Raquel Cassidy is an English actress. She played the role of Phyllis Baxter in the television series ''

Downton Abbey ''Downton Abbey'' is a British historical drama television series set in the early 20th century, created and co-written by Julian Fellowes. The series first aired in the United Kingdom on ITV on 26 September 2010 and in the United States o ...

'' (2013–2015), winning a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. She has reprised the role for both the 2019 feature film of the same name and its 2022 sequel. She has played leading roles in other television series including ''

Teachers A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

'', '' Party Animals'', ''

Moving Wallpaper ''Moving Wallpaper'' is a British satirical comedy-drama television series set in a TV production unit. It ran on ITV for two series in 2008–09. The subject of the first series was the production of a soap called '' Echo Beach'', each episode ...

'', ''

Lead Balloon ''Lead Balloon'' is a British television series produced by Open Mike Productions for BBC Four. The series was created and is co-written by comedian Jack Dee and Pete Sinclair. It stars Dee as Rick Spleen, a cynical and misanthropic comedian w ...

'', ''

The Worst Witch ''The Worst Witch'' is a series of children's books written and illustrated by Jill Murphy. The series are primarily about a girl who attends a witch school and fantasy stories, with eight books published. The first, ''The Worst Witch'', was ...

'' and '' The Good Karma Hospital''.

Early life and education

Born to a Spanish mother and an English father, she was the third child and only daughter born to the couple. Born and brought up in Fleet, Hampshire, she was educated at Farnborough Hill Convent, and then

Girton College, Cambridge Girton College is one of the 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college in Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college statu ...

, where she studied modern languages. She later pursued a PhD in biological anthropology, but abandoned it to pursue a career in acting.

Career

In an early role, Cassidy played Lola Chaves in an episode of ''

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'', speaking predominantly in Spanish. In 2001 she took the role of Susan Gately in ''

'', returning for the second series in 2002. She has also played the Home Office Junior Minister Jo Porter in '' Party Animals'', Cassie Turner in '' The Worst Week of My Life'', Nancy Weeks in ''

'' and Mel in ''

''. In 2013 Cassidy joined the cast of ''

'', playing the role of rehabilitated thief and ladies maid Phyllis Baxter for the show's final three series. In 2015 the cast won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. She reprised the role for the show's 2019 feature film, also called ''

'' and its 2022 sequel. She has subsequently played the role of

Miss Hardbroom ''The Worst Witch'' is a series of children's books written and illustrated by Jill Murphy. They have been adapted into various films and television shows. Mildred Hubble :Series Duration: 1998–2001, 2005 Mildred Hubble is the titular charact ...

in four series of the 2017 television revival of ''

''. In 2022, she is appearing in series 4 of '' The Good Karma Hospital'' as Frankie Martin.

Filmography

Film

Television

Selected radio

Theatre

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cassidy, Raquel Year of birth missing (living people) Date of birth missing (living people) 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses Actresses from Hampshire Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge English Shakespearean actresses English film actresses English people of Irish descent English people of Spanish descent English radio actresses English stage actresses English television actresses Living people People educated at Farnborough Hill People from Fleet, Hampshire