Catherine Cusack (born 21 December 1968) is a British actress. She is best known for portraying

Nanny A nanny is a person who provides child care. Typically, this care is given within the children's family setting. Throughout history, nannies were usually servants in large households and reported directly to the lady of the house. Today, modern ...

Carmel Finnan in the long-running ITV soap opera ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

'' in 1992 and 1993.

Early life and career

Cusack was born on 21 December 1968 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, the half-sister of the actresses

Sinéad Cusack Sinéad Moira Cusack ( ; born 18 February 1948) is an Irish actress. Her first acting roles were at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, before moving to London in 1969 to join the Royal Shakespeare Company. She has won the Critics' Circle and ''Eve ...

Sorcha Cusack Sorcha Cusack (; born 9 April 1949) is an Irish television and stage actress. Her numerous television credits include playing the title role in ''Jane Eyre'' (1973), '' Casualty'' (1994–1997), ''Coronation Street'' (2008) and '' Father Brown' ...

and

Niamh Cusack Niamh Cusack ( ; born 20 October 1959) is an Irish actress. Born into a family with deep roots in the performing arts, she has performed extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and other prominent theatre ens ...

, and the fourth daughter of the Irish actor Cyril Cusack. Catherine's mother was her father's long-term mistress, Mary Rose Cunningham; Catherine was their only child together. Her parents married in 1979 after the death of her father's first wife. She is half-sister to theatre producer Pádraig Cusack and television producer Paul Cusack. She was accepted to study at Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, but became a stage manager at the

Tricycle Theatre The Kiln Theatre (formerly the Tricycle Theatre) is a theatre located in Kilburn, in the London Borough of Brent, England. Since 1980, the theatre has presented a wide range of plays reflecting the cultural diversity of the area, as well as n ...

in London. She made her professional debut in

Brendan Behan Brendan Francis Aidan Behan (christened Francis Behan) ( ; ; 9 February 1923 – 20 March 1964) was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, playwright, and Irish Republican, an activist who wrote in both English and Irish. His widely ackno ...

's play ''The Hostage'' before making her television debut in the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' serial '' Paradise Towers'' (1987). She performed on stage with her half-sister Sinéad Cusack in ''Our Lady of Sligo'' by Sebastian Barry at the National Theatre in London, the

Gate Theatre The Gate Theatre is a theatre on Cavendish Row in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1928. History Beginnings The Gate Theatre was founded in 1928 by Hilton Edwards and Micheál MacLiammóir with Daisy Bannard Cogley and Gearóid Ó Lochla ...

, Dublin and the Irish Arts Centre in New York. Catherine Cusack is married to the British actor Alex Palmer.

Selected filmography

* '' The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne'' (1987) ... as Una * '' Finding Neverland'' (2004) as Sarah

Selected stage roles

* '' Mill on the Floss'' * ''Moonlight'' * '' The Glass Menagerie'' * '' Brighton Rock'' * ''

The Seagull ''The Seagull'' () is a play by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov, written in 1895 in literature, 1895 and first produced in 1896 in literature#Drama, 1896. ''The Seagull'' is generally considered to be the first of his four major plays. It dramati ...

'' * ''Bold Girls'' * '' You Never Can Tell'' * ''Poor Beast in the Rain'' * '' Agnes of God'' * ''Veronica's Room'' * ''Nothing Sacred'' * ''

Les Liaisons Dangereuses ''Les Liaisons dangereuses'' (; English: ''Dangerous Liaisons'') is a French epistolary novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, first published in four volumes by Durand Neveu on March 23, 1782. It is the story of the Marquise Isabelle de Merteu ...

'' * ''Now Is The Hour'' * '' The Two-Character Play'' * ''

King Lear ''The Tragedy of King Lear'', often shortened to ''King Lear'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his ...

Selected television roles

* ''

'': '' Paradise Towers'' (1987) ... as Blue Kang Leader * '' Sophia and Constance'' (1988) ... as Constance * ''

'' (1992–93) ... as Carmel Finnan * '' Ballykissangel'' (1999–2001) ... as Frankie Sullivan * ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...

'' ... as Dawn * ''

Jonathan Creek ''Jonathan Creek'' is a long-running British mystery fiction, mystery crime drama series produced by the BBC and written by David Renwick. It stars Alan Davies as the title character, who works as a creative consultant to a stage magician whi ...

'' (The Seer of the Sands; 2004) ... as Ashley Farr * ''The Chief'' ... as Hilary Scott * '' Cadfael'' ... as Catherine * ''The Open Window'' ... as Vera * ''

Doctors Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

'' (2012, 2023) ... as Connie Miller and Bronagh Athy

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cusack, Catherine 1968 births Living people 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses Actresses from London

Catherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Ch ...

English film actresses English stage actresses English television actresses English people of Irish descent