Lucy Clare Davis (born 17 February 1973) is an English actress known for playing Dawn Tinsley in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

comedy ''

The Office ''The Office'' is the title of several mockumentary sitcoms based on a British series originally created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as '' The Office'' in 2001. The original series also starred Gervais as manager and primary charac ...

'' (2001–2003), Hilda Spellman in the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series '' The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina'' (2018–2020), Dianne in the

horror-comedy Comedy horror (also called horror comedy) is a literary genre, literary, television genre, television and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as having three types: "black comedy, paro ...

'' Shaun of the Dead'' (2004), and Etta Candy in ''

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superheroine who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''All Star Comics'' Introducing Wonder Woman, #8, published October 21, 1941, with her first feature in ''Sensation Comic ...

'' (2017). She played Eva in

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

's action comedy series '' The Villains of Valley View'', which premiered in 2022.

Career

Davis appeared briefly in an episode of '' The Detectives'', a show created for and starring her father (

Jasper Carrott Robert Norman Davis (born 14 March 1945), known by his stage name, Jasper Carrott, is an English comedian, writer, actor, singer and television presenter. His credits include '' An Audience With Jasper Carrott'' (1978), '' The Secret Policeman ...

). She played Maria Lucas in the

's 1995 production of ''

Pride and Prejudice ''Pride and Prejudice'' is the second published novel (but third to be written) by English author Jane Austen, written when she was age 20-21, and later published in 1813. A novel of manners, it follows the character development of Elizabe ...

'', and also had a role in the 1996 Christmas special of ''

One Foot in the Grave ''One Foot in the Grave'' is a British television British sitcom, sitcom written by David Renwick. There were six series (each consisting of six half-hour episodes) and seven Christmas specials over a period of ten years from early 1990 to late ...

''. After her breakthrough role as Dawn Tinsley in ''

'', she appeared in the films '' Sex Lives of the Potato Men'' and '' Shaun of the Dead'' in 2004, whilst continuing to play Hayley Jordan in ''

The Archers ''The Archers'' is a British radio soap opera currently broadcast on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word Radio broadcasting, channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now pr ...

'' on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

. She gave up this last role when her other acting responsibilities made it impossible to continue, and the part was recast in September 2005. Davis appeared in the third-season episode "Elephants and Hens" of UK TV programme '' Black Books''. In 2006, she appeared as the "Fashion TV" host on ABC's ''

Ugly Betty ''Ugly Betty'' is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from September 28, 2006, to April 14, 2010. It is based on the Colombian telenovela ''Yo soy Betty, la fea' ...

'', and later that year played writer Lucy Kenwright in NBC's ''

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip ''Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip'' is an American comedy-drama television series created for NBC and primarily written by Aaron Sorkin. The series was about the production of a live comedy series similar to ''Saturday Night Live''. Produced by ...

''. In 2008, she appeared in several episodes of the US series '' Reaper''. In 2010, she starred in ITV's six-episode comedy drama, '' Married Single Other'', and also appeared in a guest role in ''

The Mentalist ''The Mentalist'' is an American procedural drama television series that ran from September 23, 2008, until February 18, 2015, broadcasting 151 episodes over seven seasons, on CBS. Created by Bruno Heller, who was also its executive producer, t ...

'' alongside her then-husband

Owain Yeoman Owain Sebastian Yeoman is a Welsh actor, best known for playing CBI Agent Wayne Rigsby in the CBS series ''The Mentalist''. His additional credits include ''The Nine (TV series), The Nine'', ''Kitchen Confidential (TV series), Kitchen Confident ...

. She also appears in the

John Landis John David Landis (born August 3, 1950) is an American filmmaker and actor. He is best known for directing comedy films such as ''The Kentucky Fried Movie'' (1977), ''Animal House, National Lampoon's Animal House'' (1978), The Blues Brothers (f ...

-produced thriller ''

Some Guy Who Kills People ''Some Guy Who Kills People'' is a 2012 American comedy-drama-horror film directed by Jack Perez and written by Ryan Levin. The film was made by a conglomerate of production studios: Level 10, Battle of Ireland Films and Litn-Up Films. John Landi ...

''. In 2012, she had a guest voice part in ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...

'' for the episode " Be Careful What You Fish For". She appeared in series two, episode eight of the

series '' Death in Paradise'' (2013). She became a Patron for the performing arts group Theatretrain in 2012. Davis played Etta Candy in the 2017 film ''

'', the first live-action cinematic portrayal of the comic book character.From ‘The Office’ to ‘Wonder Woman’: Get to Know Lucy Davis
by Angelique Jackson 12:08 PM PDT, 26 May 2017 She said of the character: "She's a woman in a man's world and so being heard and seen aren't the easiest things, but it kind of doesn't deter her. Etta is unapologetically herself and I think that that's the thing that has drawn me to her the most... it took quite a while in my life to be unapologetically myself." Davis appeared in the

series '' Chilling Adventures of Sabrina'' as Hilda Spellman, which aired from 2018 to 2020. She is starring as Eva, known as the supervillain Surge, on the

sitcom '' The Villains of Valley View'' which premiered on 3 June 2022.

Personal life

Davis is the daughter of Hazel Jackson and comedian Robert Davis, better known as

. In December 1997, she underwent a

kidney transplant Kidney transplant or renal transplant is the organ transplant of a kidney into a patient with end-stage kidney disease (ESRD). Kidney transplant is typically classified as deceased-donor (formerly known as cadaveric) or living-donor transplantat ...

after being diagnosed with

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as renal failure or end-stage renal disease (ESRD), is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney fa ...

during a medical examination. Her mother donated the kidney. Around Christmas 2005 she was again hospitalised for kidney failure, but recovered. She also has type 1 diabetes. On 9 December 2006, Davis married Welsh actor

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

, London. The wedding was attended by fellow ''The Office'' cast members and writers. She was entitled to marry there as her father is an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) and St Paul's contains the chapel of the order. Davis and Yeoman separated in January 2011 and divorced in October 2011. In 2007, Davis posed nude in the

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA; ) is an American animal rights nonprofit organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. Founded in March 1980 by Newkirk and animal rights ...

's campaign against the Guards Division's continued use of traditional bearskin caps.

Filmography

Film

Television

Radio

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Lucy Living people English radio actresses English soap opera actresses English stage actresses English television actresses English voice actresses People educated at King Edward VI High School for Girls, Birmingham Alumni of the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts Kidney transplant recipients 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses Actresses from Birmingham, West Midlands English film actresses 1973 births English women comedians Comedians from Birmingham, West Midlands People with type 1 diabetes English expatriate actresses in the United States