fiction.wikisort.org - Actor

Michelle Danielle Collins (born 28 May 1962)[1] is an English actress and TV presenter, best known for her roles in the British soap operas EastEnders and Coronation Street.

Michelle Collins
Collins in 2006
Born	Michelle Danielle Collins (1962-05-28) 28 May 1962 (age 60) Hackney, London, England
Occupation	Actress, television presenter
Known for	Cindy Beale in EastEnders (1988–1990, 1992–1998) Nicki Matthews in Sunburn (1999–2000) Abby Wallace in Two Thousand Acres of Sky (2001–2003) Stella Price in Coronation Street (2011–2014)
Spouse	Mike Davidson ​ (m. 2022)​
Partner	Fabrizio Tassalini (1995–1998)
Children	1

Collins played Cindy Beale in the BBC soap EastEnders from 1988 to 1998, with a two-year break between 1990 and 1992. She played Stella Price in the ITV soap Coronation Street from 2011 to 2014. Her other notable TV roles include the BBC dramas Real Women (1998–1999), Sunburn (1999–2000) and Two Thousand Acres of Sky (2001–2003).

Early life and education

Collins was born at Hackney South East Hospital in Hackney, east London, to a Welsh mother, Mary, and a father of English and Flemish heritage. [2] Her Flemish grandfather was Belgian from Antwerp and had emigrated to the UK in 1915 when aged five.[3] She and her elder sister Vicki were brought up by their mother Mary in Highbury, London.[1][4] When Collins was 14, her mother went back to university to obtain a law degree.[5] In the 1970s Collins was a member of the youth organisation the Woodcraft Folk, and visited Romania with the group.[6]

She trained at the Royal Court Activists and Cockpit Youth Theatre from the age of 14, and Kingsway Princeton College, where she studied drama and theatre at O/A-level.[7]

Career

Singing

After her exams Collins landed a role in Mikhail Bulgakov's The Crimson Island, directed by Lou Stein, at the Gate Theatre. Her career changed direction after performing in the 1978 video for the Squeeze song "Cool For Cats". The band spent 18 months touring the country, working with artists such as Marc Almond, Level 42, Altered Images and Kid Creole and the Coconuts.

Early acting career

When the band broke up in 1982, she went back into acting and with the help of her friend, the British actor Tim Roth, she successfully gained a part in a musical with Gary Hutton and Gary Shail known as H.M.V. Collins had also been in The Illustrated Mum by Jacqueline Wilson.

Collins's first TV appearance was with Gary Oldman in the BBC drama Morgan's Boy. Other TV credits included: two series of the sitcom Running Wild, where she played Ray Brooks daughter; a part in ITV drama The Bill; a Screen Two production Lucky Sunil, directed by Michael Caton Jones and a BBC play Pressures. She later appeared in three films: Personal Services, Empire State and Stephen Poliakoff's Hidden City. Collins appeared in an episode of the BBC's Bergerac (series 4) in 1985.

EastEnders

While she was filming the BBC play Pressures in 1988, Collins was spotted by EastEnders producer Julia Smith, who asked her to audition for the role of Cindy Beale, who was to feature in 11 episodes of the soap. The manipulative, reckless nature of her character was a hit with viewers so her contract was extended and the character became a major villain in the series. Cindy was the unfaithful wife of EastEnders stalwart Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt), between 1988 and 1998. During breaks from EastEnders she filmed the drama Real Women for the BBC, with Pauline Quirke and Frances Barber. On 14 November 2014, Collins reprised the role of Cindy for a short stint for Children in Need.[8]

After EastEnders

After leaving EastEnders in 1998 (when her character met an untimely demise offscreen), her career flourished with a series of drama roles. These include: two series of Real Women (BBC One); two series of Sunburn (BBC One), for which Collins sang the theme song (which was a no. 28 hit in the UK Singles Chart in 1999);[9] Daylight Robbery (ITV); The Sleeper (BBC One); Uprising (ITV): three series of Two Thousand Acres of Sky (BBC One):[10] the two-part series Perfect (ITV); Lloyd and the Hill (ITV) and Ella and the Mothers (BBC One). In 2003 Collins played Sarah Barton in Single.[11]

In 2003, Collins filmed the BBC drama Sea of Souls and then went on to star in a film for Granada/Channel 4 called The Illustrated Mum, which told the story of two girls coping with the unpredictable behaviour of their depressed, alcoholic mother. The film, written by Jacqueline Wilson, was based on the children's novel of the same name. It was screened to great acclaim over Christmas 2003 and won an Emmy Award and two BAFTAs.

