Sarah Lancashire

Her father, Geoffrey Lancashire (1933–2004), was a television scriptwriter for Coronation Street who also wrote situation comedies such as The Cuckoo Waltz.

Her mother, Hilda, worked as Geoffrey's personal assistant.

She has three brothers, one older, one younger and a twin.

Sarah-Jane Abigail Lancashire (born 10 October 1964) is an English actress.

Known for her work in television and theatre, she has received numerous accolades over a career spanning four decades, including two British Academy Television Awards and a nomination for an Olivier Award.

Sarah-Jane Abigail Lancashire was born on 10 October 1964 in Oldham, Lancashire.

Lancashire was educated at Oldham Hulme Grammar School between 1976 and 1981.

At the age of 17 she started to suffer clinical depression.

Lancashire has stated she was never driven by the ideas of fame and status.

Her background had inspired an initial interest in working behind the scenes in television.

She did not give serious thought to the performing arts until the age of 18.

After winning a place at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Lancashire realised that acting was for her.

In the late 1980s, she also appeared in an episode of the children's anthology series Dramarama, and a single episode of the ITV sitcom Watching.

Lancashire graduated from drama school in 1986 and began her career in local theatre.

She graduated in 1986, describing her time as a student there as "tremendous" but "seriously hard work and quite intimidating".

After rejection from several repertory theatre companies, Lancashire was given her first acting role by Howard Lloyd-Lewis, artistic director of the Manchester Library Theatre Company, which provided her with an Equity Card.

Lancashire performed two plays with the company, Pacific Overtures and The Beauty Game, which she has stated formed "the start of my career as an actor".

She found her first professional acting experience "terrifying" as a result of the live audiences, recalling that, "because I wore a bathing costume in some of the scenes, I got heckled!"

She also realised that taking risks or underperforming could have had consequences for her acting career.

Her role as Denise in The Beauty Game earned her a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards.

During her early career, Lancashire found herself with large breaks between theatre appearances.

To support herself financially, she worked as a drama tutor for five years at Salford University alongside her acting work.

Discussing Lancashire's time as a visiting lecturer in Acting and Characterisation, Professor Ron Cook, Head of the University's School of Media, Music and Performance, said Lancashire made a "significant impact" in the formative stages of the drama department at the University and had also directed student productions.

In 1987, Lancashire made a brief appearance in Coronation Street as Wendy Farmer, a prospective lodger of series regular Jack Duckworth (Bill Tarmey).

On stage, she has starred in West End productions of Blood Brothers (1990), Guys and Dolls (2005-2006), and Betty Blue Eyes (2011).

She is married and has three children.

In 1990, Lancashire received her "big break" – the role of Linda in a production of Willy Russell's Blood Brothers at the Albery Theatre.

Although she thoroughly enjoyed performing in London's West End, she found it difficult to reconcile the experience with raising two young children in Manchester.

Two weeks after finishing her run in Blood Brothers, Lancashire auditioned for the role of new Coronation Street character Raquel Wolstenhulme, a colleague of supermarket employee Norman "Curly" Watts (Kevin Kennedy).

Lancashire joined on a three-month contract, continuing to teach at Salford University for another year.

She went on to play regular characters on Coronation Street (1991–1996, 2000), Where the Heart Is (1997–1999), and Clocking Off (2000).

Raquel first appeared on 25 January 1991 and departed on 10 May; having moved to London to try to launch a modelling career.

Lancashire had initially been reserved about Raquel's characterisation, observing her "acidic side" could have rendered her the "street bitch" had it been embellished.

She took care to highlight Raquel's potential, playing against what had been written to make her more comic, evoking audience sympathy.

Between 26 September and 19 October 1991, Lancashire played the title role in an adaption of Educating Rita at the Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch.

Following Raquel's reintroduction on 30 December 1991, Lancashire committed herself to Coronation Street full-time.

In July 2000, she signed a two-year golden handcuffs contract with the ITV network, making her the UK's highest-paid television actress at that time.

Subsequent roles included Cherished (2005), Oliver Twist (2007), Lark Rise to Candleford (2008–2011), and Five Daughters (2010).

Since the 2010s, Lancashire has garnered critical acclaim for her roles in series such as The Paradise (2012), Last Tango in Halifax (2012–2020), Happy Valley (2014–2023), Kiri (2018), and Julia (2022–2023).

She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2017 for services to drama.