Ashley Jensen facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ashley Jensen
Jensen in 2016
Born	(1969-08-11) 11 August 1969 (age 55) Annan, Dumfriesshire, Scotland
Occupation	Actress and narrator
Years active	1988–present
Spouse(s)	Terence Beesley ​ ​ (m. 2007; died 2017)​ Kenny Doughty ​ (m. 2023)​
Children	1

Ashley Jensen (born 11 August 1969) is a Scottish actress. She is famous for her roles in popular TV shows. These include Maggie Jacobs in Extras, Christina McKinney in Ugly Betty, and Agatha Raisin in Agatha Raisin. More recently, she joined the cast of Shetland as DI Ruth Calder.

Her Acting Journey

Ashley Jensen studied drama at Edinburgh’s Queen Margaret University. She started her acting career in the early 1990s.

Early TV Roles

One of her first big TV roles was in the 1993 BBC drama Down Among the Big Boys. She played Clare Donnelly. In 1994, she appeared in the comedy May to December. She also played Heather in Roughnecks, a show about workers on an North Sea oil platform. Later, she had a small part in Dangerfield. She also appeared as Fiona Morris in the soap opera EastEnders.

Becoming Well-Known

Ashley Jensen became very well-known for her role as Maggie Jacobs in Extras. She starred alongside Ricky Gervais in this BBC Two/HBO show. For her work on Extras, she won awards like Best Television Comedy Actress. She was also nominated for a BAFTA award and an Emmy Award.

In 2006, she appeared in the drama series Eleventh Hour. She also played Steve Coogan's agent in the film A Cock and Bull Story. In 2007, she narrated the film Taking Liberties.

Jensen at the 60th Annual Emmy Awards, 21 September 2008

Moving to American TV

In 2006, Ashley got a big role in American television. She played Christina McKinney in the ABC series Ugly Betty. Her character was originally planned to be American. However, the show's creators liked Ashley's Scottish accent. So, they changed Christina's nationality to Scottish.

The production of Ugly Betty moved from Los Angeles to New York. This meant Ashley had to leave the show in 2009. But she did return for a guest appearance in 2010.

More Recent Work

In 2009, Ashley starred in No Holds Bard, a BBC Scotland comedy. She is also the narrator for Channel 4's Embarrassing Illnesses and Embarrassing Bodies. She has narrated adverts for the Bank of Scotland and Persil detergent. From 2009 to 2010, she was in the sitcom Accidentally on Purpose. She also starred in the 2009 BBC comedy Nativity! as Jennifer Lore.

In 2011, she voiced Nanette the frog in the animated movie Gnomeo & Juliet. She also appeared in the ITV drama The Reckoning. In 2012, she was a guest on the BBC cooking show Saturday Kitchen.

In 2014, Ashley played the main character in Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death. This was a TV film for Sky1. She continued this role in an eight-part series that started in 2016.

From 2015 to 2019, Ashley acted in Catastrophe, a comedy series. She also worked with Susan Calman in the BBC Radio 4 comedy Sisters.

In 2017, she starred in Love, Lies & Records, a BBC TV series. In 2019, Ashley worked with Ricky Gervais again in the Netflix series After Life. She was in all three series of the show. In April 2019, she played Debbie Dorell in the second series of Trust Me. Also in 2019, she voiced Jacqueline in Lady and the Tramp.

In 2022, it was announced that Ashley would be the new lead in the BBC drama Shetland. She also appeared in the 2022 Christmas film Christmas On Mistletoe Farm for Netflix. This project reunited her with Nativity! director Debbie Isitt.

Her Life

Ashley Jensen has one son. She had him with her first husband, actor Terence Beesley. They met in 1999 while working on a play called King Lear. Her husband passed away in November 2017.

In 2023, Ashley married actor Kenny Doughty.

Filmography

See Also

In Spanish: Ashley Jensen para niños