Jane Horrocks

Barbara Jane Horrocks (born 18 January 1964) is an English actress, voice artist, musician and singer, who played the roles of Bubble and Katy Grin in the BBC sitcom Absolutely Fabulous (1992–2016).
She was nominated for the 1993 Olivier Award for Best Actress for the title role in The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, and received Golden Globe and BAFTAnominations for the role in the 1998 film Little Voice. Her other film roles include parts in The Witches (1990), Life Is Sweet (1990), Chicken Run (2000), Corpse Bride (2005) and Sunshine on Leith (2013).
== Early life ==
Horrocks was born in Rawtenstall, Lancashire, the daughter of Barbara (néeAshworth), a hospital worker, and John Horrocks, a sales representative.[1] She was the youngest of three children.
She attended [[Balladen|Balladen County Primary School] ( Fearns county secondary school)] and later trained at Oldham College and subsequently at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art with Imogen Stubbs and Ralph Fiennes,[2] and began her career with the Royal Shakespeare Company.[3] She drew critical notice for her performance in the film Life Is Sweet (1991), followed by her award-winning performance in the West End play The Rise and Fall of Little Voicein which she sang all the songs. Horrocks became a name with the role of Bubble in Absolutely Fabulous (1992–2016).
== The Rise and Fall of Little Voice ==
While working on Road, a play directed by Jim Cartwright, Horrocks warmed up by doing singing impressions of Judy Garland, Shirley Bassey and Ethel Merman. Cartwright was so impressed with her mimicry he wrote The Rise and Fall of Little Voice for her.[citation needed] She was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 1992 West End production, directed by her boyfriend Sam Mendes.[citation needed]
She reprised her role in the 1998 screen adaptation, Little Voice, which earned nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, the Satellite Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role - Motion Picture, and the British Independent Film Award for Best Actress.[citation needed]
In 2000, Horrocks made the CD Further Adventures of Little Voice, again singing in the style of favourite divas.[citation needed] The recording includes duets with Ewan McGregor, Robbie Williams and Dean Martin. Horrocks collaborated once more with Robbie Williams the following year, for a cover of the Bobby Darinsong "Things" on Williams's album Swing When You're Winning.
== Career ==
Horrocks has appeared on stage in Ask for the Moon (Hampstead, 1986), A Collier's Friday Night (Greenwich, 1987), Valued Friends (Hampstead, 1989), and The Debutante Ball (Hampstead, 1989). She appeared in Catherine Cookson's The Fifteen Streets, alongside Sean Bean and Owen Teale in 1989; Our Own Kind(Bush, 1991); Deadly Advice (Fletcher, 1993); Cabaret (Donmar Warehouse1994); Macbeth (Greenwich Theatre, 1995); and Absurd Person Singular (Garrick Theatre, 2007).[1]
Her last West End appearance was in Sweet Panic, the 2003 Stephen Poliakoffdrama in which she portrayed a neurotic mother locked in a battle of wills with her disturbed son's psychologist.[citation needed] She starred in Richard Jones's critically acclaimed production of The Good Soul of Szechuan at the Young Vicin 2008.[4] She was reunited with Jones in a new musical production of Annie Get Your Gun, which opened at the Young Vic in October 2009.[5] At London’s Young Vic, in 2016's If You Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Horrocks revisited the songs of her youth to sing versions of tracks by the likes of Joy Division, The Smiths, Buzzcocks, and The Human League.[6]
Horrocks's voiceovers have been used on Chicken Run (2000); Christmas Carol: The Movie (2001); Corpse Bride (2005); Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (2006); and Tinker Bell (2008) as Fairy Mary, which she reprised in the Tinker Bell sequels. She did the voiceover Fenchurch on radio and in the audio adaptation of Douglas Adams' science fiction series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for BBC Radio 4. She has voiced Donner in all three Robbie the Reindeer films in aid of Comic Relief.
Other television credits include Absolutely Fabulous, Victoria Wood - We'd Quite Like To Apologise, Bad Girl, Boon, Heartland, Hunting Venus, La Nonna, Leaving Home, Never Mind the Horrocks, Nightlife, Wyrd Sisters, Foxbusters, Jericho, Red Dwarf, Some Kind of Life, Suffer the Little Children, The Storyteller, The Garden, Fifi & the Flowertots, Little Princess (the voice of the princess) and Welcome to the Times.[citation needed]
She was the subject of an episode of the genealogy documentary series Who Do You Think You Are? in 2006. That year she played the title role in The Amazing Mrs Pritchard, a drama about a woman elected prime minister.
