009); and Fairy Snow in ''
Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
'' at the
Yvonne Arnaud Theatre The Yvonne Arnaud Theatre is a theatre located in Guildford, Surrey, England. Named after the actress Yvonne Arnaud, it presents a series of locally produced and national touring productions, including opera, ballet and pantomime. The theatre ...
in Guildford (2013–2014).


''Dancing on Ice''

In 2006, Langford was a celebrity contestant in the first series of ITV's '' Dancing on Ice'', partnering professional figure skater
Matt Evers Matt Evers (born March 16, 1976) is an American pair skater, model and actor. He is the 1998 U.S. Junior champion, and has competed in every series of the ITV series ''Dancing on Ice''. Career With his partner Heather Allebach, Evers won the ...
. Their routines were characterised by the dramatic lifts and tricks they performed and were amongst the most ambitious in the competitions. Viewers saw her bang her head as she was spun on the ice during rehearsals, illustrating the danger of some of the moves they were attempting. Their appearances were also notable for the differing reception they received from the panel of judges (which consistently voted them highly, awarding them the highest total scores and the only two maximum scores from individual judges) and the voting public (who twice placed them in the bottom two pairs, forcing a "skate off" to remain in the competition). They finished in third place overall. Langford and Evers appeared again on the programme in the one-off ''Champion of Champions'' show which followed series two. They were scored second overall by the judging panel but again the public vote was less favourable and they were amongst the four teams eliminated in the first round of the competition. Langford then toured with ''
Torvill and Dean Torvill and Dean (Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean) are English ice dancers and former British, European, Olympic, and World champions. At the Sarajevo 1984 Winter Olympics the pair won gold and became the highest-scoring figure skaters of a ...
's Dancing on Ice: The Tour'' in 2007. Langford took part in the Dancing on Ice: The Tour in April and May 2008. In 2014, Bonnie returned to '' Dancing on Ice'' for the ninth and final series (10 Week run), which saw the favourite celebrities from previous series. This time she was partnered with professional ice skater
Andrei Lipanov Professional skaters from the British television show ''Dancing on Ice'' are figure skaters who appear with celebrities in front of a panel of judges. Most of the professionals on the series are former ice dancers or pair skaters. Competit ...
. She was eliminated in Week 5 after losing out to
Sam Attwater Samuel Attwater (born 10 April 1986) is an English actor and singer who played Leon Small in the British soap opera ''EastEnders'' and its online spin-off ''EastEnders: E20''. He won the sixth series of ''Dancing on Ice'' in March 2011 and pa ...
and his fiancé
Vicky Ogden Vicky, Vicko, Vick, Vickie or Vicki is a feminine given name, often a hypocorism of Victoria. The feminine name Vicky in Greece comes from the name Vasiliki. Women * Family nickname of Victoria, Princess Royal (1840–1901), wife of Germa ...
. In February 2014 she was announced as one of eight celebrities that would be appearing in Torvill & Deans Dancing on Ice: The Final Tour between March & April 2014.


Since ''Dancing on Ice''

Langford's appearance on '' Dancing on Ice'' sparked a regeneration in her career. She returned to the West End theatre in 2006 playing the role of
Roxie Hart Roxanne "Roxie" Hart is a fictional character. She is the main character of the 1926 play ''Chicago'' and its various remakes and derivatives. Development The playwright, reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins, was inspired by the trials, both of whic ...
in ''
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
''. In 2006 and 2007, Langford appeared in the
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
and Plymouth tours of ''
Guys and Dolls ''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Runyon, and also bo ...
'' playing Miss Adelaide Adams, a dance hall hostess. In July 2007, Langford was a judge on the ITV series '' Baby Ballroom: The Championship''. In 2009 and 2010, she again appeared in ''
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
'' as
Roxie Hart Roxanne "Roxie" Hart is a fictional character. She is the main character of the 1926 play ''Chicago'' and its various remakes and derivatives. Development The playwright, reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins, was inspired by the trials, both of whic ...
. Langford played the role of Roz in the first UK tour production of the Broadway musical, '' 9 to 5'', which was launched at the
Opera House An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets. While some venues are constructed specifically fo ...
, Manchester on 12 October 2012. In 2018 she took over the leading role of Dorothy Brock in the West End revival of 42nd Street, until the show closed on 5 January 2019; a recording from the end of the 2018 run aired as part of PBS's
Great Performances ''Great Performances'' is a television anthology series dedicated to the performing arts; the banner has been used to televise theatrical performances such as plays, musicals, opera, ballet, concerts, as well as occasional documentaries. It is p ...
’ third annual “Broadway’s Best” lineup in November 2019. In 2021, Langford appeared on '' The Masked Dancer'', masked as Squirrel. She reached the final and was announced as the runner up on 5 June.


''EastEnders''

On 5 April 2015, it was announced that Langford had joined long-running
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. ...
...
soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
'' EastEnders'' for a guest role, later promoted to a regular role as character
Carmel Kazemi The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'' in 2015, by order of first appearance. All characters were introduced by the show's executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins. January saw the ar ...
, the mother of established character, Kush Kazemi (
Davood Ghadami Davood Ghadami ( fa, داوود قدمی; born 7 August 1982) is an English actor. Following his appearances in ''Taggart'' in 2010, he appeared in the BBC medical programmes '' Doctors'' and ''Casualty'' in recurring roles. In 2014, he began p ...
). Carmel is described as an "overly protective" and "outspoken" mother. Commenting on the casting, Langford said: "I’m so thrilled and delighted to be part of ''EastEnders''. I’m a great fan of the show and think the recent 30th Anniversary was sensational and shows just how good British television can be. To be part of this family is an absolute privilege."


Personal life

Langford is the aunt of actresses Summer, Scarlett, Zizi, and Saskia Strallen.Bonnie Langford to return to Broadway
''The Telegraph'', 14 June 2009


Filmography


Film


Television


Webcasts


Theatre and tour appearances


Pantomime appearances


Discography


Albums

* '' CATS (Original London Cast Recording)'' (2002) * '' Gypsy: A Musical Fable'' (original cast recording) * ''
Wuthering Heights ''Wuthering Heights'' is an 1847 novel by Emily Brontë, initially published under her pen name Ellis Bell. It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moors, the Earnshaws and the Lintons, and their turbulent re ...
'' (original cast recording of
Bernard J. Taylor Bernard J. Taylor is a writer and composer of musicals and stage plays. His stage works have been produced around the world and translated into German, Romanian, Polish, Hungarian, Spanish and Italian. He is also the writer of 14 novels and thre ...
's musical) * '' Oliver!'' * ''
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers ''Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'' is a 1954 American musical film, directed by Stanley Donen, with music by Gene de Paul, lyrics by Johnny Mercer, and choreography by Michael Kidd. The screenplay, by Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich, and Do ...
'' * ''The Hot Shoe Show'' (TV soundtrack) (1983) * ''Just One Kiss / 'Til He Phones'' 7" (1984) * ''Let's Face The Music And Dance / I Feel Good (I Got You) / Take Me To The River - Nowhere To Run (medley) / Piano In The Dark'' (CD single) (1996) * ''Bonnie Langford Now (Selections From Her One Woman Show Live and Direct)'' (1999) * ''Jazz at the Theatre'' (2003) * ''Leading Ladies'' (2009)


Audio


Awards and nominations


References


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Langford, Bonnie 1964 births Living people Alumni of the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts English child actresses English female dancers English film actresses English musical theatre actresses English soap opera actresses English stage actresses English television actresses People educated at the Arts Educational Schools Actors from Guildford 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses