Emma Williams (actress)

Last updated

Emma Williams
Born
Emma Louise Williams

(1983-05-20) 20 May 1983 (age 41)
Halifax, West Yorkshire, England
NationalityBritish
OccupationActress
Notable workKirsty in Steve Coogan's The Parole Officer
Spouse(s)Matthew Henaughan 2011–2013
James Newton 2018–present

Emma Williams (born 20 May 1983) is an English actress of stage, screen, TV and radio. She has been nominated four times for an Olivier Award.

Contents

Early life

Emma Louise Williams [1] was born on 20 May 1983 [2] in Halifax, West Yorkshire, to parents Gordon and Joan Williams and attended North Halifax Grammar School. [3] She attended Stage 84 – The Yorkshire School of Performing Arts, Idle, Bradford. She received a languages degree from the Open University in 2012. [4]

Career

Stage

Williams made her professional stage debut in 2002, aged 18, playing leading lady Truly Scrumptious in the original cast of the West End production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the London Palladium, [5] winning the Arts Correspondent Award for Best Newcomer. [6]

Williams was signed to play Maria von Trapp under a 6-month contract. However, the winner of the BBC reality TV show How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? would still get a 6-month contract and perform 4 of the shows each week. On 22 September 2006, Williams, in a joint statement with Andrew Lloyd Webber, left The Sound of Music , by mutual agreement. [7] [8]

In 2007, she played Johanna Barker in a concert version of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street opposite Bryn Terfel as Todd, Maria Friedman as Lovett, and Philip Quast as Turpin. [9]

In 2008, Williams appeared in Zorro , a new musical with the book by Helen Edmundson, lyrics by Stephen Clark and music by the Gipsy Kings and John Cameron, at the Garrick Theatre. For this performance she was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical. [10]

Her second nomination for an Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical was for her portrayal of leukaemia victim Jenny Cavilleri in Love Story , the musical based on the film. [11] [12] The show played at the Duchess Theatre in the West End in December 2010 to February 2011, after running at the Chichester Minerva Theatre in May to June 2010.

Her third Olivier nomination was for Maureen in Mrs Henderson Presents , another film to stage musical adaptation. This nomination was for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical. The production began at Bath Theatre Royal and transferred to the Noël Coward Theatre in the West End, starting in February 2016. [13] In the interim Williams played the role of Betty in White Christmas at West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, directed by Nikolai Foster.

In 2017 she played Helen Walsingham in Cameron Mackintosh's new production of Half A Sixpence , with a revised book by Julian Fellowes and score and lyrics by Stiles and Drewe. This production reunited her with director Rachel Kavanaugh and again started in Chichester, this time in the Festival Theatre.

From 9 December – 14 January 2017 Williams played the role of Alice Fitzwarren in Dick Whittington at the London Palladium. [14] In 2022, she played Lily in a one night concert of The Secret Garden at the London Palladium opposite Hadley Fraser as Archibald. [15]

Recordings

Williams is featured on the original cast recordings of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang , [16] Tomorrow Morning , [17] Zorro [18] , Love Story, [19] Mrs Henderson Presents and the rewritten Half A Sixpence. She also features on the Original London Cast Recording of Bat Boy [20] which features "Mine All Mine", written specifically for the UK production. Williams can also be heard singing several guest tracks on the 'Momentous Musicals' album of 2012 [21] and the original London cast album of A Spoonful of Sherman [22] as well as featuring as a guest vocalist for Lance Horne on First Things Last and Alexander Bermange for Songs of Wit and Whimsy

Television and film

Williams's career started in television. She appeared in the Yorkshire drama Heartbeat in November 1997, episode titled "Substitute" (Season 7), and in February 2001, "Who's Who?" (Season 10) [23]

She made guest appearances on TV in Where The Heart Is and Silent Witness , and appeared in one-off dramas like Four Fathers and Marple – The Body in the Library. She appeared in the 2005 BBC TV serial Bleak House as Rosa, Lady Dedlock's "sweet-natured maid." [24]

