Jill Halfpenny

Infobox actor
name = Jill Halfpenny


imagesize = 200px
caption = Jill Halfpenny
birthname = Jill Halfpenny
birthdate = birth date and age|1975|7|15|df=yes
birthplace = Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England
occupation = Actress
yearsactive = 1989-present
spouse = Craig Conway (2007-02-03-present)
awards = TV Quick Award - Best Actress
2007 "Waterloo Road" - Izzie Redpath

Jill Halfpenny (born 15 July 1975) is an English actress.

Halfpenny is possibly best known for her role as Kate in the British TV drama "EastEnders", from 2002-5. She has appeared on television regularly since the early 1990s in serials such as Byker Grove, Coronation Street, EastEnders and Waterloo Road.

Biography

A native of Leam Lane, Gateshead, she attended St Edmund Campion there. She is a former student of the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art (1994-1996) and she also went to drama school First Act Theatre in Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne and to the Reavley Theatre School in Felling, Gateshead.

Career

Halfpenny had a part in The Round Tower as Rosie Cotton. She began her acting career in the BBC television children's drama series "Byker Grove", set in the Benwell area of Newcastle upon Tyne. Her other work has included appearances in "Dalziel and Pascoe" and "Coronation Street" for television and theatre with the acclaimed Hull Truck Theatre Company.

She took the major role of Kate Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera "EastEnders" between 2002 and 2004. The character was introduced as a police officer sent to spy on Phil Mitchell, but after her cover was blown she quit the police force, married Phil and opened a nail salon.

Around that time she raised her profile further by posing in a pink and black brassiere with matching panties for "FHM"; in 2004 she was voted 84th in that magazine's "Sexiest Woman in the World" poll.

In 2004 Halfpenny participated in the BBC One pro-celebrity ballroom dancing competition "Strictly Come Dancing", dancing with professional Darren Bennett. The couple won the competition after receiving the full 40 marks from the judges in the final. On December 14 2004, Halfpenny and Darren Bennett made an appearance on stage at the Royal Variety Performance which took place at the London Coliseum. In a special one-off Christmas programme which pitted the "Strictly Come Dancing" champions (and other top performing couples) from series one and two against each other, Jill and Darren were crowned as Champion of Champions.

In December 2004, it was announced that she would take the role of Roxie Hart in the West End musical,"Chicago", starting in January 2005.

In 2005, Halfpenny appeared in "The Bodies", a new play adapted from an Emile Zola novel by Peter Flannery at the Live Theatre, Newcastle, opposite her real-life husband, actor Craig Conway. In 2005 and 2006, Halfpenny appeared in hit pantomimes at the Theatre Royal, Newcastle.

Halfpenny was the guest presenter for and performed in the first show of the BBC four-part series "The Sound of Musicals" in January 2006 and played Roxy Ball in "Shameless" in an episode broadcast on January 31 2006. In 2006, Halfpenny made a guest appearance in an episode of "The Catherine Tate Show".

From spring 2006, Halfpenny appeared in the BBC One series "Waterloo Road" as teacher Izzie Redpath but was killed off at the end of the second series . Halfpenny has most recently been heard as the voice of a high-profile commercial campaign for "Aunt Bessie's Yorkshire Puddings" and the narrator of "Freaky Eaters" for BBC Three and "Fat Man's Warning" for Channel 4. Jill was also the narrator for a short film advertising how the national lottery helps the North East, created by students at the Lord Lawson of Beamish School as part of a competition. The film they created won the competition.

From the beginning of February 2008, [citeweb|url=http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/article779745.ece|title=Jill Halfpenny is pregnant!|author=Street-Howe, Zoe|publisher=The Sun|date=2008-02-08|accessdate=2008-05-25] a pregnant Halfpenny played Spike Milligan's long-suffering manager, Norma Farnes, alongside Michael Barrymore in "Surviving Spike" at the Theatre Royal in Windsor.

Personal life

Halfpenny and her husband, actor Craig Conway, are now the proud parents of a boy, Harvey-Rhys, born on May 3, 2008, weighing 6lb 8oz. [citeweb|url=http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/article1206206.ece|title=Baby joy for telly star Jill|publisher=The Sun|date=2008-02-08|accessdate=2008-05-25]

References

External links

*
* [http://www.jill-halfpenny.com/ Unofficial Website]
* [http://jillfanforever.com/ The Jill Halfpenny Appreciation Website]