Holly Aird

Holly Aird
Born	16 May 1969 (1969-05-16) Aldershot, Hampshire, England
Occupation	Actor
Spouse	James Purefoy (dates unknown) Toby Merritt

Holly Aird, (born 18 May 1969, Aldershot, Hampshire) is an English television actor known for playing Forensic Pathologist Frankie Wharton in the BBC1 drama series Waking the Dead, having previously starred in productions such as Soldier Soldier and the 1997 film Fever Pitch alongside Colin Firth.

Early life

Born Imogen Holly Aird she was spotted by a casting director aged nine whilst at Bush Davies Ballet School, and starred in the 1980 dramatisation of the H. G. Wells novel The History of Mr. Polly. In 1981 she portrayed the young Elspeth Huxley in the television adaptation of the latter's autobiographical book The Flame Trees of Thika.

Career

In 1982 she starred as the young Beatrix Potter in The Tale of Beatrix Potter. She was seen in Happy Valley in 1987 with Denholm Elliott in which she played a schoolgirl in Kenya in the 1930s. As well as small parts in many well-known television series, Aird became best known for playing Nancy Thorpe/Garvey in Soldier Soldier. In 2000, she starred as Frankie Wharton in Waking the Dead. Aird has recently done voiceover for various BBC natural history projects (including Wild Mallorca), as well as various TV advertisements. In (2007), she played a clinical psychologist, in Channel 4’s drama, 'Secret Life', about a paedophile, and in 2009 took a leading role in Talkback Thames's Monday Monday.

Family

Aird has two children, Joseph (born to her first husband James Purefoy) and Nelly (with second husband Toby Merritt, a freelance photographer).

Selected credits

• The History of Mr. Polly (1980)
• The Flame Trees of Thika (1981)
• The Tale of Beatrix Potter (1982) as young Beatrix
• Affairs of the Heart (1983 and 1985)
• Seal Morning (TV series) as Rowena Farre (1986)
• The Happy Valley (1987)
• Inspector Morse "The Last Bus to Woodstock" as Angie Hartman (1988)
• Miss Marple as Gina Hudd in "They Do It With Mirrors" (1991)
• Hope It Rains (1991–92)
• Soldier Soldier (1991–93)
• Carry On Columbus as Maria (1992)
• Intimate Relations (1996)
• Dressing for Breakfast as Carla, 21 episodes (TV series, 1995–98)
• Fever Pitch (1997 film) as Jo
• Waking the Dead, 24 episodes (2000–04)
• Possession as Ellen Ash (2002)
• Torn as Sarah (2007)
• Scenes of a Sexual Nature as Molly (2006)
• Casualty as Laura Merriman (2006)
• Law & Order: UK "Buried" as Julia Mortimer (2009)
• Monday Monday as Alyson Cartmell (2009)
• Identity as Tessa Stein (2010)
• The Promise as Chris Matthews (2011)
• Page Eight as Anna Herve (2011)

External links

• BBC Biography
• Holly Aird at the Internet Movie Database