Her film debut came in 2001 playing Kirsty in Steve Coogan's The Parole Officer and she appeared in First Night (2011) with Richard E. Grant and Sarah Brightman. [25]

In 2020, Williams also appeared as a non-celebrity contestant on the second episode of series 2 of the ITV quiz show Beat the Chasers , [26] when she played for £10,000 against all four chasers. [27] In April 2022, she portrayed Freya Marsh in an episode of the BBC soap opera Doctors . [28]

Concerts and radio

Williams appeared as a guest vocalist on Michael Ball's Past and Present concert tour, which was filmed for DVD at the Royal Albert Hall. [29] She has appeared as a guest artist on Friday Night Is Music Night twice for BBC Radio 2 in 2009, singing "Time to Say Goodbye" and "Over the Rainbow" [30] and singing several numbers for a Rodgers and Hammerstein special at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in 2015. Auditioned for Lucie Miller in Big Finish's 8th Doctor Adventures range.

Personal life

On 3 October 2011 Williams married Matthew Henaughan whom she met in 2009. [1] They divorced in 2013.

In spring 2018, Williams married James Newton, a drummer. They met whilst working together in a musical in 2015. They ran the 2019 London marathon, to raise money for a cancer charity. The couple have a daughter born in 2019. [31]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Palladium</span> West End theatre in London

The London Palladium is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in Soho. The theatre was designed by Frank Matcham and opened in 1910. The auditorium holds 2,286 people. Hundreds of stars have played there, many with televised performances. Between 1955 and 1969 Sunday Night at the London Palladium was staged at the venue, produced for the ITV network. The show included a performance by the Beatles on 13 October 1963; one newspaper's headlines in the following days coined the term "Beatlemania" to describe the hysterical interest in the band.

Louise Gold is an English puppeteer, actress and singer. Her long career has included puppetry on television and roles in musical theatre in the West End, as well as other television, film and voice roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sherman Brothers</span> American songwriting duo

The Sherman Brothers were an American songwriting duo that specialized in musical films, made up of brothers Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman. Together they received various accolades including two Academy Awards and three Grammy Awards. They received nominations for a Laurence Olivier Award, a BAFTA Award, and five Golden Globe Awards. In 1976, they received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and the National Medal of the Arts in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Ball</span> English singer, presenter and actor (born 1962)

Michael Ashley Ball is an English singer, presenter and actor. In 1985, he made his West End debut as Marius Pontmercy in the original production of Les Misérables. In 1989, he reached number two in the UK Singles Chart with "Love Changes Everything", from the musical Aspects of Love, where he played Alex Dillingham. He played the role in the West End and on Broadway. His album Coming Home To You reached number one in the UK making it his 4th number one album to date. On 24 April 2020, Ball and Captain Tom Moore entered the UK Singles Chart at number one with a cover of "You'll Never Walk Alone", with combined chart sales of 82,000 making it the fastest-selling single of 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Garcia</span> Australian actor and tap dancer

Adam Garcia is an Australian stage, television, and film actor who is best known for lead roles in musicals such as Saturday Night Fever and Kiss Me, Kate. He is also a trained tap dancer and singer. Garcia has been nominated twice at the Laurence Olivier Awards in 1999 and 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard M. Sherman</span> American songwriter (1928–2024)

Richard Morton Sherman was an American songwriter who specialized in musical films with his brother Robert B. Sherman. According to the official Walt Disney Company website and independent fact checkers, "The Sherman Brothers were responsible for more motion picture musical song scores than any other songwriting team in film history."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert B. Sherman</span> American songwriter (1925–2012)

Robert Bernard Sherman was an American songwriter, best known for his work in musical films with his brother, Richard M. Sherman. The Sherman brothers produced more motion picture song scores than any other songwriting team in film history. Some of their songs were incorporated into live action and animation musical films including Mary Poppins, The Happiest Millionaire, The Sword in the Stone, The Jungle Book, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Slipper and the Rose, and Charlotte's Web. Their best-known work is "It's a Small World " possibly the most-performed song in history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sally Ann Howes</span> British actress and singer (1930–2021)

Sally Ann Howes was an English actress and singer. Her career on screen, stage and television spanned six decades. She is best known for the role of Truly Scrumptious in the 1968 musical film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. In 1963, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical for her performance in Brigadoon.

