Josie Lawrence


Josie Lawrence is an English comedian and actress best known for her work with the Comedy Store Players improvisational troupe, the television series Whose Line Is It Anyway? and as Manda Best in EastEnders.

Life and career

Early life

Josie Lawrence was born Wendy Lawrence in Old Hill, Staffordshire. Her parents were Bert Lawrence and Kathleen née Griffin, married in 1948. She has a brother, John, and sister, Janet, 10 years older who are twins. They were brought up in nearby Cradley Heath, where her father worked for British Leyland and her mother as a dinner lady. She knew she wanted to be an actress at the early age of 5, and by the time she was 16 she joined the Barlow Players in Oldbury.
She studied at Dartington College of Arts from 1978 to 1981, receiving a Bachelor of Arts honours degree.

Stage

Her first acting role was as a young boy in a production of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists at the Half Moon Theatre. During the 1980s, she was also involved in a play called Passionaria at the Newcastle Playhouse, starring Denise Black and Kate McKenzie, and they later formed the jazz group Denise Black and the Kray Sisters.
Her work in comedy began as a result of starring in a Donmar Warehouse play called Songs For Stray Cats and hearing the audience invited to supply lines and ideas for improvisers appearing in after-show cabaret.
In 1994–1996 Lawrence played Katharine in the Royal Shakespeare Company production of The Taming of the Shrew in both Stratford-upon-Avon and London, for which she received a Dame Peggy Ashcroft award for Best Actress. She also appeared in Faust and The Cherry Orchard and starred as Benedick in an all-female production of Much Ado About Nothing at Shakespeare's Globe, having played Beatrice previously at Manchester's Royal Exchange. She made her West End theatre debut in 2001 taking over the lead role of Anna in the stage musical The King and I, replacing Elaine Paige. In 2005, she appeared with Victoria Wood, Julie Walters and Celia Imrie in the cult West End production of Wood's .
In April and May 2008, Lawrence took the lead role in Tom Stoppard's Hapgood at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre and later at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in which she was a secret spymaster given the task of exposing a traitor who is leaking vital information to the Russians. In the same year, she co-directed The Time Step, a comedy about fantasies and talent contests, with Linda Marlowe at the Edinburgh Festival.
Lawrence appeared as Madame Ranevskaya in a new version of Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard, translated by Tom Stoppard, at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre in autumn 2010.

Television and film

Lawrence came to public attention as a regular guest on the Channel 4 improvisational comedy series Whose Line Is It Anyway? at its launch in 1988. Lawrence's speciality on Whose Line was her ability to improvise songs on the spot. She was the first female performer to perform regularly and featured on the show until 1997, which was the final UK series to be made in London. She also performed in two episodes of the American edition of the show in 1999.
In 1991, she had her own short-lived comedy series Josie, also on Channel 4. The next year she starred in Enchanted April a British remake of the 1935 film based on Elizabeth von Arnim's novel. Her other television work includes the comedy series Not with a Bang and Downwardly Mobile, and she is remembered for her performances as Maggie Costello in the cricketing comedy drama Outside Edge alongside Timothy Spall and Brenda Blethyn, for which she was awarded the Spectacle Wearer of the Year award in 1993. She went on to perform in Sealed with a Loving Kiss and Lunch in the Park as part of the Paul Merton in Galton and Simpson's... series on 16 February 1996 and 21 October 1997. She appeared in the 1999 made-for-TV movie The Flint Street Nativity as both Debbie Bennett and Debbie's mother. In 2001 she played Camilla in A Many Splintered Thing. Between 1999 and 2001 she was the voice of "Duck" in the children's TV show Dog and Duck.
In 2006 she starred alongside Peter Davison in The Complete Guide to Parenting as Phoebe Huntley. She has also appeared in the BBC 1 drama series Robin Hood and as Mrs Jiniwin in the 2007 ITV adaptation of The Old Curiosity Shop. She appeared in an episode of the 2007 E4 teen comedy/drama Skins, playing Liz Jenkins, estranged mother of Sid Jenkins, a role which she reprised in the second series.
Lawrence was in EastEnders from March 2009 to February 2010. She played Amanda Best, an old flame of Minty Peterson. She was featured with Meera Syal in a celebrity special of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? that aired on 31 January 2009. She has appeared as a guest on the panel show games QI and Never Mind the Buzzcocks.
In 2010 Lawrence appeared in series 25, episode 3 of Casualty named "The Chaos Theory". Lawrence played Mrs Janet Haines, head teacher of a school where sixteen children were admitted to the emergency department having taken LSD. Also in 2010 she played the part of Sandra, Tony's agent, in the 2010 British feature film version of Tony Hawks' best selling book Round Ireland with a Fridge that was released in September 2010 and was released on DVD in November 2010.
In 2012, she appeared in Doctors alongside Louise Jameson who has also appeared in EastEnders. Lawrence played Cathy Dayman, and Jameson played Shirley Carter. Also in 2012, she appeared on one episode of the US improv series, Trust Us With Your Life, similar to Whose Line is it Anyway?, but never made it to air.
Lawrence provided the voice of "The Brain" in the 2015 BBC Two quiz show Beat The Brain.
Lawrence currently plays Barbara, a synthetic marriage councillor in series 2 of the Channel 4 TV series Humans.
In 2018, she played the lover of a married man portrayed by former "Whose Line" castmate John Sessions in the feature film Finding Your Feet.
In 2020 she appeared in the BBC TV series Shakespeare & Hathaway - Private Investigators episode 3.5 "Thy Fury Spent" as Dr Helen Middleton.

