Julie Mare Fernandez (born 20 April 1974 in Hampstead, London) is a British actress and model best known for her role as Brenda in the BBC comedy The Office . Fernandez has been working full time as an Access Coordinator since April 2022. Fernandez was hired by Casarotto Ramsay & Associates in 2023 as an agent to represent, train and develop talent, supporting all those with access requirements across the film, television and theatre industries. [1]
Fernandez was born with osteogenesis imperfecta and uses a wheelchair. [2] She was a student at Treloar School in Hampshire. [3] Her father is Argentinean and her mother is English.
At the age of 14, Fernandez appeared on the popular BBC television series Jim'll Fix It . In October 2012, following a series of sexual abuse allegations made against the series' late host Jimmy Savile, Fernandez claimed that Savile had touched her inappropriately during the recording. [4]
Her acting career began in 1992 when she starred as Vanessa Lockhead in the short-lived BBC soap opera Eldorado . [5] She went on to play Sean Maguire's girlfriend in BBC1 drama Dangerfield before landing the role of Brenda in The Office .
In 2004, Fernandez formed a television production company called The Wheelie Good Company and has spent the time since working on new programme ideas. The company was set up by Fernandez to improve the representation of disabled people in the media but no longer focus on disability-related material.
She appeared as a regular guest on the quiz show HeadJam .
Fernandez also runs an arts and craft small business in Cambridgeshire, Bee Crafty, specialising in patchwork and quilting. [6]
Fernandez is married to Andrew Elliott. She and her husband are foster parents. [7] [8]
Fernandez is a disability rights activist in the United Kingdom and has supported campaigns for the Disability Rights Commission and Scope. She set up The Disability Foundation, a British pan-disability charity boasting one of the largest disability information databases in the UK. In January 2003, she co-hosted the opening ceremony for the European Year of People with Disabilities in Athens.
Dame Julie Andrews is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, two Emmy Awards, three Grammy Awards, and six Golden Globe Awards as well as nominations for three Tony Awards. One of the biggest box office draws of the 1960s, Andrews has been honoured with the Kennedy Center Honors in 2001, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2007, and the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2022. She was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2000.
Louis Sebastian Theroux is a British-American documentarian, journalist, broadcaster, and author. He has received three British Academy Television Awards and a Royal Television Society Television Award.
Edwina Currie is a British writer, broadcaster and former politician, serving as Conservative Party Member of Parliament for South Derbyshire from 1983 until 1997. She was a Junior Health Minister for two years, resigning in 1988 during the salmonella-in-eggs controversy.
Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile was an English media personality and DJ. He hosted the BBC shows Top of the Pops and Jim'll Fix It. During his lifetime, Savile was well known in the United Kingdom for his eccentric image and charitable work. After his death, hundreds of allegations of sexual abuse made against him were investigated, leading the police to conclude that he had been a predatory sex offender and possibly one of Britain's most prolific. There had been allegations during his lifetime, but they were dismissed and accusers ignored or were disbelieved.
Dame Esther Louise Rantzen is an English journalist and television presenter, who presented the BBC television series That's Life! for 21 years, from 1973 until 1994. She works with various charitable causes and founded the charities Childline, a helpline for children, which she set up in 1986, and The Silver Line, designed to combat loneliness in older people's lives, which she set up in November 2012.
Brenda Blethyn is an English actress. Known for her character work and versatility, she is the recipient of various accolades, including a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, and a Cannes Film Festival Award, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards and two Primetime Emmys. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to drama in 2003.
Jim'll Fix It is a British television series broadcast by the BBC, presented by Jimmy Savile and running for almost two decades, between May 1975 and July 1994. Devised by Bill Cotton, the show encouraged children to write a letter to Savile with a "wish" that would come true at the end of each episode, upon which the child would be granted a medal. Famous people who appeared on the show included Muhammad Ali, Doctor Who stars Tom Baker and Colin Baker, Rolf Harris, Margaret Thatcher and Peter Cushing.
Brenda Song is an American actress. Born in California, Song began her career at the age of six, working as a child model. She made her screen debut with a guest appearance on the sitcom Thunder Alley (1995), and went on to roles such as the children's television series Fudge (1995) and the Nickelodeon series 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd (1999). She starred in the Disney Channel original film The Ultimate Christmas Present (2000), which won her a Young Artist Award. She subsequently signed a contract with Disney Channel and earned widespread recognition for playing the titular character in the action film Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior (2006), and London Tipton in the comedy franchise The Suite Life (2005–2011), earning her acclaim and two Young Hollywood Awards. She additionally played the character of Tia on Phil of the Future (2004–2005), and had starring roles in the television film Get a Clue (2002), the sports comedy film Like Mike (2002) and the comedy film Stuck in the Suburbs (2004).
Mat Fraser is an English rock musician, actor, writer and performance artist. He has thalidomide-induced phocomelia. In 2017, he was cast to play Shakespeare's Richard III at the Hull Truck Theatre as part of Hull City of Culture 2017.
Liz Carr is an English actress, comedian, broadcaster and international disability rights activist.
Claire "Cerrie" Burnell is an English actress, singer, playwright, children's author, and former television presenter for the BBC children's channel CBeebies. In 2018, she portrayed the role of Penny Stevenson in the BBC soap opera Doctors.
Sophie Morgan is a British television presenter and disability advocate who is paraplegic. She is a social media influencer. She became a presenter after appearing on reality television. In 2021, she was a lead presenter for Channel 4's TV coverage of the Summer Paralympics in Tokyo. She has been voted one of the most influential disabled people in the UK as part of the Shaw Trust's Disability Power 100. Morgan has been working on television for almost twenty years, following the first generation of disabled television presenters such as Ade Adepitan, Mik Scarlet, Tanni Grey-Thompson, Cerrie Burnell and Julie Fernandez.
Operation Yewtree was a British police investigation into sexual abuse allegations, predominantly the abuse of children, against the English media personality Jimmy Savile and others. The investigation, led by the Metropolitan Police Service (Met), started in October 2012. After a period of assessment, it became a full criminal investigation, involving inquiries into living people, notably other celebrities, as well as Savile, who had died the previous year.
It emerged in late 2012 that Jimmy Savile, a British media personality who had died the previous year, had sexually abused many people throughout his life, mostly children but some as old as 75, and mostly female. He had been well known in the United Kingdom for his eccentric image and was generally respected for his charitable work, which associated him with the British monarchy and other individuals of personal power.
Storme Toolis is a British actress from London.
Mark Alan Williams-Thomas is an English investigative journalist, sexual abuse victim advocate, and former police officer. He is a regular reporter on This Morning and Channel 4 News, as well as the ITV series Exposure and the ITV and Netflix crime series The Investigator: A British Crime Story.
Rosie Jones is a British comedian, writer and actress. After starting her career as a writer on panel shows, she went on to appear as a guest on The Last Leg, 8 Out of 10 Cats, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, QI and Hypothetical. She attended the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo as a roving reporter for The Last Leg.
Ruth Madeley is a British actress known for her roles in Years and Years, The Rook and Doctor Who. She was born with spina bifida and has worked with the charity Whizz-Kidz for much of her life. She was nominated for a television BAFTA in 2016 for her work in Don't Take My Baby.
Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story is a two-part Netflix documentary series released on April 6, 2022. It covers the life and career of the British television personality Jimmy Savile, his history of committing sexual abuse, and the scandal that occurred after his death in 2011, when numerous complaints were raised about his behaviour.