Lucy Cohu

Lucy Ann Cohu (born 2 October 1968) is an English stage and film actress, known for portraying Princess Margaret in The Queen's Sister, Evelyn Brogan in Cape Wrath and Alice Carter in Torchwood: Children of Earth.

Lucy Cohu
Born	Lucy Ann Cohu 2 October 1968 Swindon, Wiltshire, England
Nationality	British
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1991–present
Spouse(s)	Corey Johnson ​ ​ (m. 1994; div. 2005)​
Children	1

Background

Lucy Ann Cohu was born in Wiltshire in 1968. She attended a boarding school, Stamford High School, as a child, and went on to train at the Central School of Speech and Drama.[1] Cohu said that, despite her family's strong military background, her parents were entirely supportive of her desire to be an actress. Cohu lives in Kensal Green in Brent, London.[2]

Personal life

Cohu was married to the actor Corey Johnson, but later divorced.[3]

Television and film work

Before she made a living from acting she used to perform for children's parties. She has been quoted as saying that had she not found success as an actress she would have gone into children's nursing.[2]

Cohu's first acting job after graduating from drama school was at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, in a production of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. She made her television debut in an episode of Casualty.[2] She went on to work extensively in television, including playing the role Major Jessica Bailey in the popular ITV show Soldier Soldier followed by many parts in British television. In 2005 she portrayed Princess Margaret in the semi-fictional version of her life, The Queen's Sister, for Channel 4, for which she was nominated for Emmy and BAFTA awards. She was widely praised for the role; for example, Variety disliked the "somewhat tawdry biopic", but said that "Cohu makes it all worth watching".[4] Cohu herself said she played Margaret like a proper woman with an insatiable and tremendous energy for life: previous images in her mind had been of a bloated and sick elderly princess confined to a wheelchair. She hoped the production hadn't offended anyone as she really liked the Queen.[5]

Cohu has also appeared in Cape Wrath, Ballet Shoes, as Theo Danes,[6] and Torchwood: Children of Earth, as Alice Carter, the daughter of Captain Jack Harkness.

Cohu has also appeared in several films, including Gosford Park and Becoming Jane.

She plays Madame Maigret in the ITV television series Maigret starring Rowan Atkinson.

Theatre work

After an eight-year hiatus from the stage, Cohu starred in a revival of Speaking in Tongues at the Duke of York's Theatre, opposite John Simm, Ian Hart and Kerry Fox.[7] Cohu received positive reviews for this performance.[8] In February 2010 she began a five-week run in a production of An Enemy of the People at the Crucible Theatre, starring alongside Sir Antony Sher as Katrina Stockmann, and later appeared in Arthur Miller's Broken Glass at the Tricycle Theatre.

Awards

In November 2008 Cohu won an international Emmy award for Best Actress for her role in the true-life drama Forgiven.[9]

Filmography

Television

Year	Show	Role	Notes
1991	Casualty	Theresa Johnson	One episode: "Beggars Can't Be Choosers"
1992	The Good Guys	Lucy Howells	One episode: "Relative Values"
	Sam Saturday	Jill Connor	One episode: "On the Other Hand"
1993	Poirot: The Chocolate Box	Marianne Deroulard
1994	A Very Open Prison	Reporter
	The Dwelling Place	Isabelle Fischel	Three episodes: Episode 1.1, Episode 1.2, Episode 1.3
1995	Loving	Violet
	Pie in the Sky	Miss Watson	One episode: "Swan in His Pride"
1996	The Ruth Rendell Mysteries	Magdelene Heller	Two episodes: "The Secret House of Death: Part 1", "The Secret House of Death: Part 2"
1997	Peak Practice	Gina Johnson	Three episodes: "State of Mind", "Running to Hide", "Borrowed Time"
	Rebecca	Rebecca de Winter
	Casualty	Jayne Bazeley	Five episodes
	Queen: Made in Heaven	Woman
	Soldier Soldier	Major Jessica Bailey	Seven episodes
1998	Wycliffe	Sophie Cattran	One episode: "Standing Stone"
1999	RKO 281	Dolores del Río	Uncredited
2000	Reach for the Moon	Amelia Marchant	Six episodes
2002	In Deep	Elinor	Two episodes: "Blood Loss: Part 1", "Blood Loss: Part 2"
	The Real Jane Austen	Cassandra Austen
2003	Red Cap	Megan Rhodes	One episode: "Cold War"
	Sweet Medicine	Anna Winterson	Five episodes
2004	The Bill	Philippa Manson	Nine episodes (2004–2005)
2005	The Queen's Sister	Princess Margaret
2006	Bombshell	Valerie Welling
	Coup!	Amanda Mann
2007	Cape Wrath	Evelyn Brogan
	Forgiven	Liz	Won 2008 International Emmy award for Best Actress
	Ballet Shoes	Thea Dane
2008	Einstein and Eddington	Mileva Einstein
2009	Torchwood: Children of Earth	Alice Carter
	Marple: A Pocket Full of Rye	Pat Fortescue
	Murderland	Sally
2010	Silent Witness	Rebecca Connelly	Two episodes: "Intent: Part 1", "Intent: Part 2"
	Midsomer Murders	Jenny Russell	One episode: "The Sword of Guillaume"
2012	Lewis	Marion Hammond	One episode: "Fearful Symmetry" (Series 6)
2012, 2016	Ripper Street	Deborah Goren
2013	Atlantis	Circe	Two episodes: "Songs of Siren", "Touched by the Gods (Part 1)"
2015	Broadchurch	Tess Henchard
2013	Inspector George Gently	Margaret Turner	(Series 6)
2016	Death in Paradise	Caroline Bamber	Episode 5.2
2016–17	Maigret	Madame Maigret	Four episodes: Maigret Sets a Trap, Maigret's Dead Man, Maigret's Night at the Crossroads and Maigret in Montmartre
2019	Summer of Rockets	Miriam Petrukhin	6 episodes
2020	COBRA	Rachel Sutherland	Series regular

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1992	Pressing Engagement
2001	Gosford Park	Lottie
2007	Becoming Jane	Eliza De Feuillide
2011	The Awakening	Constance Strickland
2014	The Inbetweeners 2	Nikki
2016	Maigret's Dead Man	Mme. Maigret
2016	Maigret Sets a Trap	Mme. Maigret

References

1. Jackson, Alan (10 January 2009). "I didn't get where I am today without... Lucy Cohu, 38, actress". The Times. London. Retrieved 8 July 2009.
2. Anna (March 2006). "Brent people: A royal performance – Lucy Cohu". The Brent Magazine, Issue 52. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 8 July 2009.
3. "I still pine for my lost love:interview Lucy Cohu : The Secret House of Death", The Mirror, 15 March 1996
4. Lowry, Brian (1 March 2006). "The Queen's Sister". Variety.
5. Davies, Hugh (19 August 2005). "Channel 4's shocking portrayal of the life of Princess Margaret". The Daily Telegraph. London.
6. All-star cast dance onto BBC One in Ballet Shoes BBC Press Office. 2007-08-11,
7. "Award-winner Cohu joins Speaking in Tongues". OfficialLondonTheatre.com. 16 July 2009. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
8. Spencer, Charles (29 September 2009). "Speaking in Tongues at Duke of York's Theatre, review". The Daily Telegraph. London.
9. "British talent on a roll at Emmys". Metro. 25 November 2008. Retrieved 8 July 2009.

External links

• Lucy Cohu at IMDb