Cush Jumbo

Cush Jumbo
Born	(1985-09-23) 23 September 1985 London, England
Years active	2006–present
Awards	Winner of the Ian Charleson Award 2011, UK Theatre Award 2013, Emerging Talent Award at London Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2013

Cush Jumbo (born 23 September 1985) is an English actress, known for playing Lois Habiba in the third series of British science fiction drama Torchwood, Children of Earth.^[1]

Early and personal life

Jumbo was born in King's College Hospital, Lambeth, London to parents Angela and Marx Jumbo. Her mother is British and her father is Nigerian. The second of six children, she grew up in the boroughs of Lewisham and Southwark. Jumbo began dance classes at the age of three learning Tap, Ballet and Modern and went on to learn Street Dance, Contemporary and Ballroom and Latin in later years. Between the ages of 11 and 15 she trained at the Francis Cooper School of Dance whilst attending Cator Park School for Girls but at 14 she left Cator Park to pursue acting more seriously at The Brit School for Performing Arts in Croydon. Jumbo graduated with a first from the BA (Hons) Acting course at Central School of Speech and Drama before starting her professional career. She considered undertaking teacher training in London before finally settling on a career as a professional actress.^[2]

Career

Jumbo's theatre credits include Brixton Stories at The Lyric, Hammersmith, Liquid Gold at the Almeida and Love's Labour's Lost at Shakespeare's Globe.^[3] She has also appeared in productions of The Cherry Orchard, The Crucible, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Richard III and As You Like It.^[4] Pygmalion at the Royal Exchange Theatre for which she received MEN and Ian Charleson award nominations. In 2012 she won the Ian Charleson Award for her performance as Rosalind in William Shakespeare's As You Like It at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester. Clare Brennan of the Guardian spoke of Cush's performance in 'As You Like It' saying "If these performances truly reflect her talent, Jumbo looks set to become one of the best actresses of her generation". Jumbo played Constance Neville in She Stoops to Conquer at The National Theatre in 2012 and Mark Antony in an all female production of Julius Caesar (play) at the Donmar Warehouse for which she received a nomination for an Olivier Award.^[5] She took part again in the production when it was revived in New York in October 2013. In May 2013, she played the role of Nora in A Doll's House at the Royal Exchange Theatre. In October 2013 she won a UK Theatre Award for this performance.^[6]

In July and August 2013, Jumbo performed in her debut play Josephine and I, a one-person play about jazz singer Josephine Baker, which premiered at the Bush Theatre, London.^[7][8] She won an Emerging Talent Award at the London Evening Standard Theatre Awards in November 2013 for this performance. ^[9]

Jumbo co-wrote the musical Rebels and Retail, a shortlisted entrant in the Perfect Pitch West End Showcase 2008.^[10] She is also the author of a play about the music hall star Josephine Baker. The show is currently being developed for transfer and as a screenplay by a London producing house.

Jumbo is the co-author of 101 Dance Ideas for 5-11 yr olds which is published by A & C Black Publishers Ltd.

On television, Jumbo has appeared in My Family, Harley Street, as receptionist Hannah Fellows, as Lois Habiba in all five episodes of Torchwood: Children of Earth, as Becky on BBC3's drama series Lip Service Casualty and as Nurse Damaris in Getting On Series 2 and 3, written by Jo Brand, Jo Scanlon and Vicki Pepperdine in which she was directed by fellow Torchwood actor Peter Capaldi. She appeared as Detective Bethany Whelan in series 2 of ITV's Vera (TV series) starring Brenda Blethyn.

Filmography

References

External links

• Cush Jumbo at the Internet Movie Database
• Elizabeth Day, Cush Jumbo: I'm not interested in being in Heat magazine, Interview, The Observer, 25 November 2012