| Samantha Spiro | |
|---|---|
| Born | 20 June 1968 Mill Hill, London, England |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1994–present |
| Spouse(s) | Mark Leadbetter |
Samantha Spiro (born 20 June 1968 in Mill Hill, London, England)[1] is an Olivier Award-winning English actress. She is known for portraying Barbara Windsor in the stage play Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick and the television film Cor, Blimey!, and DI Vivien Friend in M.I.T.: Murder Investigation Team.
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Born in Mill Hill, Spiro grew up in Radlett.[2] She is Jewish.[3] Spiro decided to be an actress at the age of ten, after seeing a production of Androcles and the Lion at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park.[2] She joined the National Youth Theatre, and later trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art.[4]
Spiro married the actor Mark Leadbetter, who she met at drama school, in February 2002.[5] They have two daughters and currently live in Queen's Park, London.[2]
Spiro's first acting job after graduating from drama school was with the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park, in productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Boys From Syracuse and Macbeth.[2] Her many theatre credits include As You Like It, Teechers, The Tragic Roundabout, Jumpers, On the Piste, Roots, How the Other Half Loves and Glyn and It, opposite Penelope Keith.[6]
Spiro played Barbara Windsor in Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick at the National Theatre, a production she credits as her first big break, which "open[ed] a lot of doors".[4] She has also appeared in the Minerva Theatre production of Funny Girl and the first West End revival of Alan Ayckbourn's Bedroom Farce.[1][6]
Spiro played Rachel in Mike Leigh's production of Two Thousand Years at the National Theatre. This was the first Jewish role of her career. She said:
"For English/Jewish artists in this business, we’re English first and the Jewish thing comes down the line. Whereas in the United States, Jewishness is a much celebrated thing. Jewishness is a part of their very being.
"Here, I think, we repress it and, far from celebrating it, almost shy away from it. After Two Thousand Years, I suddenly felt that there is a place for people like me. Until that point I hadn’t had a career playing Jewish people. I had got that stuff out of the way by the time I came to play Fanny Brice [in Funny Girl] who is very much a Jewish character."[3]
In 2009, Spiro played Maria in the Donmar Warehouse production of Twelfth Night at the Wyndham's Theatre, alongside Derek Jacobi, and Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing at the Open Air Theatre.[4][7] She will appear in the forthcoming Open Air Theatre production of Hello, Dolly!, playing Dolly Levi.[2][4]
Discussing whether she prefers acting in the theatre to television or film, Spiro said: "I think theatre prefers me. These days you have to do both, but it never feels as if the TV casting people are beating down my door to offer me work. I just feel that in this business you are lucky if you’re doing something you enjoy."[4]
Spiro reprised the role of Barbara Windsor in the television adaptation of Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick, Cor, Blimey!, starring opposite Geoffrey Hutchings.[8]
Her other television credits include The Bill, Cold Feet, Coupling, After You've Gone and M.I.T.: Murder Investigation Team, in which she played the lead role of DI Vivien Friend. She described the role of Friend as "quite an unusual departure for me...I've done quite a bit of comedy and I've played characters who are light-hearted and characters who are tarts with hearts. In M.I.T. there is no tart or heart!"[9] In order to research the part, Spiro spent time with a female Detective Inspector with the real-life Murder Investigation Team.[9]
Spiro has appeared in the films Beyond Bedlam (1994), as WPC Foster, and Tomorrow La Scala! (2002), as Janey. She also played Martha Tabram in From Hell (2001), opposite Johnny Depp.
Her radio drama credits include The Casebook of Inspector Steine, Gospel According to Mary, Little Cinderellas, Beside the Seaside and the Guy Meredith play Spring Forward, Fall Back for BBC Radio 7.[10]
In 2001, Spiro was awarded the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in the 2000 season Donmar Warehouse production of Merrily We Roll Along. She won a Whatsonstage.com award for Best Actress in a Musical for the same production.[1]
Spiro also won a 2004 Joseph Jefferson Award for Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical, for the production of A Little Night Music at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater in Chicago, Illinois.[11]
| Year | Show | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | The Bill | Cherie - Dealer Wins (1994) |
Police drama |
| 2000 | Cor, Blimey! | Barbara Windsor | Television film |
| 2001 | Cold Feet | Ruth - Episode 4.2 (2001) - Episode 4.4 (2001) - Episode 4.5 (2001) |
Comedy drama |
| TV Go Home | Sketch show | ||
| 2003 | M.I.T.: Murder Investigation Team | DI Vivien Friend | Police drama |
| 2004 | Coupling | Jeffina - Nine and a Half Months (2004) |
Sitcom |
| 2007 | After You've Gone | Ann Venables - Stuck in the Middle with You (2007) - When She Came Back (2007) |
Sitcom |
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Beyond Bedlam | WPC Foster | |
| 2001 | From Hell | Martha Tabram | |
| 2002 | Tomorrow La Scala! | Janey |
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