Debra Stephenson

Debra Stephenson
Debra Stephenson
Born 4 June 1972 (1972-06-04) (age 39)
Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England
Occupation Actress, singer, comedienne

Debra Stephenson (born 4 June 1972 in Kingston upon Hull)[citation needed] is an English actress, comedian, impressionist and singer.

Contents

Career

At the age of fourteen Stephenson appeared on BBC TV's Opportunity Knocks, winning her way through to the All-Winners' Final, broadcast live from the London Palladium. She appeared on Blue Peter doing an impression of Esther Rantzen; she also appeared in other CBBC programmes and was a backing singer on Chris Jarvis's 1997 charity single Glasses.

She was then on TV screens in 1998 in Kay Mellor's comedy drama about women's football, Playing the Field. Stephenson also appeared in the last two episodes of ITV1's adaptation of Catherine Cookson's A Dinner of Herbs in which she played the adult Kate Roystan who falls in love with the son of the woman who murdered her grandfather.

In 1999 she had a more prominent role, playing Shell Dockley in the ITV prison drama Bad Girls. Her performance as the psychotic Dockley earned her consecutive nominations for Best Actress at the National Television Awards in 1999 and 2000. After three years playing one of the show's most popular characters, she left in 2001, returning for one last time in 2003.

As well as doing stand-up comedy at venues including London's Comedy Store, Stephenson has played several roles as a comic actress on radio and television. These include Hosanna in the BBC Radio 4 comedy At Home with the Snails (2002), and sketch show TV to Go in 2000 with Hugh Dennis and Pauline McLynn. She featured in the 1998 Chucklevision episode 'Stop that Stamp' as the Grand Duchess Olga. Stephenson was also a big part of The Friday Night Project, interviewing the public and going undercover with disguises such as 'Debbo'.

From June 2004 to December 2006, Stephenson starred in the top rated British soap opera Coronation Street playing Frankie Baldwin, the wife of Bradley Walsh's character, Danny. She received nominations for "Best Newcomer" at various TV and soap awards shows. On 14 May 2006, producers announced that Stephenson would be leaving the soap at the end of that year.[1] Her final scenes aired on 31 December 2006.

In 2005 she took part in Comic Relief does Fame Academy, a singing competition involving celebrities, to raise money for charity, and finished fifth. Among her performances was a rendition of "Cry Me A River" which was called "blemishless" and of Dionne Warwick's "Anyone Who Had A Heart". Her participation on the show led to a record deal and she has subsequently released a debut album "In The Sunshine". It includes cover versions of the songs she sang on the show, which range from Kylie's to Lemar's, as well as a cover of Madonna's "Music", which she sang on the "Madonna Mania" TV show. Stephenson was a reporter for GMTV on Fridays throughout Summer 2007 as part of The Richard Arnold Show.

She appeared on channel virgin 1's The Prisoner:X in December 2008. She was locked up for four days in a high security prison in America where she spent a night in segregation and was treated as though she was an actual prisoner doing time in that prison.Stephenson played the part of Aladdin in the pantomime Aladdin at the Regent Theatre in Ipswich. The pantomime was shown on 13 December 2008 and performed again in January 2009. Because of this role, Stephenson appeared on the Celebrity Ding Dong Christmas special in which the theme was pantomimes and "goodies vs baddies". The goodies (Stephenson's team) won.

The Impressions Show with Culshaw and Stephenson, led by Jon Culshaw and Debra Stephenson, began recording in August 2009. Co-starring as lead regulars are Thomas Nelstrop and newcomer impressionist Jess Robinson. Eight episodes were commissioned by the BBC; the first aired on Saturday 31 October 2009. The popular series was recommissioned for a second series in 2010 and then again for a third series of 6 episodes which started on 26 October 2011. As of October 2011, only the 1st series has currently been released on to DVD.

In March 2010, Stephenson took part in Let's Dance for Sport Relief and reached the final after an impressive rendition of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal". She competed in heat 2/3 before the best six celebrity acts reached the final. The judges chose to put her through to the final as she had received some of the highest viewer votes that night. The final was live on the 13th March and she performed the same routine. The winner was Rufus Hound who performed a version of Cheryl Cole's "Fight For This Love".

Personal life

Stephenson attended South Hunsley School in Melton, East Riding of Yorkshire, from the age of 11, and during these years she appeared in a number of national TV talent shows doing impressions. In 1996 Stephenson graduated in Drama, from The Manchester Metropolitan School of Theatre. She married builder James Duffield in June 1999. They have two children, Max, born on 26 November 2002, and Zoe Louise, born on 23 January 2007. In September 2006, before her Coronation Street departure, Stephenson hit the headlines when it was stated that she and onscreen husband Danny were having an affair in real life. Both denied this, though they admitted they had grown very close.[2]

References

External links


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