Elize du Toit (born 21 February 1980) is a South African-born English actress best known for playing the role of

Izzy Davies Izzy Davies (also Cornwell) is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'', played by Elize du Toit. She made her first appearance in 2000 before leaving in 2004. The character then briefly returned in October 2007. ...

in the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

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 ...

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside (TV series), Brookside''. Since 2005, episodes have been aired on ...

'' from 2000 to 2004, with a brief return in 2007.

Early life

Elize du Toit was born in

Grahamstown, South Africa Makhanda, also known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 140,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Port Elizabeth and southwest of East London. Makhanda is the largest town in the Makana Loc ...

, the second of four children, to an artist mother and an

orthodontist Orthodontics is a dentistry specialty that addresses the diagnosis, prevention, management, and correction of mal-positioned teeth and jaws, and misaligned bite patterns. It may also address the modification of facial growth, known as dentofacial ...

father. She spent most of her childhood in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

. She moved to

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

, United Kingdom, in December 1994, where she attended

Wellington College Wellington College may refer to: *Wellington College, Berkshire, an independent school in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England ** Wellington College International Shanghai ** Wellington College International Tianjin * Wellington College, Wellington, Ne ...

, completed her A-levels; attaining straight As in English, French, history and history of art. She was a member of Reading's

Progress Theatre Progress Theatre is a local theatre company at Reading in England. It is a registered charity and it is a member of the Little Theatre Guild (LTG) and the National Operatic and Dramatic Association (NODA). History Progress Theatre was estab ...

. She studied history at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

and performed with the

Edinburgh University Theatre Company Edinburgh University Theatre Company (EUTC) is a student theatre company at the University of Edinburgh. The EUTC was founded in 1871 as the ''Edinburgh University Amateur Dramatic Club'' and adopted its current name in the 1970s. Since 1980 it ha ...

Career

Elize du Toit won the role of

in the

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 ...

'' after an open audition; beating 40,000 hopefuls. She left the show in 2004 after four years filming in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. In November 2011, Du Toit made an appearance in ''

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 ...

'' as Jenny, the ex-girlfriend of Matt Carter.

Personal life

In 2008, du Toit started dating actor Rafe Spall after the two met in a bar through mutual friends. The couple got married on 14 August 2010, and live in

West Kensington West Kensington, formerly North End, is an area in the ancient parish of Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, England, 3.4 miles (5.5 km) west of Charing Cross. It covers most of the London postal area of W14, includin ...

, London. Their daughter was born in 2011, and, in November 2012, their son was born. They also have a third child, another son, born in 2015.

Filmography

References

External links

* *http://www.elizedutoit.com/public/ Official Website {{DEFAULTSORT:Du Toit, Elize 1981 births Living people People from Makhanda, Eastern Cape People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire English television actresses English soap opera actresses Alumni of the University of Edinburgh South African emigrants to the United Kingdom