Cush Jumbo
Cush Jumbo | |
---|---|
Born | London, England | 23 September 1985
Years active | 2006–present |
Awards | Winner of the Ian Charleson Award 2011, UK Theatre Award 2013, Emerging Talent Award at London Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2013 |
Cush Jumbo (born 23 September 1985) is an English actress and writer.
Early and personal life
Jumbo was born in King's College Hospital, Lambeth, south London to parents Angela and Marx Jumbo. Her mother is British and her father is Nigerian. The second of seven children, she grew up in the Boroughs of Lewisham and Southwark. Jumbo began dance classes at the age of three learning tap, ballet and modern and went on to learn street dance, contemporary and ballroom and Latin in later years. From the ages of 11 to 15, she trained at the Francis Cooper School of Dance whilst attending Cator Park School for Girls, but at 14 she left Cator Park to pursue acting more seriously at the Brit School for Performing Arts in Croydon. Jumbo graduated with a first from the BA (Hons) Acting course at Central School of Speech and Drama before starting her professional career. She considered undertaking teacher training in London before finally settling on a career as an actress.[1] She owns a miniature poodle called Henry.[2]
Career
Jumbo's theatre credits include Brixton Stories at The Lyric, Hammersmith, Liquid Gold at the Almeida and Love's Labour's Lost at Shakespeare's Globe.[3] She has also appeared in productions of The Cherry Orchard, The Crucible, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Richard III [4] and Pygmalion (play) at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester for which she received MEN and Ian Charleson Award nominations. In 2012 she won the Ian Charleson Award for her performance as Rosalind in William Shakespeare's As You Like It at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester. Clare Brennan of the Guardian spoke of Jumbo's performance in 'As You Like It' saying "If these performances truly reflect her talent, Jumbo looks set to become one of the best actresses of her generation". Jumbo played Constance Neville in She Stoops to Conquer at The National Theatre in 2012 and Mark Antony in an all female production of Julius Caesar (play) at the Donmar Warehouse for which she received a nomination for an Olivier Award.[5] She took part again in the production when it was revived in New York in October 2013. In May 2013, she played the role of Nora in A Doll's House at the Royal Exchange Theatre. In October 2013 she won a UK Theatre Award for this performance.[6]
In July and August 2013, Jumbo performed in her own debut play Josephine and I, a one-person play about jazz singer Josephine Baker, which premiered at the Bush Theatre, London.[7][8] She won an Emerging Talent Award at the London Evening Standard Theatre Awards in November 2013 for this performance.[9] The show was developed for transfer [10] and began previews on Feb. 27th, 2015 at New York's Public Theatre.
She made her Broadway debut in the Autumn of 2014 when she appeared in the transfer of the Royal Court Theatre production of The River by Jez Butterworth, alongside Laura Donnelly and Hugh Jackman.[11]
She will also appear alongside Tom Sturridge in the forthcoming film Remainder.
Jumbo also co-wrote the musical Rebels and Retail, a shortlisted entrant in the Perfect Pitch West End Showcase 2008.[12]
Jumbo is the co-author of 101 Dance Ideas for 5-11 yr olds which is published by A & C Black Publishers Ltd.
On television, Jumbo has appeared in My Family, Harley Street, as receptionist Hannah Fellows, as Lois Habiba in all five episodes of Torchwood: Children of Earth, as Becky on BBC3's drama series Lip Service, Casualty and as Nurse Damaris in Getting On Series 2 and 3, written by Jo Brand, Jo Scanlon and Vicki Pepperdine in which she was directed by fellow Torchwood actor Peter Capaldi. She appeared as DC Bethany Whelan in series 2 of ITV's Vera starring Brenda Blethyn and returned to the show for series 5, broadcast in 2015, and for episode 1 of series 6 in 2016, in which her character died. She has also appeared several times on BBC Radio 4 in dramas and as a guest on the panel show Dilemma. She became a regular cast member in the 2015 season of the CBS Television series The Good Wife.
Filmography
Year(s) | Title | Role | More information |
---|---|---|---|
2007 | My Family | Girlfriend | Episode: "Dutch Art and Dutch Courage" |
2008 | Harley Street | Hannah Fellows | Six episodes |
2009 | Torchwood | Lois Habiba | Series three: Children of Earth |
2009 | Casualty | Zara Finchley | Episode: "Every Breath You Take" |
2010 | Lip Service | Becky Love | Six episodes |
2010 | Getting On | Damaris | Episode #2.5 and all of series 3 |
2011 | The Inbetweeners Movie | Jaime[13] | Feature film |
2012, 2015-2016 | Vera | DC Bethany Whelan | Series regular until episode 1 of series 6 |
2015- | The Good Wife | Lucca Quinn | Series regular |
2015 | Remainder | ||
2016 | City of Tiny Lights | Melody | Post-production |
References
- ^ [1], Metro, 11 July 2013
- ^ [2], The Observer, 25 November 2012
- ^ "Cush Jumbo Biography" (DOC). Scenic Route Theatre. Retrieved 2009-07-11. [dead link]
- ^ "Harley Street Press Pack" (DOC). ITV. Retrieved 2009-07-11.
- ^ [3], The Guardian, 26 March 2013
- ^ [4]. BBC website
- ^ "Bush Theatre". Retrieved May 9, 2013.
- ^ Sebastian Shakespeare, "Londoner's Diary", Evening Standard, 8 August 2013
- ^ [5]. Evening Standard website
- ^ [6] Yorkshire Post, 27 April 2014
- ^ [7] The Stage, 9 May 2014
- ^ Perfect Pitch Music Musicals - Rebels and Retail
- ^ "The Inbetweeners Movie (2011)". Full list of Cast and Crew. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
External links
- 1985 births
- 21st-century English actresses
- Actresses from London
- Alumni of the Central School of Speech and Drama
- Black English actresses
- English people of Nigerian descent
- English stage actresses
- English television actresses
- Ian Charleson Award winners
- Living people
- People educated at the BRIT School
- British Shakespearean actresses