# Jane Danson

Jane Danson (born Jane Elizabeth Dawson, 8 November 1978) is an English actress. She is known for her portrayal of Leanne Battersby in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street, between 1997 and 2000, and from 2004 onwards. Her other television credits include Children's Ward (1995–1997), The Grand (1997) and The Bill (2002–2003). For her role on Coronation Street, Danson won the 2011 British Soap Award for Best Dramatic Performance.

## Career

At the age of 12, Danson made her television debut under the name Jane Dawson in the 1991 Alan Bleasdale series GBH playing the part of Eileen Critchley. From 1995 to 1997, Danson played the role of Paula in the ITV children's television drama Children's Ward. In 1996, she also appeared in Out of Tune, a British children's sitcom which was shown on CBBC. She also made an appearance in the first episode of the BBC's Hetty Wainthropp Investigates which was aired in January 1996.
In 1997, Danson landed parts in the ITV period drama series The Grand, in which she played the role of Monica Jones for seven episodes, and then in the top-rated ITV soap opera Coronation Street, playing teenager Leanne Battersby. The Battersby family were dubbed the "Neighbours From Hell" and made an immediate impact on the long-running show's loyal audience. Danson left the show in 2000, not long after a harrowing storyline that saw her character become a drug addict. Danson's next role was as Nurse Samantha Docherty in the drama series Always and Everyone (also known as A&E) from 2001 to 2002. She then later joined the cast of ITV police drama The Bill in 2002. Danson portrayed Gemma Osbourne, the first lesbian police officer in the show's history. However, the role was short-lived and she left in 2003.
In 2004, Danson rejoined the cast of Coronation Street as Leanne. In early 2006, it was announced that Danson was pregnant and she left Coronation Street at the end of July for maternity leave. She returned to filming in January 2007, making her first appearance back on screen two months later. In January 2007, Danson appeared in the second series of Soapstar Superstar but was eliminated after the overnight vote on the second show. However, a subsequent investigation into malpractice on the part of ITV in viewer voting revealed that while Danson and Tupele Dorgu were both put forward for elimination at the end of the first episode, it had in fact been Verity Rushworth and Leon Lopez who scored lowest in the poll and should therefore have been the two options.

### Television appearances

Danson appeared on the first celebrity edition of Stars in Their Eyes. Alongside four other actresses from Coronation Street, they impersonated the Spice Girls.
In 2019, Danson took part in the eleventh series of Dancing on Ice alongside professional partner Sylvain Longchambon. Following a skate-off against Melody Thornton and Ryan Sidebottom, Danson and Sidebottom were eliminated in Week 7.

## Personal life

Danson attended Radcliffe High School, Radcliffe near Bury in Greater Manchester. She began dating former Brookside actor Robert Beck in 1999 and the two married in December 2005. The couple met at the 1999 British Soap Awards. Danson said that she had a crush on Beck since she was 15. On their marriage, Danson said in 2018, "Rob's absolutely my best friend in the world. We've only had about two rows in twenty years." The couple have two sons together: Harry (born July 2006) and Sam (born February 2009). In December 2018, Danson revealed that she had miscarried a third child, which she and Beck discovered at their three-month scan.

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Result |
| 1998 | National TV Awards | Most Popular Newcomer | Nominated |
| 2005 | TV Quick & TV Choice Awards | Best Soap Actress | Nominated |
| 2005 | National TV Awards | Most Popular Actress | Nominated |
| 2006 | National TV Awards | Most Popular Actress | Nominated |
| 2010 | TV Now Awards | Favourite Female Soap Star | Nominated |
| 2011 | National TV Awards | Serial Drama Performance | Nominated |
| 2011 | All About Soap Bubble Awards | Best Love Triangle (with Chris Gascoyne and Ben Price) | Nominated |
| 2011 | British Soap Awards | Best Actress | Nominated |
| 2011 | British Soap Awards | Best Dramatic Performance | Won |
| 2011 | Inside Soap Awards | Best Actress | Nominated |
| 2011 | Inside Soap Awards | Best Dramatic Performance | Shortlisted |
| 2012 | National TV Awards | Serial Drama Performance | Nominated |
| 2012 | British Soap Awards | Best Actress | Nominated |
| 2012 | Inside Soap Awards | Best Actress | Nominated |
| 2012 | All About Soap Awards | Best Love Triangle (with Chris Gascoyne and Ben Price) | Nominated |
| 2013 | National TV Awards | Serial Drama Performance | Nominated |
| 2013 | All About Soap Awards | Best Wedding (shared with Ben Price) | Nominated |
| 2015 | TV Choice Awards | Best Soap Actress | Nominated |
| 2015 | Inside Soap Awards | Best Actress | Nominated |
| 2016 | Inside Soap Awards | Best Actress | Nominated |
| 2017 | National TV Awards | Serial Drama Performance | Nominated |
| 2017 | British Soap Awards | Best Actress | Nominated |
| 2020 | Inside Soap Awards | Best Actress | Nominated |
| 2020 | Digital Spy Reader Awards | Best Actor (Female) | Third |
| 2021 | The Version Soap Awards | Best Actress | Won |
| 2021 | National TV Awards | Serial Drama Performance | Nominated |
| 2021 | Inside Soap Awards | Best Partnership (with Ben Price) | Nominated |
| 2021 | I Talk Telly Awards | Best Soap Partnership (with Ben Price) | Nominated |

