Sue Johnston

Susan Johnston (née Wright), OBE (born 7 December 1943) is a BAFTA nominated English actress known for playing Sheila Grant in the soap opera Brookside (1982–90), Grace Foley in Waking the Dead (2000–11), Barbara Royle in the BBC comedy The Royle Family (1998–) and Gloria Price in Coronation Street (2012–14) In December 2011, she played Eileen Lewis in the BBC one-off episode Lapland, a role which she is currently playing for a series, Being Eileen.^[1][2]

Early life

Johnston was born in Warrington, Lancashire and grew up in Prescot, Lancashire. She was educated at Whiston Infants School, Eccleston Park Junior School and Prescot and Huyton Grammar School for Girls which she left aged 17 after one year of her A-level course, having decided to become an actress.^[3]

After working as a Higher Grade tax inspector, when her boyfriend was one of the pop group the Swinging Blue Jeans, she worked for Brian Epstein. From the age of 21, Johnston attended the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

Acting career

Johnston made her television debut, aged 38, with a minor recurring role on Coronation Street in the summer of 1982. She played the role of Mrs. Chadwick, the wife of a bookmaker.^[4]

From 1982 to 1990, she appeared as Sheila Grant in the soap opera Brookside. She appeared in the show's first ever episode on 2 November 1982 – aired on the day that Channel 4 went on air – and her last episode was aired in September 1990, when the character was written out of the series following her divorce from Bobby Grant (Ricky Tomlinson) and re-marriage to Billy Corkhill (John McArdle).

Since then she has appeared in many drama series and films, including Inspector Morse, Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, Brassed Off, and My Uncle Silas. In 1992 Johnston gave a tour de force performance in the three-part award winning drama Goodbye Cruel World, in which she portrayed a woman coming to terms with a muscle-wasting illness. She was supported by Alun Armstrong as her husband and Jonny Lee Miller.

Johnston is also well known for her role as Barbara Royle in the comedy series The Royle Family, appearing with her former on-screen husband in Brookside, Ricky Tomlinson, from the show's inception in September 1998 until it ended just over two years later. She also appeared in a one-off special which aired in October 2006. From 2000 to 2011 Johnston starred in the television series Waking the Dead, in which she played the role of psychological profiler Grace Foley, alongside Trevor Eve.

In 2004, she appeared in one episode of the series, Who Do You Think You Are?, in which she traced her family tree.^[5] She starred in Jennifer Saunders's comedy drama Jam & Jerusalem on BBC One, alongside Joanna Lumley, Maggie Steed and David Mitchell. The first series aired in 2006, the second series began on 1 January 2008 and the third in August 2009. In late 2008, she played Affery Flintwinch in the BBC adaptation of Little Dorrit.

In May 2008 it was confirmed Johnston would return as Barbara Royle for another episode of The Royle Family, which aired on Christmas Day 2008, on BBC One.^[6] The show returned for further Christmas specials in 2009, 2010 and 2012.

Johnston shared a role with Billie Piper in the TV adaptation of A Passionate Woman which aired on BBC One on 11 April 2010.

On 2 April 2012, Coronation Street series producer Phil Collinson announced Johnston had joined the soap opera as Gloria, the mother of Stella Price (played by Michelle Collins). She made her first screen appearance on 5 September 2012.^[7] It was announced in June 2013 that Johnston will leave the soap opera in early to mid 2014 after already filming her final scenes to pursue other acting roles.^[8]

Personal life

Johnston has campaigned on behalf of the Labour Party and has been a long-time gay rights campaigner.^[9] She is a supporter of Liverpool F.C. and Warrington RLFC.

Despite playing the role of heavy smoker Barbara in The Royle Family, Johnston gave up in 1978, but had to smoke low-tar cigarettes whilst playing the role; however, she is now completely anti-smoking.^[10]

Johnston was appointed OBE in the 2009 Birthday Honours.^[11]

In November 2010, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by University of Chester at Chester Cathedral.^[12]

She has one son Joel, from her previous marriage to David Pammenter.^[13] She has one grandchild.^[14]

In 1989 Johnston, assisted by Lesley Thomson, published her first book, a memoir titled Hold on to the Messy Times. In 2011, she published another memoir titled Things I Couldn't Tell My Mother.

In 1970, Johnston was sexually attacked at the age of 27 which led to her storyline in Brookside as Sheila Grant where she was raped.^[15]

In 1967, after her marriage to first husband Neil, she became pregnant at the age of 24. She suffered a miscarriage shortly after.^[16]

In her autobiography, Things I Couldn't Tell My Mother, she was originally going to be called Margaret Jane Wright, after her mother and grandmother, but her father thought that it would be best to call her Susan. She takes the surname Johnston, from her first marriage to Neil.

Selected television and film roles

• Coronation Street (1980)
• Brookside (1982–1990)
• Goodbye Cruel World (1992)
• Luv (1993)
• Medics (1992 -1995)
• Brassed Off (1996)
• Face (1997)
• Crime Traveller (1997)
• Uncle Silas (2000–2002, 2003)
• The Royle Family (1998–2000, 2006, 2008–; all episodes)
• Waking the Dead (2000–2011)
• New Year's Day (2001)
• Imagine Me & You (2005)
• Jam & Jerusalem (2006–2009)
• The Turn of the Screw (2009)
• Sue Johnston's Shangri-La (2009)
• A Passionate Woman (2010)
• 500 Miles North (2011)
• Sugartown (2011)
• Someone's Daughter, Someone's Son- Narrator (2011)
• Lapland – Eileen Lewis (2011—2013)
• Gates – Miss Hunter (2012)
• Coronation Street – Gloria Price – (2012–14)

References

External links

• Sue Johnston at the Internet Movie Database