Sheridan Smith

Sheridan Smith OBE (born 25 June 1981) is an English actress, singer, and television personality.

Sheridan Smith was born on 25 June 1981 in Epworth, Lincolnshire, the only daughter of Marylin Smith and the late Colin Smith (1936–2016).

Sheridan had a brother Julian, who died from cancer at the age of 18.

Her grandfather was a banjo player in Yorkshire and later played as a trio with his daughters.

Smith studied dance at the Joyce Mason School of Dancing from an early age.

She later attended South Axholme Comprehensive School; she was a member of the National Youth Music Theatre from 1995 to 2001, performing a number of understudy roles in productions such as Bugsy Malone, Pendragon, and Into the Woods.

She completed her further education at John Leggott College in Scunthorpe.

Smith came to prominence after playing a variety of characters on sitcoms such as The Royle Family (1999–2000), Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps (2001–2009), Gavin & Stacey (2008–2010), and Benidorm (2009).

From 1999 to 2000, Smith played Emma in The Royle Family.

In 2000 Smith played the role of Lyn Marsh in the Heartbeat episode "A Shot in the Dark".

In 2000 she also played a wayward teenager in "Where the Heart is".

She played Janet Keogh in the long-running series Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps from 2001 until 2009.

This was followed in February 2003, when she appeared in Heartbeat's sister programme The Royal, where she played the part of Francesca Wheeler, a teenage girl who was suffering from leukaemia in the episode "Immediate Care."

In 2004, she made a one-episode appearance in Mile High as Suzy, an airport cleaner who impersonates a flight attendant in an attempt to become cabin crew.

She also featured in The Comic Strip's 2005 episode "Sex Actually" as Angie.

Smith played Cleo Martin in Love Soup (2005) and starred as Michelle, a hypocritical nutritionist, in three series of the sitcom Grownups (2006–2009).

She has also appeared on The Lenny Henry Show as M.E. Westmocott, a role spoofing the various medical examiners on CSI.

Smith has appeared in the West End musicals Little Shop of Horrors (2007), Legally Blonde (2010), Funny Girl (2016), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat (2019), and Opening Night (2024).

She played the title role in the 2023 West End production of Shirley Valentine.

She guest starred in the Christmas 2008 episode of Lark Rise to Candleford.

She co-starred as Joey Ross in the drama series Jonathan Creek between 2009 and 2013, and went on to receive acclaim for starring in a succession of television dramas, such as Mrs Biggs (2012), Cilla (2014), The C Word (2015), Black Work (2015), The Moorside (2017), Cleaning Up (2019), and Four Lives (2022).

In the 2009 Two Pints of Lager Comic Relief special, which crossed over with Grownups, she played her characters from both series.

Smith has also appeared in a number of other shows including the BBC's Eyes Down, in which she played Sandy, and smaller parts in shows such as The Bill and Fat Friends.

She featured as Rudi, Smithy's little sister, in the second and third series of the BBC Three sitcom Gavin & Stacey.

Since 2009, she has played Joey Ross in special seasonal episodes of Jonathan Creek, namely "The Grinning Man" (2009), "The Judas Tree" (2010), and "The Clue of the Savant's Thumb" (2013).

She played Brandy in the third series of Benidorm

During 2010, Smith acted as a mentor to the contestants of the BBC show Over the Rainbow.

Sky Arts' Chekhov Comedy Shorts also featured Smith in 2010 when she starred as Natasha in The Proposal.

She appeared in the 2011 film Hysteria, about the invention of the vibrator.

For the factual hospital series Bizarre ER, she took over narration duties from Freema Agyeman.

Her film credits include Tower Block (2012), Quartet (2012), The Huntsman: Winter's War (2016), and The Railway Children Return (2022).

She appeared in the 2012 ITV film adaptation of Daphne Du Maurier's novel The Scapegoat.

In September 2012 Smith played the title role in Mrs Biggs, a five-part series on ITV.

In 2013, she appeared in the Channel 4 series Dates.

In January 2014, she starred in the two-part BBC drama The 7.39.

In March 2014, she appeared in the ITV crime drama The Widower as the first wife of serial killer Malcolm Webster.

She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to drama.

Her debut album, Sheridan, debuted at number nine on the UK Albums Chart in 2017.

Her second album, A Northern Soul, was released the following year.

Smith is the recipient of two Olivier Awards, a British Academy Television Award, and a National Television Award, as well as two International Emmy Award nominations.