Kathy Burke facts for kids

Katherine Lucy Bridget Burke (born 13 June 1964) is a well-known English actress and comedian. She is famous for her funny roles in TV shows and films. Kathy has appeared in many popular sketch shows, like French and Saunders. She also played Magda in the TV comedy Absolutely Fabulous.

Kathy Burke worked a lot with fellow comedian Harry Enfield. She played the funny character Linda La Hughes in the BBC sitcom Gimme Gimme Gimme. For this role, she won a British Comedy Award. She was also nominated for two BAFTA awards.

Kathy Burke started her film career in 1982 with the drama Scrubbers. She won the Best Actress award at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival for her role in the film Nil by Mouth. She was also nominated for a BAFTA award for this role. Kathy has also acted in films like Elizabeth and Kevin & Perry Go Large. In recent years, she has also made documentaries for Channel 4.

Early Life and Beginnings

Kathy Burke was born in London, England, on 13 June 1964. She grew up in Islington, North London. Her parents were Paddy and Bridget. Kathy has two older brothers. Her mother passed away when Kathy was only two years old. Later, Kathy studied acting at the Anna Scher Theatre School in Islington.

Acting Career Highlights

Kathy Burke's first acting job was in the 1982 film Scrubbers. This film was about a young offenders' institute for girls. It featured other well-known actors like Robbie Coltrane and Miriam Margolyes.

She became known to TV audiences through smaller roles in sketches. She often worked with famous comedians like Harry Enfield, Dawn French, and Jennifer Saunders. Kathy created funny characters like 'Tina Bishop' and 'Perry the Pre-pubescent Schoolboy'. These characters later became very popular in Harry Enfield's shows.

Kathy also joined in on two Comic Relief charity songs. She was part of a Bananarama parody band called Lananeeneenoonoo in 1989. Later, in 1997, she was in a Spice Girls look-alike band called the Sugar Lumps.

In 1998, Kathy played a serious role as Queen Mary Tudor in the film Elizabeth. This showed her talent for both comedy and drama.

In 1994, Kathy won the Royal Television Society Award for Best Actress. This was for her role as Martha in the BBC TV series Mr. Wroe's Virgins.

Her role in the drama Nil by Mouth earned her the Best Actress award at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival. She was so surprised she almost didn't go to the ceremony! This film also led to a BAFTA nomination for Best Actress.

From 1999 to 2001, she starred as Linda La Hughes in the BBC TV series Gimme Gimme Gimme. She helped create this show with writer Jonathan Harvey. For this role, she won a British Comedy Award and was nominated for two BAFTA TV Awards. In 2000, she also played Perry in the comedy film Kevin & Perry Go Large.

Directing and Recent Work

Around 2001, Kathy Burke started to focus more on directing for the theatre. She found this to be a true passion. She said she didn't feel the same excitement for acting anymore. However, she has still done some voiceover work. She was the voice of Rita's mum in the animated film Flushed Away (2006).

In 1990, Kathy wrote and directed a play called Mr Thomas. It was later shown on Channel 4.

In 2009, Kathy made her TV directing debut with the BBC Three sketch show Horne & Corden.

She also wrote and appeared in a short film called "Better Than Christmas" for Sky 1's Little Crackers. This led to her writing a four-part TV series called "Walking and Talking" in 2012. This series was based on her own teenage years.

In 2011, Kathy played Connie Sachs in the film Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. She was recognized for her performance as a supporting actress.

In 2015, she appeared in the Peter Pan prequel film Pan as Mother Barnabas.

More recently, Kathy Burke has presented a series of documentaries for Channel 4. These include Kathy Burke's All Woman (2019), Kathy Burke: Money Talks (2021), and Kathy Burke: Growing Up (2023). These shows explore different topics related to modern life.

In 2021, she was a guest judge on RuPaul's Drag Race UK. In 2022, Kathy directed the ITV murder mystery series Holding.

Kathy also started a podcast in 2022 called Where There's a Will, There's a Wake. In this podcast, she talks to guests about how they imagine they will die and what they want for their funerals. Famous guests have included Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French.

Filmography

Films She's Been In

TV Shows She's Been In

Theatre Work

As an Actress

As a Director

Awards and Recognition

See also

In Spanish: Kathy Burke para niños