Abigail Lucy Cruttenden (born 23 March 1968)[citation needed] is an English actress.
Abigail Cruttenden | |
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Born | Abigail Lucy Cruttenden (1968-03-23) 23 March 1968 (age 54) Richmond, London,[citation needed] England |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1980–present |
Spouses |
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Children | 2 |
Relatives | Hal Cruttenden (brother) |
Cruttenden played opposite Sean Bean as his character Richard Sharpe's wife Jane in several episodes of the TV series Sharpe. In 2007, Cruttenden joined the cast from the first series of the ITV comedy series Benidorm, playing the character of Kate Weedon. She has appeared in the sitcom Not Going Out as Anna since 2014.
Cruttenden lives in East Sheen, south-west London.[1] She was first married to the actor Sean Bean, who she met on the set of his TV series Sharpe, from 1997 to 2000, but since 2003 she has been married to Jonathan R Fraser.
She comes from a family with history in the acting industry. Her grandmother, Cynthia Coatts (1915-2013) founded the Rosslyn School of Dance and Drama in London,[2] while her mother, Julia Cruttenden (1938-2013), ran the stage make-up school Greasepaint in London.[3] Her father Neville (1940-1990) was an advertising executive who also indulged in amateur theatrics before deciding to become a professional actor at 49.[4][5] Her brother is Hal Cruttenden, a stand-up comedian, while she has an older sister Hannah, who works in journalism.[6]
Cruttenden started her acting career when she was 12, appearing in the BBC2 Playhouse episode Elizabeth Alone in 1981. She gained significant notice in only her second screen role in the critically acclaimed TV film P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang, playing the object of affection to a lovesick schoolboy in the coming of age drama, which was written by Jack Rosenthal. As she recalled in a newspaper interview in 1996, she didn't realize she would have to kiss co star John Albasiny towards the film's climax. "I was 14 and painfully shy, like my character. I vividly remember them saying we had to kiss at the end. I was completely thrown because it wasn't in the script. Tears welled in my eyes and I mumbled "All right then." But I had never kissed anyone before, ever. It was all rather traumatic."[7]
She continued to have regular acting work throughout her teenage years, including a regular role in the TV sitcom Mog (1985-86), the TV Aids drama Intimate Contact (1987) and The StoryTeller episode "Hans My Hedgehog" in 1987. Despite coming from a family involved in the acting industry, her parents were keen for her to concentrate more on her schooling. But Cruttenden was now thoroughly committed to acting, and when she was offered the stage role in Romeo and Juliet halfway through sitting for the last two of her four A levels she jumped at the chance. "I promised that I would go back and sit them, but I never did," she admitted afterwards.[8]
In 1990 she suffered the death of her father Neville, who died suddenly of a stomach haemorrhage, aged 50. He had only left his job as an advertising executive the year before to become a professional actor, and had had two TV roles in the pipeline before his sudden death.[9] Cruttenden immersed herself into her acting work, taking roles in TV shows TECX, Coasting and Centrepoint (all 1990), and appearing in the detective series Van Der Valk and The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes in 1991.
After a break from TV to do more theatre work, she appeared on screen for the first time in 3 years in the TV period comedy drama Love on a Branch Line in 1994, a role which required her to appear nude. Then in 1996 she was cast as Jane Gibbons in the TV series Sharpe as the love interest and eventual wife of Richard Sharpe, played by Sean Bean. She became a regular in the cast, and in a case of life imitating art she and Bean began a relationship together. Unfortunately Bean was already married to 2nd wife Melanie Hill who filed for divorce.[10] A few months later on 22 November 1997 Cruttenden and Bean were married at Hendon Registry Office.[11] The couple had a daughter together in 1999, but the following year the pair divorced.
In 2003 she married for a 2nd time to Jonathan R Fraser. She continued to find regular work in the theatre and on TV, with roles in Doctors and Nurses (2004) and The Robinsons (2005), but it wasn't until she was cast in the TV sitcom Benidorm in 2007 that she gained another hit show. She appeared in the first 3 series until she left the show in 2009.