Radio

Lawrence starred in three series of the improvised comedy series The Masterson Inheritance from 1993 to 1995 on BBC Radio 4 alongside Paul Merton, Phelim McDermott, Caroline Quentin, Lee Simpson and Jim Sweeney. Each episode comprised a different time period, and the plots were improvised based on suggestions from the studio audience. One unaired episode was produced and narrated by Lawrence, but it was released on the internet by Jim Sweeney on his official site.
The BBC Radio 4 series The Lawrence Sweeney Mix aired from 27 February to 20 March 2007 and was described as "Josie Lawrence and Jim Sweeney create improvised sketches from audience suggestions". Series 2 began airing on 29 January 2008.
She has starred in three other BBC Radio 4 comedy series: the science fiction comedy Married in 1996 and the dark comedy series Vent in 2006 as well as appearing in a Galton and Simpson Radio Playhouse 50th Anniversary recording of Clicquot et Fils alongside Richard Griffiths and Roger Lloyd-Pack that originally aired on 29 December 1998.
She played the role of 'Amanda' in the comedy series Reluctant Persuaders on BBC Radio 4.
Lawrence made her debut appearance in the long-running BBC Radio 4 show Just a Minute on 7 January 2008 and returned again in the following series.
In December 2014, Lawrence played the role of Agnes Nutter in an adaptation of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's book Good Omens for BBC Radio 4. In 2019, she reprised the role for the Amazon/BBC television production of the book.

[Audiobook]s

Lawrence has lent her voice to several audiobooks, the majority of which were books for children. She has recorded several of the books in Roger Hargreaves' Little Miss series, namely, Bossy, Giggles, Trouble, Tiny, Sunshine, Naughty, Somersault and Neat and four of Jacqueline Wilson's books, Secrets, The Illustrated Mum, Bad Girls and The Bed and Breakfast Star. She has also recorded books from Emma Thomson's Felicity Wishes, Eric Hill's Spot the Dog and Tony Bradman's Dilly the Dinosaur, as well as Philip Ridley's Mercedes Ice and Julia Donaldson's Room on the Broom as well as the Muffin The Mule story books for a grand CD release.
For adults, Lawrence has recorded tapes of Rosie Thomas's Sun at Midnight, Lynee Truss's Going Loco and Daphne du Maurier's Jamaica Inn.
In Easter 2019, Lawrence recorded all the Percy the Park Keeper story books for two grand CD releases, replacing Richard Briers, taking care to create the best possible voices for all the animal characters as well as Percy himself.

Video games

She appeared on the 1992/1993 series of GamesMaster, playing Mad Dog McCree winning her challenge.

Charity

In 2003 Lawrence spent eight months walking across China, Cuba, Peru and Tanzania for Breakthrough Breast Cancer and helped to raise over £550,000. She had to wear a knee brace throughout the trek because of damage to her anterior cruciate ligament.
In 2005 she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro for Sunfield, a school for children with autism and complex learning needs, of which she is a patron. On 21 April 2008, she hosted a VIP-night performance of Hapgood at The Birmingham Rep in aid of Sunfield and raised a further £3,500 for the charity. She is also a supporter of the National Autistic Society's Make School Make Sense campaign. In 2009, Lawrence raised £25,000 for Sunfield by appearing on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? with Meera Syal.
Lawrence and actor Shane Richie participated in the final leg of the celebrity Around the World in 80 Days challenge to raise money for Children in Need 2009. They travelled from Memphis to Wilmington, North Carolina and then to London over 15 days.

Honours and personal life

Josie Lawrence is single. In an interview with good friend Jim Sweeney, she said, "It's always the same: 'You're 41, and not married and no kids', God, I'm so bored with it" . She resides in Hackney, London. She has two cats, a long-haired ginger and a black-and-white, named after the Black Country characters Aynuk and Ayli, who feature prominently in jokes about Black Country dialect. As a guest on QI she named David Attenborough "her God".
In 1996, Josie Lawrence was awarded an honorary doctorate by Dartington College of Arts, and she has since been awarded a further two, an honorary doctorate of letters from the University of Wolverhampton in 2004 and in 2006 a doctorate by Aston University for "services to the entertainment industry."

