Gillian Kearney

At 52 years old, Gillian Kearney has this physical status:

Gillian Louise Kearney (born 9 May 1972 in Liverpool) is an English actress best known for her appearances in Channel 4's Coronation and the spin-off mini-series Damon and Debbie, as well as Emma Barton in the ITV Yorkshire-based soap opera Emmerdale.

Emma Barton's character was given due to her three-year tenure as a character in Emmerdale's most prominent story lines.

Early life

One of four children born to Gerard and Barbara (née Allerston) Kearney, Kearney, has three brothers, including Tom, a professional footballer. Her father is a retired civil engineer and her mother is a school care worker. She grew up in Aigburth, attended St. John Almond RC High School, Garston, where she earned nine GCSEs and four A-levels. She later studied at Rose Bruford College.

Personal life

Kearney lived in Crouch End, North London, from July 2000, and then rented a house in Clifton, Bristol, when she appeared in Casualty. After the birth of her son, she returned to live in Liverpool; she also rented a house in Yorkshire where she filmed Emmerdale; and a holiday home on the Atlantic coast of County Clare, Ireland.

During a This Morning television interview, Kearney revealed that she was seeing Eddie, a final-year medical student who she had encountered whilst in Bristol. Kearney declared her engagement with Eddie Foo and their intention to marry later this year in Ireland early in 2010, but the plans were then put on hold when she discovered she was expecting their first child. On the 26th of August 2010, Kearney gave birth to an 8 lb (3 kg) baby boy.

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Career

At secondary school, she began an interest in acting. She had been rejected repeatedly for lead roles in school productions, and she decided to join the Liverpool Playhouse Youth Theatre, where she appeared in productions including All Flesh is Grass (as Ema), Katie Crackernuts, and Yer Dancin'? She was noticed by members of the Mersey Television production team in 1986, which led to her being invited to audition for a role in Channel 4's soap opera Brookside. Debbie McGrath, Damon Grant's girlfriend, was played by Simon O'Brien, and she landed the role. Since O'Brien decided not to return to Brookside, he requested that his character be stripped from the show so he wouldn't be tempted to return to the show. Because Damon was so popular, especially among younger viewers, it was decided to create a "soap bubble" in which the protagonist would die: the result, Damon and Debbie, became Britain's first mini-series spin-off from a soap opera. Kearney was asked to return for a few episodes a year after filming her last scenes. Debbie McGrath, Damon's mother, made a late return to visit Sheila Grant, Damon's mother, on Christmas 1988; she and her infant, Simon – Damon's son arrived.

In the award-winning 1989 film Shirley Valentine, Kearney played the teen Shirley.

In Sex, Chips & Rock n' Roll, a six-part television mini-series written and directed by Debbie Horsfield, she appeared as the lead female character as Ellie Brookes. It was originally broadcast by Wall to Wall for BBC One in 1999 before being turned into a hit stage musical.

Kearney appeared in June Forsyte in John Galsworthy's classic book The Forsyte Saga in 2002. She later reprised her role in the second series. In Kearney's latest medical drama, Sweet Medicine, following the success of The Forsyte Saga, she returned to the ITV screen. Kearney appeared as Dr. Deborah "Deb" Sweet, and she appeared alongside Jason Merrells, who played her husband, and Patricia Hodge as her devoted mother-in-law. The show was supposed to carry out the mantle of the popular rural drama Peak Practice, which had just concluded, but after just one series, low viewership saw Sweet Medicine cancelled.

Kearney appeared in Channel 4's hit series Shameless in 2005, portraying Marty Fisher's (Jack Deam) sister Sue Garland. In 2007, she and her on-screen partner joined the show in leaving the program. Following her departure, she appeared on television until landing the role of Jessica Harrison in Casualty in January 2008. In February 2010, Kearney left Casualty but returned briefly to tie up the loose ends of her character's storyline in May 2010.

Kearney's debut in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale, as the late wife of James Barton (Bill Ward) and mother of their three childrens Pete (Anthony Quinlan), Ross (Michael Parr) and Finn (Joe Gill) appeared in the role of Emma Barton, the late wife of their three children, begins on January 2nd, 2015). Kearney has been lauded for her performances, particularly during the "No Return" week, where she made James hostage and resulted in a big crash that killed seven Emmerdale residents; after Emma mistakenly pulled James off the bridge, she died. At the 2016 National Television Awards, Kearney was selected for Best Serial Drama Performance. Kearney produced Clink, the 5Star woman's prison drama in 2019.

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