| Hermione Norris | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 1967 London, England |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Spouse(s) | Simon Wheeler (2002–present) |
Hermione Norris (born February 1967) is an English actress. Norris attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in the 1980s before taking small roles in theatre and on television. In 1996, she was cast in her breakout role of Karen Marsden in the comedy drama television series Cold Feet. She appeared in every episode of the series from 1998 to 2003 and was nominated for a British Comedy Award. From 2002 to 2005, she co-starred in the crime drama series Wire in the Blood and since 2005 has co-starred in the BBC One spy drama Spooks, as Ros Myers. Her role in Spooks won her the award for Best Actress at the 2008 ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards, and another nomination the next year. From 2007 to 2009, she co-starred in the ITV comedy drama Kingdom, opposite Stephen Fry. Norris is married, with two children.
Contents |
Early life and education
Hermione Norris was born in February 1967[1] as the second of four children (she has two sisters and a brother).[2] Her parents, Michael and Helen Norris (née Latham), a businessman and health visitor respectively, divorced when she was four years old.[2] She moved with her mother and siblings to live with her grandmother in Derbyshire, but moved back to London a few years later. She failed her eleven plus exam but won a scholarship to Elmhurst Ballet School in Surrey. While there, she took up drama at an after-school club, performing alongside her dance studies until she left aged 17. For the next two years she did "various office jobs to get by".[3]
At age 19 she enrolled at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).[3] On an exchange to the Moscow Art Theatre School she played Nina in a production of The Seagull.[4] After leaving college at the age of 21, she lived in a house in Brixton with four other actors. At the same time, she had to deal with the sudden death of her father.[2]
Career
Norris made her professional stage debut in a 1989 production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, which earned her her Equity card. She made her television debut in the 1991 BBC serial The Men's Room, playing the daughter of Bill Nighy's character.[5] Other early television roles include appearances in Agatha Christie's Poirot, the television serial Clarissa, and a 1991 episode of Drop the Dead Donkey. She continued to make guest appearances in series such as Between the Lines and Casualty. When out of work, she supported herself by working on Sainsbury's supermarket checkouts, and selling double glazing in a shopping centre.[2] After being out of work for four months in 1996, she considered quitting acting and reading for a degree in law, intending to become a solicitor.[3][6] However, she got a part in Cold Feet playing Karen Marsden, a middle-class woman who feels trapped by her middle-class lifestyle.[2][6] Norris appeared in every episode and was nominated for a British Comedy Award for Best Actress in 2001.[7]
During the six years Cold Feet ran, Norris appeared in a leading role in the BBC drama Berkley Square, Killing Time: The Millennium Poem, starring opposite Christopher Eccleston, and the 2002 television film Falling Apart, playing a woman in a violent relationship. In 2002, she co-starred with Robson Green in Wire in the Blood, playing Detective Inspector Carol Jordan. She stayed with the series until 2005 when she was replaced by Simone Lahbib. Further film roles include an appearance in an adaptation of Kingsley Amis's Lucky Jim, and in David Kane's Born Romantic.
At the end of 2005 she was cast in the BBC One spy drama Spooks, playing Ros Myers.[8] She appeared throughout the 2006 series, then in eight of the ten episodes in the 2007 series before taking time off filming for maternity leave. She returned to the show for the 2008 series.[2] For her part, she won the Best Actress award at the inaugural ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards.[9] She was nominated in the same category the next year.[10] From 2007 to 2009, she appeared in three series of Kingdom playing Beatrice Kingdom, the half-sister of Stephen Fry's character. She took the role as a change of pace from the "ice maiden" characters she often portrays.[11] In 2010, she will star opposite Trevor Eve in the remake of Bouquet of Barbed Wire.[12]
Norris has also featured in several television advertisements, providing the voiceover, for a number of different companies including Bathstore.[13]
Personal life
In 2002, Norris began a relationship with Simon Wheeler, a writer on Wire in the Blood. The couple married in December 2002 in a ceremony at the Tower of London.[6] Their first child, Wilf, was born in June 2004, and their daughter, Hero, followed in August 2007.[14] Her father-in-law is General Sir Roger Wheeler, the Chief of the General Staff from 1997 to 2000.
