Sheridan Smith

Sheridan Smith
Born	25 June 1981 (1981-06-25) Epworth, Lincolnshire, England
Occupation	Actress, Singer
Years active	1999–present

Sheridan Smith (born 25 June 1981) is an English actress and singer who is best known for her contributions to the British sitcoms Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, Gavin & Stacey and Benidorm. She has also become a recognised face in West End theatre, where she has appeared in Little Shop of Horrors, Legally Blonde and the 2011 revival of Flare Path. She won the 2011 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her work in Legally Blonde and the 2011 Natasha Richardson Award for Best Actress for her work in Flare Path.

Early life and career

Smith was born in Epworth, Lincolnshire and from an early age studied dance with the Joyce Mason School of Dancing in Scunthorpe She also trained in movement and dance with Kay Traviss (who currently still teaches as part of Kay Traviss youth group and annually produces and directs a youth dance performance at The Plowright Theatre in Scunthorpe). She attended South Axholme Community College where she studied Performing Arts. She was a member of the National Youth Music Theatre from 1995–2001, performing a number of lead roles in productions such as Bugsy Malone and Into the Woods.

Television and Film

From 1999 to 2000, Smith played Emma, the girlfriend of Antony (Ralf Little) in The Royle Family, but has not appeared in later episodes; she has also played Janet in the long running series Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, the girlfriend, then wife, then widow of Johnny (also portrayed by Ralf Little) from 2001 until her departure from the show in 2009.

In 2004, she made a one-episode appearance in Mile High as Suzy, an airport cleaner who was so desperate to become cabin crew, she impersonated a flight attendant. She also featured in The Comic Strip's 2005 episode "Sex Actually" as Angie.

Smith played Cleo Martin in Love Soup and also appeared as Michelle, a hypocritical nutritionist, in the sitcom Grownups. The first series aired on BBC Three on 7 May 2006, followed by a second series that started on 5 August 2007 and the third series began filming in October 2008. She has also appeared on The Lenny Henry Show as M.E. Westmocott, a role spoofing the various medical examiners on CSI. In the 2009 Two Pints of Lager Comic Relief special, which crossed over with Grownups, Smith played her characters from both series.

Smith has also starred in a number of other shows including the BBC's Eyes Down alongside Paul O'Grady in which she played the part of Sandy, and smaller parts in shows such as The Bill and Fat Friends. She featured in the second and third series of another BBC Three sitcom, Gavin & Stacey, co-written by James Corden, as his character Smithy's sister Rudi (also known as Smithy).

Smith guest-starred in the Christmas 2008 episode of Lark Rise to Candleford and appeared on New Year's Day 2009 in "The Grinning Man", a special episode of Jonathan Creek, alongside Alan Davies. She also appeared in The Judas Tree, an Easter special aired on 4 April 2010, playing the same character. She was also a regular in Benidorm series three playing the Liverpudlian, Brandy in 2009.

During 2010 Smith acted as a mentor to the contestants of the BBC show Over the Rainbow. She appeared as a guest on the BBC show The One Show on 3 August 2010.

Sky Arts' Chekhov Comedy Shorts also featured Smith in 2010 when she starred in The Proposal, as Natasha (re-uniting her with Gavin and Stacey actor Mathew Horne). The programme was first shown on 28 November 2010.

Smith will make an appearance in the forthcoming movie Hysteria, which is due to be released in Autumn 2011. Her role will see her taking part in a three-and-a-half-minute orgasm scene. She is also slated for a role in A Fantastic Fear of Everything, an upcoming film starring Simon Pegg.

With the return of Bizarre ER Smith does the voice overs taking over from Freema Agyeman. Smith has been named as part of the cast of the ITV1 film adaption of Daphne du Maurier's novel The Scapegoat.

Radio

Smith played companion Lucie Miller alongside Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor in a radio series of Doctor Who, produced by Big Finish and transmitted on BBC 7 from New Year's Eve 2006; the plays returned in a second series released on CD and scheduled for BBC 7 broadcast. A third series of adventures for Lucie and the Doctor aired in March 2009, as weekly half-hour downloads followed by a Christmas Special. She also appeared as Ruby Ruggles in the 2008 radio serial The Way We Live Right Now, and took over the role of Tamsin Trelawny in series 2 of Elephants to Catch Eels on BBC Radio 4.

Theatre

Smith's theatre credits include the musical Into the Woods at London's Donmar Warehouse, and Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew and A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park.

She also played Audrey in the stage production of Little Shop of Horrors at The Menier Chocolate Factory, London, from November 2006 which then moved to The Duke of York's Theatre in March 2007, and due to a very successful run moved again at the end of June 2007 to The New Ambassadors Theatre, its run ended in September 2007. Smith received a nomination for the 2008 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical, for her performance in the show.

Smith appeared as Vanessa in Tinderbox: a Revenge Comedy by Lucy Kirkwood at the Bush Theatre, Shepherd's Bush, in April 2008.

