Fay Ripley

Her father was a successful businessman – the son of Greater London Councilman Sydney William Leonard Ripley, J.P., D.L., whose family had owned a printing company that produced movie posters - and brother of 1960s pop singer Twinkle, and her mother an antiques dealer.

They separated when Ripley was two years old and both remarried, so Ripley spent her childhood moving around Surrey between two families.

She was the only child from her parents' marriage but had several half-brothers and sisters from their new relationships.

In her early life, she lived in various Surrey towns, including Walton-on-Thames, Weybridge, Esher and Cobham.

Her father wanted her to have a good education so, despite the family's Protestant religion, sent her to various Catholic convent schools around the county.

One was St Maur's Convent School in Weybridge, which she attended with Liza Tarbuck.

Ripley did not feel academically challenged there, and later declared the school mediocre.

At school, Ripley enjoyed drama lessons, spurred on by the positive remarks she received from her drama teacher Susan Ford.

She said of Ford, "When I was 15, one of the few people who said, 'Well done', was my drama teacher, and she was really brilliant. She was a powerful woman. Those women change your life. You always remember them. There was something about her. She basically made me feel very good about myself as a 15-year-old girl."

Abandoning her childhood ambition to become a nurse, Ripley decided to go into acting.

Her father wanted to send her to a finishing school in Switzerland but, in an effort to rebel from her middle class Home Counties background, Ripley instead went to a local state college in Surrey, where she took A-levels in communication studies, art, and drama.

During her time at the college, Ripley performed her own small shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Fay Ripley (born 26 February 1966) is an English actress, television presenter and recipe author.

Ripley was born in Wimbledon, southwest London to Bev(erley) William Deacon Ripley and Tina Ripley (née Forster) on 26 February 1966.

In an effort to "bring Brecht to the masses", she performed The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui at the 1983 festival.

After completing her A-levels, Ripley sought entry to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

It took her three attempts before she was accepted onto an acting course at the age of 20.

While at drama school, Ripley lived in a flat in Streatham, South London, during a time she described as "horrible and penniless".

To support herself financially, she sold menswear door-to-door, timeshares on Kensington High Street and Oxford Street, worked as a receptionist at a health club, and spent five years as children's entertainer "Miss Chief the Clown".

As Miss Chief, Ripley performed magic tricks and painted faces at children's parties.

The work paid off when she was able to get a mortgage on her first flat, stating clown as her occupation.

She is a graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (1990).

Her first professional role was in the chorus of a pantomime version of Around the World in 80 Days.

Ripley's early film and television appearances were limited, so she supplemented her earnings by working as a children's entertainer and by selling menswear door-to-door.

Ripley graduated from drama school in 1990.

Her first role afterwards was playing Osatko in the chorus of Around the World in 80 Days at the Liverpool Playhouse during the 1990–1991 pantomime season.

She had ten lines in Japanese.

Her next role came at the end of the year in the Manchester Royal Exchange's production of Medea.

Ripley recalled, "It was only my second job, and I took it all very seriously, in my Greek sarong and my torch of fire, having to burble in tongues."

After her scenes as a prostitute were cut from Frankenstein (1994), Ripley gained her first major film role playing Karen Hughes in Mute Witness (1995).

In 1996, Ripley was cast in her breakthrough role of Jenny Gifford in the ITV series Cold Feet.

Initially a supporting role in the pilot episode, Ripley's character was expanded when a series was commissioned in 1998.

She stayed with the show for three full series before leaving to take more varied roles and to spend more time with her family.

She returned for a guest appearance in the fifth series.

After leaving Cold Feet, Ripley played a succession of leading roles in comedies and dramas including Green-Eyed Monster (2001), I Saw You (2002), The Stretford Wives (2002), and Dead Gorgeous (2002).

Each role won her critical acclaim.

In 2006, she filmed a leading role in the ITV drama Bon Voyage, before taking time away from acting after the birth of her second child.

Ripley returned to television in 2009, starring as human resources manager Christine Frances in the ITV comedy drama Monday Monday, and Nicola Perrin alongside Martin Clunes in BBC One's Reggie Perrin.

Since 2009, Ripley has authored three recipe books; Fay's Family Food in 2009, What's for Dinner? in 2012 and Fay Makes it Easy in 2014.

She is married to actor Daniel Lapaine, with whom she has two children—a daughter and a son—and is an advocate of several charities and causes.