Filmography

YearFilmRoleNotes
1979A Christmas Carol at Ford's TheatreMrs. Dilber/Fred's Younger Sister/Shopper No. 2TV movie
1985Summer SeasonRachelTV series
1986The American WayGuerillette
1987Comedy WavelengthTV series
1988CampaignLinda PrenticeTV series
1988Get FreshPresenter – Get The JokeTV series
1989Agatha Christie's PoirotErnestine GrantTV series
1989Norbert Smith, a LifeRuby LawrenceTV movie
1989Alas Smith and JonesTV series
1990Not with a BangJanet WilkinsTV series
1990The Green ManLucyTV series
1990Jackson Pace: The Great YearsRyveeta TuskTV series
1991Enchanted AprilLottie Wilkins
1992A Word in Your EraCleopatraTV series
1993The Comic Strip Presents...SusieTV series
1994The World of Peter Rabbit and FriendsPigwigTV series
1994Downwardly MobileSophieTV series
1994Outside EdgeMaggie CostelloTV series
Nominated — Best TV Comedy Actress
1995Absolutely FabulousCable TV PresenterTV series
1995GogsTV series
1995Spot's Magical ChristmasSally/HelenDirect-to-video special
1996Paul Merton in Galton and Simpson's...Primrose/Sarah TiptreeTV series
1996The Adventures of Dawdle the DonkeyDawdleTV series
1997The Sin EaterKateTV Short
1997Spot and His Grandparents Go to the CarnivalSally/HelenDirect-to-video special
1998Starhill PoniesVarious CharactersTV series
1998Bill's New FrockBill's MumShort
1998Duck PatrolShemerldaTV series
1998Oi! Get Off Our TrainMum/ CraneVoice
1999Dog and DuckDuckVoice
1999The Flint Street NativityDebbie Bennett/MaryTV movie
2000GogwanaVoiceTV Short
2000Married 2 MalcolmNatalie
2000A Many Splintered ThingCamillaTV series
2000Fat FriendsJulia FleshmanTV series
2003Keen EddieLiese KohlTV series
2003Where the Heart IsRita ShepherdTV series
2004Holby CityAvril CoulterTV series
2005Down to EarthShirley PottsTV series
2006Agatha Christie's MarpleHannah BeresfordTV series
2006Acorn Antiques the Musical: Triplet TraumaBonnieVideo Short
2006Acorn Antiques the Musical: Mrs Overall's ReturnBonnieVideo Short
2006Donna/BonnieVideo
2006The Complete Guide to ParentingPhoebe HuntleyTV series
2007The Last DetectiveGillian LanghamTV series
2007Robin HoodMatildaTV series
2007The Old Curiosity ShopMrs. JiniwinTV movie
2007SkinsLiz JenkinsTV series
2009MinderDelilah DaleyTV series
2009EastendersManda BestTV series
2010Round Ireland with a FridgeSandra
2010CasualtyMrs. Janet HainesTV series
2010Handle with CareKarenShort
2010The Fridge InterviewsThe Lady FridgeShort
2010MamReenieShort
2010DoctorsCathy Dayman/Katrina Kidd/Susie VineTV series
2013Common GroundFionaTV series
2013No PrisonersLouiseShort
2013Wizards vs AliensMadeline RavenTV series
2014BonoboAnita
2014Jonathan CreekDeniseTV Series
2014Looking for ViEvelyn Hawthorne/Vi CardleShort
2015The KennedysMiss ParsonsTV series
2016HumansBarbaraTV series
2016StellaValTV series
2018Finding Your FeetPamelapost-production
2019Good OmensAgnes NutterTV series
2020Dr. Helen MiddletonTV series

Appearances

YearFilmRoleNotes
1988Friday Night LiveHerself/VariousTV series
1988Whose Line Is It Anyway?HerselfTV series
1989Hysteria 2!HerselfTV special
1989Agatha Christie's PoirotMrs GrantTV series
1989The South Bank ShowRachelTV series documentary
1989A Night of Comic Relief 2HerselfTV special
1991Aspel & CompanyHerselfTV series
1991JosieHerself/VariousTV series
1991Forty MinutesNarratorTV series documentary
1993GamesmasterHerselfTV series
1993ArenaT TV series
1994Paul Merton's Palladium StoryGame Show Contestant Mrs. SimpsonTV mini-series documentary
1994An Audience with Ken DoddHerselfTV special
1996Happy Birthday ShirleyHerselfTV movie
1999Never Mind the BuzzcocksHerselfTV series
1999American versions of Whose Line Is It Anyway?HerselfTV series
2001The Lesley Garrett ShowHerselfTV series
2002A Week in the West EndHerselfTV series
2003KellyHerselfTV series
2003Today with Des and MelHerselfTV series
2003Loose WomenHerselfTV series
2004QIHerselfTV series
2005The Wright StuffGuest Panelist/HerselfTV series
2009Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?HerselfTV series
2009The Paul O'Grady ShowHerselfTV series
2009Around the World in 80 DaysHerselfTV mini-series
2010The Sweeney: The Life and Work of Jim SweeneyHerselfdocumentary
2010The Story Behind the FridgeHerselfvideo documentary short
201124 Hour Panel PeopleHerselfTV mini-series
2012Just a MinuteHerselfRadio series
2012Would I Lie to You?HerselfTV series
2012BBC PromsHerselfTV series