There was a dearth of screen roles for the next 5 years, with only an appearance in an episode of the TV sitcom The Royal Bodyguard in 2012 during this time. In 2013 Cruttenden suffered a double family bereavement. On March 16th she lost her grandmother Cynthia Coatts, who died at the age of 97. Then on December 14th she lost her mother Julia after a long battle with a brain tumour. Despite this, the following year she won a part in the TV sitcom Not Going Out, playing the role of Anna, Hugh Dennis' wife and snobby neighbour to Lee and Lucy. This was another significant role for her, and she has been a regular on the show since 2014.
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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1981 | BBC2 Playhouse | Young Elizabeth | Episode: Elizabeth Alone |
1983 | Storyboard | Emma | Episode: Lytton's Diary |
1985-1986 | Mog | Miranda | |
1987 | The Storyteller | The Princess | Episode: "Hans My Hedgehog" |
Intimate Contact | Nell Gregory | ||
1988 | The Bell-Run | Gudrun Glover | TV Movie |
1989 | Agatha Christie's Poirot | Geraldine Oglander | |
1990 | Coasting | Emma Conway | Episode: "Illuminations" |
Centrepoint | Saskia | TV Mini Series | |
TECX | Marijke Van Der Broeke | Episode: Rock a Buy Baby | |
1991 | Van der Valk | Else | Episode: A Sudden Silence |
The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes | Miss Violet Merville | Episode: The Illustrious Client | |
1994 | Performance | Clara Browning | Episode: A Message for Posterity |
Love on a Branch Line | Belinda Flamborough | ||
1996 | Sharpe's Regiment | Jane Gibbons | |
Sharpe's Siege | Jane Sharpe née Gibbons | ||
Sharpe's Mission | Jane Sharpe | ||
1997 | Jane Eyre | Blanche Ingram | TV film adaptation |
Sharpe's Revenge | Jane Sharpe | ||
Sharpe's Justice | Jane Sharpe | ||
Sharpe's Waterloo | Jane Sharpe | ||
The Ruth Rendell Mysteries | Annabel Lynes | Episode: Bribery & Corruption | |
Into the Blue | Heather Mallender | ||
1998 | The Canterbury Tales | Emily | Voice |
2000 | Anna Karenina | Betsy | "Part 1", "Part 3" |
Monarch of the Glen | Lizzie MacDonald | Episodes "1.5", "1.8" | |
2002 | Helen West | Emily Eliot | Episode: A Clear Conscience |
2003 | Rosemary & Thyme | Patsy Connolly | Episode: "Arabica and the Early Spider" |
2004 | Doctors and Nurses | Lucy Potter | 6 episodes |
2005 | The Robinsons | Vicky Robinson | Episode: "1.6" |
2007–2009 | Benidorm | Kate Weedon | Regular role, 17 episodes (series 1–3) |
2007 | Foyle's War | Evelyn Richards | Episode: "Casualties of War" |
The Commander | Judy Thornton | Episode: The Devil You Know | |
Sex, the City and Me | Ali | TV Movie | |
2008 | Teenage Kicks | Kate | Episode: "Sex" |
2009 | The Green Green Grass | Doctor | Episode: "I Done It My Way" |
2012 | The Royal Bodyguard | Mary Town-Jones | Episode: The Perils of Attraction |
2014–present | Not Going Out | Anna | Regular role |
2015 | The Outcast | Anne Rawlins | TV Mini Series |
Citizen Khan | Virginia | Episode: "Farley Manor" | |
2016 | Fresh Meat | Oregon's Mother | Episode: "4.6" |
2017 | Midsomer Murders | Nell Fryer | Episode: "Death by Persuasion" |
Casualty | Sadie Holm | Episode: "32.11" | |
2020 | Housebound | Abigail | Episode: "1.10" |
2021 | Face It | Abbey | TV Mini Series |
Year | Title | Role |
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1982 | P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang | Ann Lawton[12] |
1998 | Hideous Kinky | Charlotte |
2001 | Charlotte Gray | Daisy |
Sword of Honour [13] | Kerstie Kilbannock | |
2014 | The Theory of Everything | Isobel Hawking |
2015 | The Batsman and the Ballerina | Jane |
2016 | Denial | Janine Stone |
2018 | Await Further Instructions | Beth |
2020 | That Girl, Peugeot | Sandra |
2021 | Munich – The Edge of War | Anne Chamberlain |
Year | Title | Role |
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2017 | Alone | Ellie |
General | |
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National libraries |