For 10 years, Horrocks appeared with Prunella Scales in commercials for the UK supermarket chain Tesco.[7] She narrated BBC Two's television series The Speaker in April 2009.[8]
In 2009, Horrocks took the lead in the BBC TV production Gracie!, a drama portraying the life of Gracie Fields during World War II and her relationship with the Italian-born director Monty Banks (played by Tom Hollander).[9]
On Tuesday 14 January 2014, Horrocks appeared as a contestant on The Great Sport Relief Bake Off on BBC Two— the celebrity version of The Great British Bake Off—hosted by Jo Brand and broadcast to help raise money for the charity Sport Relief. The other contestants were TV and radio presenter Kirsty Young, choreographer Jason Gardiner, and Olympic athlete Greg Rutherford.
In October 2014, Horrocks played Ella Khan in the London revival of East is Eastat Trafalgar Studios as part of Jamie Lloyd's Trafalgar Transformed season.[10]
On 9 May 2015 she gave a reading at VE Day 70: A Party to Remember in Horse Guards Parade, London that was broadcast live on BBC1.[11]
In 2015 she supplied the voice of the Tubby Phone in the reboot of the popular British children's television series Teletubbies.
== Personal life ==
Horrocks lives with playwright Nick Vivian in Twickenham with their son Dylan and daughter Molly.[12][13]
== Filmography ==
=== Film ===
Year	Title 	Role 	Directed by
1988	The Dressmaker 	Rita 	Jim O'Brien
1989	Getting It Right 	Jenny 	Randal Kleiser
1989	The Wolves of Willoughby Chase 	Pattern 	Stuart Orme
1990	The Witches 	Miss Susan Irvine 	Nicolas Roeg
1990	Memphis Belle 	Faith 	Michael Caton-Jones
1990	Life Is Sweet 	Nicola 	Mike Leigh
1993	Second Best 	Debbie 	Chris Menges
1994	Deadly Advice 	Jodie Greenwood 	Mandie Fletcher
1997	Bring Me the Head of Mavis Davis 	Mavis Davis / Marla Dorland 	John Henderson
1998	Little Voice 	LV 	Mark Herman
1999	Faeries 	Huccaby (voice) 	Gary Hurst
1999	Hooves of Fire 	Donner (voice) 	
2000	Chicken Run 	Babs (voice) 	Peter Lord & Nick Park
2000	Born Romantic 	Mo 	David Kane
2000	Lion of Oz 	Wimsik (voice) 	Tim Deacon
2001	Christmas Carol: The Movie 	Ghost of Christmas Past(voice) 	Jimmy T. Murakami
2002	Legend of the Lost Tribe 	Donner (voice) 	
2005	Corpse Bride 	The Black Widow / Mrs. Plum (voice)	Tim Burton
2005	Brothers of the Head 	Roberta Howe 	Keith Fulton & Louis Pepe
2006	Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties 	Meenie (voice) 	Tim Hill
2007	Close Encounters of the Herd Kind	Donner (voice) 	
2008	Tinker Bell 	Fairy Mary (voice) 	Bradley Raymond
2009	Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure	Fairy Mary (voice) 	Klay Hall
2010	No One Gets Off in This Town 	 	
2011	Arthur Christmas 	Lead Elf (voice) 	Sarah Smith
2012	Secret of the Wings 	Fairy Mary (voice) 	Bobs Gannaway & Peggy Holmes
2013	Sunshine on Leith 	Jean 	Dexter Fletcher
2014	The Pirate Fairy 	Fairy Mary 	Peggy Holmes
2016	Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie 	Bubble/Shirley Bassey impersonator 	Mandie Fletcher
2018	Swimming with Men 	Heather 	Oliver Parker
=== Television series ===
Year 	Title 	Role 	Notes
1987 	First Sight 	Natalie 	Episode: "Leaving Home" (1.3)
1987 	Screenplay 	Louise 	Episode: "The Road" (2.13)
1988 	The Storyteller 	Anja 	Episode: "The True Bride" (1.9)
1988 	The Ruth Rendell Mysteries	Pippa Bond 	Episode: "No Crying He Makes" (2.7)
1989 	The Jim Henson Hour 	Anja 	Episode: "Musicians" (1.8)
1989 	Victoria Wood 	Cathy Warburton 	Episode: "We'd Quite Like to Apologise" (1.4)
1989 	Smith & Jones 	 	Episode: "The Unprepared Version" (5.6)
1990 	Boon 	Trisha Downey 	Episode: "Best Left Buried" (5.11)
1991 	Screen One 	Gail 	Episode: "Alive and Kicking" (3.7)
1991 	Performance 	 	Episode: "Nona" (1.2)
1992 	Red Dwarf 	Nirvanah Crane 	Episode: "Holoship" (5.1)
1992 	Screenplay 	Maggie Hunt 	Episode: "Bad Girl" (7.3)
1992 	Performance 	 	Episode: "Roots" (2.3)
1995 	Performance 	Doll Tearsheet 	Episode: "Henry IV" (5.5)
1996 	Tales from the Crypt 	Cammy 	Episode: "Cold War" (7.6)
1996 	Never Mind the Horrocks 	Various roles 	
1997 	Wyrd Sisters 	Magrat Garlick (voice) 	Television mini-series
1997 	The Blobs 	Various (voice) 	26 Episodes (all episodes)
1995–1998 	Crapston Villas 	Flossie 	20 episodes (all episodes)
