Ruth Gemmell
| Ruth Gemmell | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1967 (age 44–45) Darlington, County Durham, England |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1991–present |
| Spouse | Ray Stevenson (1997–2005) |
Ruth Gemmell (born 1967) is an English actress.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
Ruth Gemmell was born in Darlington, County Durham, England. She has three brothers.[1] She attended an all girls school in Darlington called Polam Hall.[1] Her parents divorced when she was a child and she moved with her mother to Darlington from Barnard Castle. Later she moved to London, to live with her father, to pursue her acting dream. She states; "I moved to London because I assumed you had to go to drama school there...I didn't know any better. Having not lived with my dad before I thought it was an ideal opportunity, which is crazy now!"[2] She trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
[edit] Personal life
Gemmell was married in Westminster, London, in 1997 to actor Ray Stevenson,[3] whom she met in 1995 during the filming of TV drama Band of Gold. The couple divorced in 2005.
[edit] Career
Gemmell has played a variety of roles mainly in theatres and TV dramas. She played the leading female role in the 1997 film Fever Pitch starring opposite Colin Firth[4] and had another leading role in the comedy/drama 2 January (2006). In 2004 she starred in Tracy Beaker's Movie of Me as the mother of the title character, who abandoned her when she was a baby, leading her to spend life in a children's home.
From January 2009 she became a recurring character in EastEnders as Debra Dean; the mother of a teenage girl who, identically to her role in Tracy Beaker's Movie of Me, abandoned her daughter when she was an infant.
Ruth appeared in EastEnders as a recurring character, Debra Dean, the mother of already established character Whitney Dean. She first appeared for one episode in January 2009 and returned to the soap for a week in June 2009. Ruth, proved to be a hit with viewers in her portrayal of Debra, and returned to EastEnders in July 2009.[5] She was due to reprise her role in EastEnders once again in September 2010, just in time for her character's son's wedding, however the scenes were cut from the show before it aired.[6]
In August 2009, she starred as Rebecca Sands in two episodes of The Bill.[7]
Ruth has appeared three times in the BBCs police drama Waking The Dead, playing two different characters. Her first appearance was in 2002 in the episode Special Relationships as DI Jess Worral, a former lover of DSI Boyd. She next appeared in the episode Sins of seventh season in 2008 as Linda Cummings, an exceptionally intelligent serial killer. Gemmel reprised the role of Cummings in Endgame, the fourth episode of the eighth season of the show. The storyline had Cummings manipulating Boyd and revealed that Cummings' accomplice was responsible for the drugs overdose that killed Boyd's son Luke. The role reprisal of Cummings is a first in the shows history. Gemmell's ex-husband Ray Stevenson has also appeared in the show as consultant child abductor in the episode Fugue State.
Ruth starred in Episode 8 of Jimmy McGovern's BBC drama Moving On playing the role of Joanne, in November 2010.[8]
In November 2011 Ruth played Lady Shonagon in the adaptation for BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour of "The Pillow Book", by Robert Forrest.
[edit] Television work
- Band of Gold (1995)
- The Bill (1999, 2003, 2009)
- Silent Witness (1996, 2006)
- Dalziel and Pascoe (2002): For Love Nor Money
- Spooks (2003) Without Incident / President's Visit (Miranda)
- Tracy Beaker - The Movie Of Me (2004) (Carly Beaker, Tracy's Mother)
- Midsomer Murders (2005)
- A Touch of Frost (2006)
- Waking the Dead (2008, 2009[9])
- Summerhill (2008)
- EastEnders (2009, 2010-) (Debra Dean)
- Primeval (2009)
- Lewis (2009): Your Sudden Death Question
- Casualty (2010): 'No Place Like Home' (Kate Margolin)
- Moving On (2010): 'Losing My Religion' (Joanne)
- Inside Men (2012): (Rebecca Leighton)
[edit] Film work
- Fever Pitch (1997)
- January 2nd (2006) [1]
- Good (2008)
[edit] Theatre work
- The Weir
- Nabokov's Gloves
- The Turn of the Screw
- Othello
- Measure for Measure
- Uncle Vanya
- An Ideal Husband
- The Winter's Tale
- The Second Mrs Tanqueray
- The Importance of Being Earnest
- A Tale of Two Cities
- Death and the Maiden
She performed in Macbeth and King Lear for the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2004/2005.
[edit] Radio work
| Date | Title | Role | Director | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 August 2008 – 15 August 2008 | The Pillow Book[10] | Shonagon | Lu Kemp | BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour Drama |
| 8 June 2009 – 12 June 2009 | The Pillow Book (series 2)[11] | Shonagon | Lu Kemp | BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour Drama |
| 30 October 2010 | The Vanishing[12] | Lieneke | Kirsty Williams | BBC Radio 4 Saturday Play |
| 15 November 2010 – 19 November 2010 | The Pillow Book (series 3)[13] | Shonagon | Lu Kemp | BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour Drama |
| 31 October 2011 – 4 November 2011 | The Pillow Book (series 4)[14] | Shonagon | Lu Kemp | BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour Drama |
[edit] References
- ^ a b Hardwick, Viv (October 14, 2004). "Magic MacBeth". thenorthernecho.co.uk. http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/archive/2004/10/14/The+North+East+Archive/6975190.Magic_Macbeth/. Retrieved March 23, 2011.
- ^ Macbeth 2004 interview with Ruth Gemmell
- ^ Marriages England and Wales 1984-2005
- ^ Fever Pitch Cast discuss film
- ^ EastEnders Debra Hides
- ^ Digital Spy Spoilers
- ^ Ruth Gemmell to guest in The Bill
- ^ BBC Press Office Week 45
- ^ "BBC Programme Information: Week 39". BBC Press Office. Retrieved on 10 September 2009.
- ^ BBC – Woman's Hour Drama – The Pillow Book
- ^ BBC – Woman's Hour Drama – The Pillow Book (series 2)
- ^ BBC – Saturday Play – The Vanishing
- ^ BBC – Woman's Hour Drama – The Pillow Book (series 3)
- ^ BBC – Woman's Hour Drama – The Pillow Book (series 4)
