Kathy Burke

Early life

Burke was born at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, London, and was brought up in Islington. She has two elder brothers, John and Barry. Her mother, Bridget (Bridie), died of cancer when she was two, and she was brought up by neighbours (the Galvin family) for the following few years. Subsequently, she returned to live with her Irish father, Patrick (Paddy), a builder who died of cancer in 1985. Burke attended the Maria Fidelis RC Convent School. Burke then when on to study at the Anna Scher Theatre School.

Career

Burke's first role was in the controversial 1983 film Scrubbers, directed by Swedish actress Mai Zetterling and featuring Pam St. Clement, Robbie Coltrane, Miriam Margolyes, Honey Bane, Debby Bishop and Eva Mottley. The film was set in a young offenders' institute for girls and was seen as a female version of the film Scum.

Burke appeared in a non-speaking role in a 1985 public information film about heroin addiction.

Burke first became familiar to television audiences as a player of minor roles in sketches by better-known performers such as Harry Enfield, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. Early TV work included regular appearances on the chat show "The Last Resort" hosted by Jonathan Ross on UK Channel 4 in the mid-1980s, playing the characters 'Tina Bishop' and 'Perry the Pre-pubescent Schoolboy". Bishop was a continually pregnant "expert" offering advice on household chores, always with disastrous results. Along with French and Saunders, she has contributed to two Comic Relief charity singles. She first appeared as a member of Bananarama parody band Lananeeneenoonoo in 1989, and then as a member of Spice Girls' look-alike band the Sugar Lumps in 1997. In real life Burke is a big fan of Morrissey and appeared in the video for his 1989 single "Ouija Board, Ouija Board" and later in the 2002 Channel 4 documentary The Importance of Being Morrissey.

She quickly became successful in her own right and although mainly associated with comedy, she has played several serious roles including that of Queen Mary I of England in Elizabeth.

Burke was awarded the Royal Television Society Award for Best Actress, for her performance as the mute Martha in the 1993 BBC TV series Mr. Wroe's Virgins.

Burke won the Best Actress award at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival for her role in the gritty drama Nil by Mouth. Burke was so convinced she would not win that she made no plans to attend the ceremony; when told shortly beforehand she had won, she found her passport was out of date. The film also earned her a BAFTA nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Since then she has appeared as Perry in Kevin & Perry Go Large, and as Linda La Hughes in Gimme Gimme Gimme (which she developed with wrilter Jonathan Harvey) where she was nominated for 3 British Comedy Awards (winning one), 2 BAFTA TV Awards and a National Television Award for her performance. In 2000, she appeared in the cult film Love Honour and Obey with Ray Burdis.

In 2003, she was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy.

Beginning in 2001, she refrained from acting and threw herself into theatre directing; something she considers to be one of her true passions. She said in an interview with Dawn French in Dawn French's Girls Who do Comedy that she no longer felt the same creative energy associated with acting that she used to (she described it as a "feeling in my belly") and that this was the reason she had stopped acting. However, she has done some voiceover work in the past few years, including adverts for Ski yoghurt (in the UK) as well as Flushed Away (2006). She also appeared in the 2007 Christmas Special of The Catherine Tate Show as Nan's daughter.

In early 1990 she wrote and directed her first play, Mr Thomas, at the Old Red Lion Theatre. Set in 1950s London it starred James Clyde, Anita Graham, Jamie Oliver, Ian Jentle, Oliver Smith and Ray Winstone. It was subsequently filmed and shown on Channel 4 the next year.

In 2007, Burke contracted Clostridium difficile while in hospital for an operation, resulting in her having to pass directing duties on Dying for It at the Almeida Theatre (which starred Charlie Condou and Sophie Stanton who she worked with on Gimme Gimme Gimme).

In 2009, Burke made her television directorial debut with the BBC Three sketch show series Horne & Corden, starring Mathew Horne and James Corden.

In 2010, Burke completed a short autobiographical film, "Better Than Christmas", for Little Crackers, a collection of comic shorts. Burke plays a nun. On 19 January 2012, it was announced that Burke's short for Little Crackers would be turned into a four-part series, "Walking and Talking", written by Burke. Burke appeared as a nun in each of the episodes. The series aired in the summer of 2012 on Sky Atlantic.

In 2011, Burke played Connie Sachs in the film adaptation of the novel Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. She was long-listed for a BAFTA nomination for her performance as Supporting Actress in 2012.

Burke appeared in the 2015 Peter Pan prequel film, Pan, as Mother Barnabas. In November 2015 Burke presented the BBC topical news panel show Have I Got News for You.

Theatre

As director