Harold Owen "Gary" Wilmot, MBE is a British singer, actor, comedian, presenter, writer and director who rose to fame as a contestant on New Faces. As a television presenter, he is best known as the host of You and Me, So You Want To Be Top and Showstoppers. His West End credits include Me and My Girl, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Prince of Egypt, and Wicked.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gillian Lynne</span> English dancer, choreographer (1926–2018)

Dame Gillian Barbara Lynne was an English ballerina, dancer, choreographer, actress, and theatre-television director, noted for her theatre choreography associated with two of the longest-running shows in Broadway history, Cats and The Phantom of the Opera. At age 87, she was made a DBE in the 2014 New Year Honours List.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Summer Strallen</span> British actress (b. 1985)

Summer Peta Vaigncourt-Strallen is an English actress who has performed various roles on stage and screen. Her most notable theatre credits include Meg Giry in the West End production of Love Never Dies and Maria von Trapp in Andrew Lloyd Webber's revival of The Sound of Music at the London Palladium.

<i>Chitty Chitty Bang Bang</i> (musical) Stage musical

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a musical with music and lyrics written by Richard and Robert Sherman and a book by Jeremy Sams. It is sometimes referred to as Chitty the Musical to distinguish it from the 1968 film of the same name on which it is based, written by Roald Dahl, Ken Hughes, and Richard Maibaum. The 1968 film was based in turn on the book of the same name by Ian Fleming. The musical's world premiere was staged the London Palladium on April 16, 2002, directed by Adrian Noble before the show opened on Broadway in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scarlett Strallen</span> English actress (b. 1982)

Scarlett Aimee Vaigncourt-Strallen is an English stage actress, best known for her work in musical theatre productions in the West End and on Broadway. She has received two Olivier Award nominations, in 2006 for her portrayal of Josephine in an adaptation of H.M.S. Pinafore, performed at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre and in 2012 for her role in Singin' in the Rain. Strallen is also a former voice actress.

Nichola McAuliffe is an English television and stage actress and writer, best known for her role as Sheila Sabatini in the ITV hospital sitcom Surgical Spirit (1989–1995). She has also starred in several stage musicals and won the 1988 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role in Kiss Me, Kate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janie Dee</span> British actress

Janie Dee is a British actress. She won the Olivier Award for Best Actress, Evening Standard Award and Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress in a Play, and in New York the Obie and Theatre World Award for Best Newcomer, for her performance as Jacie Triplethree in Alan Ayckbourn's Comic Potential.

Clive Carter is a British actor and singer, best known for his role of "Claude Elliott and others" in the original London cast of Come From Away, for which he received an Olivier Award nomination. He studied at London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liza Pulman</span> British singer and actress (born 1969)

Liza Kate Pulman is a British singer and actress. She is one third of the satirical comedy trio Fascinating Aïda which received Drama Desk Award nominations in 2005 and 2010.

Caroline Sheen is a Welsh actress who has played leading roles on stage in the West End alongside TV and film appearances. She won a Helen Hayes award for playing the role of Mary Poppins on the National Tour of America.

Lesli Margherita is an American stage and screen actress. She is best known for originating the roles of Inez in the musical Zorro, for which she won a Laurence Olivier Award, and Mrs. Wormwood in the Broadway cast of Matilda the Musical.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emil Wolk</span>

Arnold Emil Wolk is an Anglo-American stage director and stage and screen actor. He was awarded the Laurence Olivier Award in 1988 as 'Best Actor in a Musical' for Kiss Me, Kate, sharing the award with co-star John Bardon.