Smith originated the role of Elle Woods in the musical version of Legally Blonde in its transfer from Broadway to London's West End in December 2009. Ex-Blue boyband member Duncan James played opposite Smith until June 2010, when he was replaced by Richard Fleeshman. Other cast members Sheridan has performed alongside include Aoife Mulholland as Brooke, Denise Van Outen as Paulette, Peter Davison as Professor Callahan. Her performance was well received, the Daily Telegraph describing her as:

"blessed with vitality, warmth, great comic timing and sudden moments of touching vulnerability. She is infinitely more likeable than Reese Witherspoon in the film."

Smith was originally supposed to leave Legally Blonde on 23 October 2010, but she extended her run to 8 January 2011, when Susan McFadden took over the role.

For her role in Legally Blonde, Smith won the WhatsOnStage.com Theatregoers' Choice Award for Best Actress in a Musical. She was also nominated for the Natasha Richardson Award for Best Actress and was the winner of the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical.

Between March and June 2011, she appeared in Trevor Nunn's production of Flare Path at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket as Doris, a former barmaid married to a Polish count in the RAF. The production was part of the playwright Terence Rattigan's centenary year celebrations and also starred Sienna Miller and James Purefoy. For this role she won the 2011 Natasha Richardson Award for Best Actress and the BroadwayWorld UK Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play.

As well as her role in Legally Blonde, Smith also performed the title role in the workshop productions of a new musical adaptation of Bridget Jones' Diary. She has stated that the musical will not reach the stage until 2012, with Smith taking on the title role in what would be the original London cast.

Personal life

Smith was in a relationship with James Corden, which ended in June 2009.

On 6 March 2010, in an interview with the Mail on Sunday, Smith revealed that she and Scottish actor Ross McCall had begun dating after a 10 year friendship. However she spoke to The Daily Telegraph in August the same year and revealed that they had split up due to the pressure of a long distance relationship.

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Anchor Me	Young Jackie	TV movie
2000	Peaches	Tracey
2001	Hawk	Jez	TV movie
2002	Blood Strangers	Jas Dyson / Claire	TV movie
2008	Defunct	Cherry La Chav
2009	The Friday Night Club	Miranda	TV movie
2011	Hysteria	Molly "the Lolly"
2011	How to Stop Being a Loser	Lisa
2012	The Scapegoat	Nina	Post-production
2012	Tower Block	Becky	Post-production
2012	A Fantastic Fear of Everything	Catherine	Filming
2012	Quartet	Unknown	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	Wives and Daughters	Housemaid	Episode: #1.1
1999	Dark Ages	Matilda	5 episodes
1999–2000	The Royle Family	Emma Kavanagh	3 episodes
2000	Heartbeat	Lyn	Episode: "A Shot in the Dark"
2000	Where the Heart Is	Vicky	Episode: "Modern Love"
2000-2004	Doctors	Claire / Jackie Leavis	2 episodes
2001	Holby City	Miranda Locke	6 episodes
2001	Always and Everyone	Nurse Practitioner	Episode: #3.12
2001–2009	Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps	Janet / Michelle	73 episodes
2002	Fat Friends	Sharon Wormersley	2 episodes
2003	The Royal	Francesca Smith	Episode: "Immediate Care"
2003-2004	Eyes Down	Sandy Beech	15 episodes
2004	Mile High	Susie	Episode: #2.10
2005	The Bill	Janey Giles	Episode: 315
2005	The Lenny Henry Show	Various Roles	8 episodes
2005	The Comic Strip	Angie	Episode: "Sex Actually"
2005–2008	Love Soup	Cleo Martin	15 episodes
2006–2009	Grownups	Michelle Booth	22 episodes
2008–2010	Gavin & Stacey	Ruth "Rudi" Smith	7 episodes
2008	Lark Rise to Candleford	Cinderella Doe	Episode: #2.1
2009–2010	Jonathan Creek	Joey Ross	2 episodes
2009	Benidorm	Brandy	4 episodes
2010	Chekhov Comedy Shorts	Natasha	Episode: "The Proposal"
2011	Bizarre ER	Narrator	Unknown episodes
2011	Little Crackers	Marilyn Smith	Episode: "Sheridan Smith's Little Cracker: The Daltons"

Awards and nominations

Year	Award Ceremony	Category	Nominated Work	Result
2009	Laurence Olivier Award	Best Actress in a Musical	Audrey Little Shop of Horrors	Nominated
2010	Evening Standard Award	Best Actress	Elle Woods Legally Blonde	Nominated
2011	Laurence Olivier Award	Best Actress in a Musical		Won
	Theatregoers' Choice Award	Best Actress in a Musical		Won
	Evening Standard Award	Best Actress	Doris Flare Path	Won
	BroadwayWorld UK Award	Best Featured Actress in a Play		Won

External links

• Sheridan Smith at the Internet Movie Database