Kathy Burke
Born	June 13 1964 (1964--) (age 43) Royal Free Hospital, London, England

Kathy Burke (born June 13 1964) is an English actress and theatre director.

Born at The Royal Free Hospital in London to Irish immigrant parents, Burke attended the Maria Fidelis RC Convent School. Burke's first role was in the controversial film Scrubbers, directed by Swedish actress Mai Zetterling and featuring Pam St. Clement, Robbie Coltrane, Miriam Margolyes, Honey Bane, Debby Bishop and Eva Mottley. The movie was set in a young offenders' institute for girls and was seen as a female version of the infamous Scum.

Burke first became familiar to television audiences as a player of minor roles in sketches by better-known performers such as Harry Enfield, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. Along with French & Saunders, she has contributed to two Comic Relief charity singles. She first appeared as a member of Bananarama parody band Lananeeneenoonoo in 1989, and then as a member of Spice Girls' lookalike band 'The Sugar Lumps' in 1997. In real life Kathy is a big fan of Morrissey and appeared in the video for his 1989 single "Ouija Board, Ouija Board" and latterly in the 2002 Channel 4 documentary "The Importance Of Being Morrissey". She quickly became successful in her own right and although mainly associated with comedy, she has played several serious roles including that of Queen Mary I of England in Elizabeth.

In 1997 Burke won the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival for her role in the gritty drama Nil by Mouth. Since then she has appeared as Perry in Kevin and Perry Go Large, and as Linda La Hughes in Gimme Gimme Gimme.

In 2003, she was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy.

Since 2001 she has concentrated on her career as a theatre director. [1] She said in an interview with Dawn French in "Dawn French's girls who do comedy" that she no longer felt the same creative energy associated with acting that she used to (she described it as a "feeling in my belly") and that this was the reason she had stopped acting. However, she has done some voiceover work in the past few years, including adverts for Ski yoghurt (in the UK) as well as Flushed Away (2006).

In 2007, reports stated that Kathy Burke has been suffering from a 'mystery illness' that has resulted in her having to pass directing duties on Dying for It.

Films

• Scrubbers (1983)
• Sid and Nancy (1986)
• Straight to Hell (1987)
• Eat the Rich (1987)
• The Two of Us (1987) -A BBC Production, initially produced for schools. It was edited soon after its release because of its highly controversial themes. It has since been made available un-cut.
• Nil by Mouth (1997)
• Dancing at Lughnasa (1998)
• Elizabeth (1998)
• This Year's Love (1999)
• Kevin and Perry Go Large (2000)
• Love, Honour and Obey (2000)
• The Martins (2001)
• Once Upon a Time in the Midlands (2002)
• Anita and Me (2002)
• Flushed Away (2006) (voiceover)

Television

• A Very Peculiar Practice (Episode 7)
• Absolutely Fabulous (1992)
• Dawn French's Girls Who Do Comedy (2006)
• French and Saunders (1987)
• Gimme Gimme Gimme (1999-2001) (co-wrote)
• Harry Enfield and Chums (1994)
• Harry Enfield's Television Programme (1990)
• Have I Got News For You (1990)
• Let Them Eat Cake (1999)
• Mr Wroe's Virgins (1993)
• Never Mind The Buzzcocks (1996)
• Pleasure Island (1999)
• Rex the Runt (1998)
• Room 101 (2000)
• Shooting Gallery (1999)
• Ted & Ralph (1998)
• The Importance of Being Morrissey (2002) (guest appearance)
• The F-Word (2006) (guest appearance)
• V Graham Norton (2002)

Theatre

• It's a Great Big Shame! by Mike Leigh (Theatre Royal Stratford East, 1993)

External links

• KathyBurke.co.uk - "Everything you could reasonably want to know about the actress and director"
• Kathy Burke at the Internet Movie Database

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