Filmography
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Awards and other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Blood Rights | Virginia | |
| 1991 | Spatz | 2 episodes ("Talent Contest" [1991] and "Poetry and Music" [1992]) | |
| Drop the Dead Donkey | Octavia | ||
| Clarissa | Anna Howe | ||
| 1992 | The Count of Solar | Caroline | |
| 1993 | Agatha Christie's Poirot | Celestine | 1 episode ("Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan") |
| Between the Lines | Gail Myles | 1 episode ("Manslaughter") | |
| 1994 | Under the Hammer | Anthea Bovington | 1 episode ("The Spectre at the Feast") |
| Casualty | Bobbie Croft | 1 episode ("The Facts of Life") | |
| 1997 | Cold Feet | Karen Marsden | |
| Hospital! | |||
| See You Friday | Sophie | ||
| Agatha Christie's The Pale Horse | Hermia Redcliffe | ||
| Get Well Soon | Vanessa Del Ray | 1 episode ("The Whist Drive") | |
| Cadfael | Mary | 1 episode ("The Raven in the Foregate") | |
| 1998 | The Bill | Louise Golding | 1 episode ("Friends in High Places") |
| Berkeley Square | Victoria St. John | ||
| Cold Feet | Karen Marsden | 5 series (1998–2003) Nominated, British Comedy Award for Best TV Comedy Actress, 2002 |
|
| 1999 | Peak Practice | Penny | 1 episode ("New Beginnings") |
| Heartbeat | Diane Palmer | 1 episode ("David Stockwell's Ghost") | |
| 2000 | Killing Time: The Millennium Poem | Millennium Woman | |
| 2002 | Falling Apart | Clare | |
| Wire in the Blood | DCI Carol Jordan | 3 series (2002–2005) | |
| 2003 | Lucky Jim | Carol Goldsmith | |
| 2006 | The Kindness of Strangers | Fiona Charters | |
| Spooks | Ros Myers | 3 series (2006–2007, 2008–) Won, ITV3 Crime Thriller Award for Best Actress, 2008 Nominated, Crime Thriller Award for Best Actress, 2009 |
|
| 2007 | Kingdom | Beatrice Kingdom | 3 series (2007–2009) |
| 2010 | Bouquet of Barbed Wire | Cassie | In production |
Film
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Born Romantic | Carolanne |
| 2003 | Quicksand | Sarah |
| 2005 | Separate Lies | Priscilla |
Stage roles
| Year | Title | Role | Performance history |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Helena | Mercury Theatre production. |
| 1991 | Man and Superman | Ann Whitfield | Citizens Theatre production. |
| Three Judgements in One | Dona Violante | Gate, Notting Hill production. | |
| 1994 | September Tide | Cherry | Comedy Theatre production. |
| 1995 | Look Back in Anger | Helena | Royal Exchange production. |
| Reader | Secretary | Traverse Theatre production (World premiere) | |
| 1996 | Blinded by the Sun | Barbara | Royal National Theatre production. |
| 2005 | Petronella | Petronella | Short play for Old Vic's 24-hour play season |
References
- ^ Register of births for Jan-Mar 1967: Paddington, volume 5d, page 928. Several print sources claim that she is a year younger than this (e.g. Cable).
- ^ a b c d e f Cable, Amanda (11 October 2008). "A tortured spook". Daily Mail (Associated Newspapers): pp. 10–14 (Weekend supplement).
- ^ a b c Kerr, Paula (6 May 2006). "My teenage years". Daily Mail (Associated Newspapers).
- ^ McLeod, Pauline (9 November 2002). "My cultural life: Hermione Norris". The Times (Times Newspapers).
- ^ Swann, Yvonne (17 February 2005). "Acting's in my blood". Daily Mirror (MGN): p. 57.
- ^ a b c Tweedie, Neil (28 February 2008). "Hermione Norris: 'I nearly gave up acting to be a lawyer…'". The Daily Telegraph (Telegraph Media Group).
- ^ Staff (16 December 2001). "Skinner crowned TV comedy king". BBC News Online. Retrieved on 22 November 2007.
- ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (31 December 2005). "'Cold Feet' star joins 'Spooks'". Digital Spy. Retrieved on 22 November 2007.
- ^ Rosser, Michael, (6 October 2008), "Morse author honoured at Crime Thriller Awards". Broadcastnow (Emap Media). Retrieved on 7 October 2008.
- ^ Allen, Kate (7 September 2009). "Coben, Cole, Atkinson vie for crime awards". The Bookseller. http://www.thebookseller.com/news/96297-coben-cole-atkinson-vie-for-crime-awards.html. Retrieved 7 September 2009.
- ^ Wylie, Ian (2 May 2007). "Why star still gets Cold Feet over bedroom scenes". Manchester Evening News (M.E.N. Media).
- ^ Hemley, Matthew (15 October 2009). "Hermione Norris joins cast of ITV’s A Bouquet of Barbed Wire". The Stage.
- ^ Staff writer (29 November 2007). "Bathstore Makes a Splash". Creativematch. Retrieved on 8 July 2008.
- ^ Staff (31 August 2007). "Cold Feet actress has baby girl". BBC News Online. Retrieved on 1 September 2007.
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