In 2004, she starred in an episode of French and Saunders and also starred with fellow EastEnders actor Martin Kemp in the ITV drama Can't Buy Me Love, which was watched by nearly eight million viewers. The programme was inspired by the real-life story of Howard Walmsley, who was jailed for fraud after pretending to win the lottery to keep his wife Donna (played by Collins) from leaving him. Their lives and marriage were subsequently turned upside down by the events that unfolded. In 2005, Collins starred in the ITV drama The Last Detective and in the BBC drama The Family Man, alongside ex-EastEnder Daniela Denby-Ashe, which aired in March 2006. She starred in the West End musical Daddy Cool, and while working during the night there shot sequences for a cameo in the short film Broken written and directed by Vicki Psarias, which went on to win the several international awards. She also featured in the film Don't Stop Dreaming, released in 2007. She left Daddy Cool in January 2007 to shoot the Doctor Who episode "42".[12]

On 2 July 2007, it was announced that Collins has been cast for the lead role of Karina Faith in new ITV drama series, Rock Rivals, produced by Shed Productions.[13] In 2009, Collins took part in the BBC Wales programme Coming Home about her Welsh family history. On 21 May 2009, it was rumoured that Collins had auditioned to star in US drama Desperate Housewives, but she did join the cast.[14][15][16]

In June 2010, it was announced that Collins would make a six-episode guest appearance as a patient's mother in Casualty.[17] In 2010, she also guest-starred in Romeo & Juliet at the Octagon Theatre, Bolton, playing the Nurse. From 7 April-7 May 2011, Collins starred as Sheila Grundy, Fred Dibnah's third wife, in The Demolition Man at Octagon Theatre, Bolton.

Coronation Street

In January 2011, a rumour was posted on Digital Spy that Collins was in talks to join EastEnders' main rivalling soap Coronation Street, after she allegedly met with soap's producer and close friend Phil Collinson.[18] Three months later it was confirmed Collins had joined the cast as Stella Price, new landlady of the Rovers Return pub, beating Lisa Maxwell for the role.[19] Her first episode aired on 16 June 2011 and gained a rating of 8.4 million.[20] It was announced on 22 August 2013 Collins had decided to leave Coronation Street.[21] In January 2014, Collins claimed she was "unhappy" over the lack of screen time for her and her character. Collins filmed her final scenes on 19 February 2014, and made her final appearance as Stella on 2 April 2014.[22]

After Coronation Street

Since leaving Coronation Street, Collins has had various guest roles in television dramas: Casualty as Samantha Kellman (2014), Death in Paradise as Annette Burgess (2015), and Midsomer Murders as Nadine Campbell (2016). In October 2019 Collins appeared in Casualty as Lorna Rowle/Hammond.

In 2016, Collins took part in the ITV reality series Bear Grylls: Mission Survive.2-1

Personal life

Collins has a daughter by ex-partner Fabrizio Tassalini, Maia Rose (born 29 September 1996).[23]

In 2014, Collins revealed that in 1998 – distraught by the end of her relationship with Tassalini and feeling career pressure – she attempted suicide while filming Sunburn in Cyprus. She took an overdose of sleeping pills but later woke up and asked her costar to take her to the hospital.[24]

After their split, Collins had an amicable relationship with Tassalini, who lived close by, and they raised their daughter together until he died in 2014.[5] In April 2022 Collins announced she was engaged to her partner of 10 years, Mike Davidson. They married in August.

In August 2014, Collins was one of 200 public figures to sign a letter to The Guardian in opposition to Scottish independence in the run-up to September's referendum on that issue.[25]

Collins is involved in charitable causes. She is an ambassador for Oxfam and has visited Brazil, South Africa and Armenia, promoting the need for the basic right to education.[26] She is also an ambassador for Ambitious about Autism and a patron for the Alexandra Wylie Tower Foundation.[27][28]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Note(s)
1987	Empire State	Emma	Supporting Role
1987	Personal Services	June	Supporting Role
1987	Hidden City	Applicant at Hairdressing Salon	Minor Role
1993	Shattered Family	Julie	Supporting Role
1996	Darkman III: Die Darkman Die	Nurse	Minor Role
2001	Lloyd & Hill	DI Judy Hill	Main Role
2003	The Night We Called It a Day	Mrs. Appleby	Supporting Role
2003	The Illustrated Mum	Marigold Westward	Main Role
2007	Don't Stop Dreaming	Jessica	Main Role
2021	Rise of the Footsoldier: Origins	Mandy Williams	Supporting Role