References

  1. 1 2 Staff writer (21 November 2011). "Henaughan – Williams". Halifax Courier . Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  2. ↑ "Emma Williams (British actress)". musicbrainz.org. MusicBrainz . Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  3. ↑ Staff writer (29 May 2008). "Halifax actress Emma Williams goes from Truly Scrumptious to Zorro's Latin lover in new West End show". Halifax Courier . Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  4. ↑ Shenton, Mark (22 February 2016). "Emma Williams: 'I still go home and train with my schoolteacher whenever I can'". The Stage . Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  5. ↑ Billington, Michael (17 April 2002). "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang". The Guardian . Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  6. ↑ Marmion, Patrick. "Rising star: Emma Williams". This is London . Retrieved 22 November 2012– via justball.net.
  7. ↑ Moran, Chris (21 February 2009). "The surreal story of The Sound of Music". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  8. ↑ "'Maria' star Emma quits The Sound of Music". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. 23 September 2006. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  9. ↑ Attend the Tale: Concert Version of Sweeney Todd — with Terfel and Friedman — Presented July 5-7
  10. ↑ "Olivier Winners 2009". olivierawards.com. 2009. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  11. ↑ Shenton, Mark (31 January 2011). "West End's 'Love Story' to Shutter at Duchess Theatre". Playbill . Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  12. ↑ Staff writer (18 October 2010). "Love really is in the air for singing star Emma". Halifax Courier . Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  13. ↑ Shenton, Mark (17 February 2016). "'Mrs Henderson Presents' Review at the Noel Coward Theatre". Londontheatre.co.uk. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  14. ↑ Vine, Hannah (22 September 2017). "First Look at Olivier Winner Elaine Paige in London Palladium's 'Dick Whittington'". Playbill . Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  15. ↑ Hadley Fraser, Maiya Quansah-Breed, Emma Williams, More Set for The Secret Garden at the London Palladium
  16. ↑ "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Original London Cast Recording) Amazon.co.uk: Music". Amazon UK. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  17. ↑ "ORIGINAL CAST RECORDING CD UK DRESS CIRCLE 2006: Amazon.co.uk: Music". Amazon UK. 9 September 2009. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  18. ↑ "Zorro: Amazon.co.uk: Music". Amazon UK. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  19. ↑ Love Story: Original Cast Recording: Amazon.co.uk: Music. ASIN   0571536042.
  20. ↑ "Bat Boy > Original London Cast". CastAlbums.org. 21 February 2005. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  21. ↑ "Momentous Musicals: Amazon.co.uk: Music". Amazon UK. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  22. ↑ "A Spoonful of Sherman (Original London Cast Recording)". bwaytunes.com. BWay Tunes. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  23. ↑ "Heartbeat, Who's Who? Season 10, Episode 17". tv.com. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  24. ↑ "Bleak House Who's Who (press release)". 4 October 2005. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  25. ↑ "First Night: Cast and Crew". allmovie.com. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  26. ↑ "Series 2, Episode 2". Beat the Chasers. 4 January 2020. ITV.
  27. ↑ "Paul Sinha regretful after clashing with Beat the Chasers contestant in cringe-worthy moment". 5 January 2021.
  28. ↑ Timblick, Simon. "Doctors spoilers: WHO makes a complaint against Princess Buchanan?". What to Watch . (Future plc). Retrieved 14 April 2022.
  29. ↑ "Michael Ball: Past And Present Tour – Live (DVD): Amazon.co.uk: Music". Amazon UK. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
  30. ↑ Williams, Emma; Bruce, Ken (presenter) (12 June 2009). "Friday Night Is Music Night". BBC Radio 2 . Retrieved 7 September 2013.
  31. ↑ Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund (13 August 2013). "Matt and Emma Henaughan is fundraising for Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund". Justgiving.com. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
Preceded by Actress to portray Truly Scrumptious
2002–2003		Succeeded by
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.