1998–2000 	PB&J Otter 	Pinch Raccoon (Voice) 	UK Version
1998-2023 	Pokémon 	Bonnie (voice) 	UK version
1999 	Foxbusters 	Jeffries (voice) 	
1999–2000 	Watership Down 	Hannah 	14 episodes
2000 	Mirrorball 	Yitta Hilberstam 	Television pilot
2000 	Spot the Dog 	Narrator 	26 Episodes were re-narrated over the originals that were done by Paul Nicholas.
2001 	Little Big Mouth 	Krystan (voice) 	
2002 	Linda Green 	Teresa Franklin 	Episode: "Teresa" (2.2)
2003 to present	Wide-Eye 	Flea (voice)
Baby Komodo(voice)
Natterjack Toads (voices)	26 episodes (All episodes)
2004 	Monkey Trousers 	Various roles 	
2005 	Jericho 	Sadie Swettenham 	Episode: "To Murder and Create" (1.3)
2006 	The Street 	Angela Quinn 	Episodes: "The Accident" (1.1) 
"Stan" (1.2)
2005–2005 	Fifi and the Flowertots 	Fifi Forget-Me-Not (voice)	40 episodes
2006 	The Amazing Mrs Pritchard 	Ros Pritchard 	6 episodes (all episodes)
2006–2007 	Little Princess 	Little Princess (voice) 	
2011 	Coming Up 	Felicity 	Episode: "Magic" (6.5)
2011 	Phineas and Ferb 	Eliza 	Episode: "My Fair Goalie" (3.11)
2011 	This is Jinsy 	Mrs. Stenton 	Episode: "Vel" (1.6)
2011 	Little Crackers 	Hairdresser 	Episode: "Jane Horrocks' Little Cracker: Barbara" (2.3)
2011 	Pixie Hollow Games 	Fairy Mary (voice) 	Television special
2012 	Get Your House in Order 	Narrator (voice) 	Episode: "Stuart" (1.3)
2012 	True Love 	Sandra 	Episode: "Sandra" (1.4)
1992–2012 	Absolutely Fabulous 	Bubble 
(also played Katy Grin, Lola and radio voice)	33 episodes
2011–2013, 2015	Trollied 	Julie Cook 	37 episodes
2014 	Lily's Driftwood Bay 	Wee Rabbit 	
2015 	Inside No. 9 	Liz 	"Cold Comfort" (2.4)
2015 	Teletubbies 	Tubby Phone (voice) 	
2015 	Long Live the Royals 	Queen Elenor (voice) 	UK version only
=== Television films ===
Year	Title 	Role 	Notes
1989	The Fifteen Streets 	Christine Bracken	
1989	Heartland 	Pam 	
1991	Came Out, It Rained, Went Back in Again	Learner Lesbian 	
1993	Cabaret 	Sally Bowles 	
1994	Self Catering 	Marilyn 	
1994	Suffer the Little Children 	Deborah Hayes 	
1995	Some Kind of Life 	Alison 	
1996	Nightlife 	Helen 	
1999	Hunting Venus 	Cassandra 	
1999	The Flint Street Nativity 	Zoe 	
2009	Gracie! 	Gracie Fields 	
2010	The Road to Coronation Street 	Margaret Morris 	
== Awards and honours ==
* BAFTA Awards (1999): Nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for Little Voice (1998)
* British Independent Film Awards (1999): Nomination for Best Actress for Little Voice (1998)
* Chicago Film Critics Association Awards (1999): Nomination for Best Actress for Little Voice (1998)
* Golden Globes (1999): Nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture -Comedy/Musical, for Little Voice (1998)
* Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards (1991): Won Award for Best Supporting Actress for Life is Sweet (1991)
* National Society of Film Critics Awards (1992): Won Award for Best Supporting Actress for Life Is Sweet
* Satellite Awards (1999): Nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical for Little Voice (1998)
* Screen Actors Guild Awards (1999): Nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Cast, for Little Voice (1998), shared with Annette Badland, Brenda Blethyn, Jim Broadbent, Michael Caine, Philip Jackson and Ewan McGregor.
* Screen Actors Guild Awards (1999): Nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role for Little Voice (1998)
* Sitges - Catalan International Film Festival (1994): Won Best Actress Award for Deadly Advice (1994)
Category:British voice actresses