Jill Halfpenny was born on 15 July 1975 and is an English actress who first garnered attention playing Nicola Dobson in the coming-of-age BBC drama series Byker Grove.
19 Facts About Jill Halfpenny
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Jill Halfpenny became more widely known for her roles as Rebecca Hopkins on the ITV soap opera Coronation Street, Kate Mitchell on the BBC soap opera EastEnders, and Izzie Redpath in Waterloo Road.
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Jill Halfpenny won the second series of the television dance contest Strictly Come Dancing in 2004.
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Jill Halfpenny began her professional career in 1989 when she joined the cast of the Newcastle-based children's drama series Byker Grove, playing the part of Nicola Dobson until 1992.
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In December 2002, Jill Halfpenny took on the role of Kate Mitchell on BBC One's EastEnders.
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Between October and December 2004, Jill Halfpenny competed in the second series of the celebrity ballroom dancing contest Strictly Come Dancing, where she was paired with professional dancer Darren Bennett.
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Jill Halfpenny earned critical praise for her performance in The Bodies, a play adapted from an Emile Zola novel by Peter Flannery, which ran from June to July 2005 at Newcastle's Live Theatre.
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Jill Halfpenny earned particularly strong notices for her performance in the latter, winning the Theatregoers' Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical and the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role.
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In March 2012, Jill Halfpenny headlined a revival of Mike Leigh's 1977 play Abigail's Party at the Menier Chocolate Factory, which later transferred to the West End's Wyndham's Theatre for four months.
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Jill Halfpenny then portrayed the matriarch of a 1940s household in the supernatural horror miniseries Lightfields, which aired between February and March 2013.
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Jill Halfpenny featured in two major television projects in 2014: first, the Kay Mellor-produced BBC One drama series In the Club, where she played an expectant first-time mother, and then Channel 4's seven-part satirical comedy series Babylon, in which she co-starred as PC Davina Bancroft.
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Jill Halfpenny made her radio broadcast debut in May 2017, covering slots on BBC Radio 2 for regular presenters such as Liza Tarbuck and Sara Cox, and later hosting the station's Good Morning Sunday show throughout August 2018.
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In Channel 5's The Drowning, a mystery thriller that aired over four consecutive nights in February 2021, Jill Halfpenny starred as Jodie Walsh, a grief-stricken mother who comes to believe that her late son may still be alive.
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Jill Halfpenny has narrated commercials for Argos, Children in Need, Ford Fiesta, The Sunday Times, Aunt Bessie's, Cocoa Pops, the Royal Air Force, First Choice, and Caledonian Travel.
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Jill Halfpenny was born in Leam Lane, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear on 15 July 1975.
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Jill Halfpenny married fellow actor Craig Conway in 2007; together they have a son, Harvey.
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In 2019, Jill Halfpenny spoke of her grief following the death of her partner, Matt Janes, two years earlier.
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Jill Halfpenny died aged 43 after suffering a heart attack.
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Jill Halfpenny was named "Freeman of the Borough of Gateshead" in 2013, in recognition of her services to theatre, television, and charity.