## Sources

* ↑ "Who is Coronation Street star Jane Danson?". Hello!. 17 February 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
* ↑ "BBC – Guide to Comedy: Out Of Tune". BBC. Archived from the original on 1 January 2005. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
* ↑ "Ryan Sidebottom and Jane Danson booted off Dancing On Ice in double elimination". Metro. 17 February 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
* ↑ "Danson's husband joins Corrie cast". Digital Spy. 6 June 2008.
* 1 2 3 McManus, Samuel (31 December 2018). "Coronation Street star Jane Danson opens up on heartbreaking miscarriage in run up to Dancing On Ice". OK!. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
* ↑ "Second son for Corrie's Jane Danson". Digital Spy. 27 February 2009.
* ↑ "Viewers' favourites to be revealed". BBC News. 27 October 1998. Retrieved 12 November 2010.
* ↑ "Welcome to the TVQuick Awards 2005!". TV Quick. Archived from the original on 21 May 2024. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
* 1 2 "National Television Awards". thecustard.tv. Archived from the original on 17 December 2007. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
* ↑ "Favourite Female Soap Star 2010". TV Now. Archived from the original on 14 May 2010. Retrieved 10 September 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
* ↑ Wightman, Catriona (21 September 2010). "National Television Awards 2011 - Nominees". Digital Spy. Retrieved 21 September 2010.
* ↑ "In Full: All About Soap Bubble winners". Digital Spy. 27 March 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
* ↑ Kilkelly, Daniel (7 March 2011). "British Soap Awards 2011 voting opens". Digital Spy. Retrieved 9 February 2012.
* ↑ Kilkelly, Daniel (14 May 2011). "British Soap Awards 2011: The Winners". Digital Spy.
* ↑ Love, Ryan (11 July 2011). "In Full: Inside Soap Awards 2011 Nominees". Digital Spy. Retrieved 9 February 2012.
* ↑ Millar, Paul (26 September 2011). "Inside Soap Awards 2011: The full winners list". Digital Spy.
* ↑ Wrightman, Catriona (27 September 2011). "National Television Awards 2012: The nominees". Digital Spy. Retrieved 9 February 2012.
* ↑ Kilkelly, Daniel (27 February 2012). "British Soap Awards 2012 voting opens, nominations revealed". Digital Spy. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
* ↑ Kilkelly, Daniel (19 July 2012). "Inside Soap Awards 2012 - longlist nominees in full". Digital Spy. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
* ↑ Kilkelly, Daniel (25 March 2012). "All About Soap Awards 2012: Full winners list". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
* ↑ Fletcher, Alex (22 September 2012). "National Television Awards 2013: Longlist nominations in full - vote". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
* ↑ "'Hollyoaks' leads 2013 All About Soap Award winners". Digital Spy. 24 March 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
* ↑ Denham, Jess (19 May 2015). "TV Choice Awards 2015 nominations: Poldark and Broadchurch head up longlist". The Independent. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
* ↑ Dainty, Sophie (14 July 2015). "Inside Soap Awards 2015 longlist revealed: Who's in line for Best Actor, Actress and Newcomer?". Digital Spy. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
* ↑ Sandwell, Ian (21 June 2016). "Inside Soap Awards 2016 longlist revealed". Digital Spy. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
* ↑ Deene, Sarah (11 October 2016). "This is the BBC's last chance to bag an National Television Award for The Great British Bake Off/". Metro. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
* ↑ Dainty, Sophie (18 April 2017). "British Soap Awards 2017: the longlist is revealed". Digital Spy.
* ↑ "Inside Soap Awards reveals full longlist for 2020's ceremony". Digital Spy. 14 September 2020.
* ↑ Robinson, Abby (25 December 2020). "EastEnders triumphs at Digital Spy Reader Awards 2020". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
* ↑ "The Version 2021 Soap Awards winners announced! — The Version". theversion.co. Archived from the original on 21 April 2021.
* ↑ Lovejoy, Hannah (25 May 2021). "Coronation Street, EastEnders, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks stars land National Television Award nominations". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
* ↑ Alexander, Susannah (28 September 2021). "Inside Soap Awards announces 2021 longlist as voting opens – here's who's up for prizes". Digital Spy. (Hearst Magazines UK). Archived from the original on 2 October 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
* ↑ "I TALK TELLY AWARDS 2021 Nominations". I Talk Telly. 14 November 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2023.