Crissy Rock

For her performance in Ladybird, Ladybird, she won the Silver Bear for Best Actress award at the 44th Berlin International Film Festival.

Christine Murray (born 23 September 1958), known professionally as Crissy Rock, is an English award-winning actress, stand-up comedian, and best-selling author, most notable for her role as Maggie Conlan in the 1994 film Ladybird, Ladybird, and as Janey York in Benidorm whom she played from 2007, until 2011 when she left the show, although she returned in Episode 6 of Series 5 for a cameo role, and then again for two episodes of Series 7 in 2015.

Rock started her career as a comedian in the late 1980s.

She appeared nationwide on Bob Monkhouse's BBC Television show Bob Says Opportunity Knocks,

By 1993, her career had started to take off.

She performed her act in clubs in Blackpool, Newcastle, Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Cardiff, and London.

By 1994, Rock was bill-topping at the Central Pier and the Blackpool Tower.

Rock's debut acting performance was as Maggie Conlan in Ken Loach's award-winning 1994 film Ladybird, Ladybird.

Loach later recalled: "I cannot think of anyone I have worked with who shines more brightly than Crissy Rock".

Her performance won her numerous awards, including 'Best Actress' at the Berlin Film Festival, 'Best Actress' at London Film Critics Awards, and she received a 'Best Newcomer' nomination in the Evening Standard Awards.

In 1995, Rock appeared on primetime ITV in Peak Practice, Celebrity Squares and Funny Girls.

She also performed on Sky One's Stand and Deliver.

In 1996, she played Annie Greave in episode three of the BBC detective drama Dalziel and Pascoe, had a regular television role as nosy neighbour Anita Cartledge in Springhill , and starred alongside Julie Walters and Robert Lindsay in the BBC comedy play Brazen Hussies.

In 1997, she played alongside Billie Whitelaw in the six-part BBC1 series Born to Run.

She also made regular appearances on Channel 4's game show Pull The Other One.

In 1998, Rock toured the United Kingdom in a drama called Shellfish, in which she played the role of the pivotal female role of Pat.

The Guardian newspaper wrote: Pat is an utterly believable portrayal of a woman making a last grab at happiness.

In 1999, Rock played alongside Pete Postlethwaite in the BBC crime drama Butterfly Collectors, Nancy Banks-Smith who, writing in The Guardian said: “Crissy Rock..just switch her on and watch her go”.

This was the first of two plays in which she featured in that year, the other was as Jean Walton in Jimmy McGovern's BAFTA nominated Channel 4 play Dockers, with Ken Stott and Ricky Tomlinson.

In the same year, she was acclaimed for her presenting debut on BBC TV's Millennium Night Show with Michael Parkinson and Gaby Roslin.

In 2000, she played the regular role of the unnamed newsagent in the BBC One drama series Clocking Off.

In 2001, Rock starred as Amber Costello during a four-week stint in Channel 4's soap opera Brookside.

In 2002, she worked with Ricky Tomlinson again, when she played Madame Flo in his six-part BBC series Nice Guy Eddie.

She also starred in a short film called Hero, which won the Hamburg and Dresden International Festivals in three categories, also the London International Film Festival for short subjects.

In 2006, Rock took on the role of loudmouthed hotel manageress Janey York in ITV's sitcom Benidorm.

Following a five-year retirement from acting, Rock was cast, without audition, in the two part Closure episode of Lynda La Plante's Trial & Retribution series for ITV in 2007.

The following year, Plante cast her in another of her TV productions: The Commander.

Following the success of the TV show Benidorm she returned to the UK in 2008 and continued to perform her stand-up act in clubs around the country.

Rock's comedy has been described as "outrageous" and "emotional".

She appeared in I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! 2011.

In 2011, Rock released her debut DVD: Crissy Rock – Live!, recorded at Liverpool's Royal Court Theatre.

From December 2011 to January 2012, Rock played the role of the Fairy godmother in Billingham Forum's Christmas pantomime production of Cinderella.

In December 2012, she appeared on Celebrity Come Dine with Me.

In 2012, Rock filmed "The Air That I Breathe", based on the 1970s TV series Hazell.

Over the years, she has appeared in various feature films, including Under the Skin, with Samantha Morton, Act of Grace, in which she played Leo Gregory's mother, and A Boy Called Dad.

Followed by 'From Benidorm To The Jungle And Back released in 2013.

Her latest DVD 'Live 2022' was released March 2023.

In December 2013, Rock appeared as the Wicked Queen in a production of Snow White at Liverpool's Epstein Theatre.

On 15 March 2014, Rock led the cast of new comedy Dirty Dusting at the Bedworth Civic Hall.

In April 2014, Rock starred alongside Duggie Brown in Escorts the musical at the Theatre Royal St Helens.''