Television

Year	Title	Role	Note(s)
1984	Scene	Ria	Episode: "Good Neighbours"
1984	Morgan's Boy	Carol	Episode: #1.1
1985	Marjorie and Men	Debbie	2 episodes
1985	Bergerac	Trace	Episode: "Chrissie"
1986	The Bill	Sharon Brand	Episode: "Loan Shark"
1986	Gems	Pru Murphy	10 episodes
1987–1989	Running Wild	Stephanie Wild	All 13 episodes
1987	Full House	Abby	Episode: "The First Day of School"
1988	Screen Two	Daisy	Episode: "Lucky Sunil"
1988–1990, 1992–1998	EastEnders	Cindy Beale	Regular role; 576 episodes
1999–2000	Sunburn	Nicki Matthews	Main role; 14 episodes
1999–2000	Daylight Robbery	Kathy Lawrence	Main role
2001–2003	Two Thousand Acres of Sky	Abby Wallace	Main role
2002	Ella and the Mothers	Gina	Main role
2003	The Illustrated Mum	Marigold Westward	Main role
2003	Lloyd & Hill	DI Judy Hill	TV film
2004	French and Saunders	Regan Lear	Episode #6.4
2004	Sea of Souls	Katie Quinn	2 episodes
2005	The Last Detective	Maureen Fallon	Episode: "Willesden Confidential"
2006	The Family Man	Gillian	TV film
2007	Doctor Who	Kath McDonnell	Episode: "42"
2008	Rock Rivals	Karina Faith	8 episodes
2009	Hotel Babylon	Karen	Episode: #4.8
2010	Agatha Christie's Marple	Treadwell	Episode: “The Secret of Chimneys”
2010	Casualty	Camille Lewis	4 episodes
2011–2014	Coronation Street	Stella Price	Regular role; 447 episodes
2014	Casualty	Samantha Kellman	3 episodes
2014	Children in Need	Cindy Beale	EastEnders special
2015	Death in Paradise	Annette Burgess	Episode: “She Was Murdered Twice”
2015	Suntrap	Coco	Episode: “Casino”
2016	Midsomer Murders	Nadine Campbell	Episode: “The Incident at Cooper Hill”
2018	The Dumping Ground	Fiona Johnson	4 episodes
2019	Queens of Mystery	Electra Bliss	2 episodes "Death by Vinyl"
2019	Casualty	Lorna Rowle	Episode: #34.8

Guest appearances

• Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes (9 October 1999) – Contestant, as Chrissie Hynde
• The Paul O'Grady Show (1 December 2004, 30 March 2006, 25 November 2009) – Guest
• All Star Family Fortunes (13 September 2008) – Contestant
• As Seen on TV (30 July 2009) – Guest
• What Do Kids Know? (31 January 2010) – Guest team captain
• Loose Women (2010) – Panellist
• The Alan Titchmarsh Show (26 October 2010) – Guest
• Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (August 2011) – Contestant with William Roache
• Let's Do Lunch with Gino & Mel (30 August 2011, 16 July 2014) – Guest
• Celebrity Juice (13 October 2011) – Panellist
• The Chase: Celebrity Special (5 November 2011) – Contestant
• Paddy's 2011 Show and Telly (29 December 2011) – Contestant with Melanie Sykes
• 12 Again (7 June 2012) – Guest
• Show Me the Telly (26, 29 November 3, 5, 9, 12, 19 December 2013) – Panellist
• Catchphrase: Christmas Special (29 December 2013) – Contestant
• Weekend (26 April 2014) – Guest
• Saturday Kitchen (3 May 2014) – Guest
• This Morning (10 July 2015) – Guest
• Pointless (28 December 2019) - Contestant
• The Weakest Link (30 December 2021) - Contestant
• Garraway's good Stuff (19 june 2022) - Guest

Theatre Credits

Year	Title	Role	Note(s)
1990-1991	Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs	Snow White	Oxford Apollo
1991-1992	Aladdin	The Princess	Oxford Apollo
1994-1995	Jack and the Beanstalk	Jack	Hackney Empire
1996-1997	Dick Whittington	Alice Fitzwarren	Orchard Theatre, Dartford
2004	Rattle of a Simple Man	Cyreene	Harold Pinter Theatre
2004-2005	The Play What I Wrote	Various	UK Tour
2006-2007	Daddy Cool	Ma Baker	Shaftesbury Theatre
2008-2009	Cinderella	Wicked Stepmother	Bristol Hippodrome
2010	Calendar Girls	Cora	Phoenix Theatre; Various
2011	Romeo and Juliet	Nurse	Octagon Theatre, Bolton
2011	The Demolition Man	Sheila Grundy	Octagon Theatre, Bolton
2014	The Glass Supper	Wendy	Hampstead Theatre, London
2016	Chitty Chitty Bang Bang	Baroness Bombhurst	UK Tour
2016-2017	Aladdin	The Genie	Aylesbury Waterside
2017	A Dark Night in Dalston	Gina	Park Theatre, London
	Thoroughly Modern Millie	Mrs. Meers	UK Tour
2017-2018	Cinderella	Wicked Stepmother	Orchard Theatre, Dartford
2018-2019	Jack and the Beanstalk	Fairy Nuff	Crewe Lyceum
2019	My Dad’s Gap Year	Cath	Park Theatre, London
	How Love is Spelt	Marion	Southwark Playhouse
2019-2020	Sleeping Beauty	Carabosse	Wyvern Theatre, Swindon
2020	The Birthday Party	Meg	UK Tour
2021	Safe Sex	Marion	The Turbine Theatre, London
2021-2022	Sleeping Beauty	Nightshade	Poole Lighthouse Theatre
2022	Cluedo	Miss Scarlett	UK Tour

References

Published works

• Michelle Collins (2014). This Is Me. Michael O'Mara. ISBN 978-1782432326.

External links

• Michelle Collins at IMDb

---