Marjorie Yates

Marjorie Yates
Born 13 April 1941
Birmingham, Warwickshire, England, UK
Occupation Actress
Years active 1970–present
Spouse(s) Michael Freeman (divorced)

Marjorie Yates (born 13 April 1941) is a British actress most famous for her role as Carol Fisher in the Channel 4 drama Shameless.

Yates was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, and studied at the Bournville College of Art.[1] An early TV role was in Colin Welland's 1972 BBC1 Play for Today Kisses At Fifty alongside Bill Maynard, followed in 1973 with a role in Putting on the Agony in which she starred as 'Marilyn'. The role was followed throughout the 1970s with minor parts in a number of television productions including Z-Cars in 1974 and The Sweeney in 1976. She continued her acting career on stage and television throughout the 1980s and 1990s including minor parts in Great Expectations, Boon, The Ruth Rendell Mysteries, Village Hall, Crown Court and Wycliffe and a leading role in A Very British Coup. During this period, she landed the female lead in the Peter Sellers film The Optimists of Nine Elms (1973), and her other films included Legend of the Werewolf (1975), The Glitterball (1977) and The Black Panther (1977) as the wife of Donald Neilson. She also starred alongside David Swift in "Couples", a long running, twice weekly day time drama on UK ITV about a marriage guidance counselling service.

In 1992 Yates appeared in the Terence Davies film The Long Day Closes.[2]

In 2001, Yates appeared on stage in London's West End in Noël Coward's "Star Quality", playing opposite Penelope Keith and Una Stubbs.

Yates has had parts in Where the Heart Is in 1997 and Heartbeat in 2000. She has also appeared in The Bill in 1990, 1996 and twice in 2002.[3]

Yates won an initially small role in Channel 4 drama Shameless playing the role of Carol Fisher, mother of Veronica in 2004, originally for one episode. After a minor role in No Angels Marjorie was invited back to Shameless on a permanent basis. She starred as Carol from series 2 in December 2004 to the end of series 4 in February 2007.[4] She left the show after three series, when it was decided to axe the Fishers from the show in 2006, following the departure of Maxine Peake.[5] She departed off screen and her character's absence was explained very briefly.

Yates has since been starring in theatre productions in Britain.[6]

In July 2008 she appeared in the BBC series Casualty as Val Barnaby in the episode "The things we do for..."[7]

Yates was married for a time to Michael Freeman, a former parliamentary candidate for the Labour Party in Finchley and a councillor on Barnet Council. They had two children, but divorced in the 1980s.

In January 2010 it was revealed Marjorie would once again team up with ex-Shameless co-star Maxine Peake in the film Edge. Filming began that same month.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Baker, Harry (23 June 2007). "Accent her spur to success". Birmingham Evening Mail; Trinity Mirror (Midlands, UK). p. 24.
  2. ↑ "The Long Day Closes"
  3. ↑ "The Bill" 055 (2002)
  4. ↑ Marjorie Yates at the Internet Movie Database
  5. ↑ Saturday, 20 May 2006, 11:07 BST (20 May 2006). "Television - News - Maxine Peake quits 'Shameless'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  6. ↑ "Edward Albee's ''Three Tall Women'' | Reviews". Oxford Playhouse. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  7. ↑ "Casualty cast list @ BBC One"
  8. ↑ "Edge Screenplay". Screendaily.com. 7 January 2010. Retrieved 23 October 2010.

External links