Chizzy Akudolu

Last updated

Chizzy Akudolu
Born
Andrea Chizoba Akudolu

(1973-10-07) 7 October 1973 (age 50)
Harlesden, London, England
OccupationActress
Years active2002–present
Known for Holby City , Jinx , Dead Set

Andrea Chizoba "Chizzy" Akudolu (born 7 October 1973) is a British actress. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Contents

Career

In 2002, Akudolu was one of eight new comedy performers who won the BBC Talent Initiative, The Urban Sketch Showcase. All eight performed a comedy sketch show in front of BBC casting directors and producers at the Tabernacle Theatre in Notting Hill. Her first television appearance was in the BBC sitcom 15 Storeys High . This was followed by a small role in EastEnders . She continued to work for the BBC in her first children's series called Stupid! and Roman's Empire . Credits also include Green Wing and Dustbin Baby for Kindle Entertainment and as a caricature of herself in the mockumentary The Most Unromantic Man in the World. Akudolu also played series regular Miss Kanouti in The Complete Guide to Parenting . She has continued to work for CBBC in programmes such as Nuzzle and Scratch , Scoop and Gigglebiz . In 2007, she toured with The Vagina Monologues for three months. In 2008, Akudolu played the housemate, Angel, in Dead Set , a zombie parody of Big Brother . In 2009, she had a guest role in Hollyoaks Later and starred in the CBBC show Jinx in the lead role as the unconventional Fairy Godmother, Cookie. In 2010 Akudolu appeared in The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret , Twenty Twelve , The Inbetweeners , and as a semi-regular in the Channel 4 comedy Campus .

Since May 2012, Akudolu has played the role of the surgeon Mo Effanga in Holby City . In 2017 it was announced that Akudolu was departing Holby City after five years. She was nominated and won the award for "Best Newcomer" at the Black International Film Festival and Music Video & Screen Awards. She has also won the Best Actress in the same year at BEFFTA Awards. She was nominated for the "Emerging Talent" award at the 8th Annual Screen Nation Awards. [9]

In 2017, Akudolu took part in Let's Sing and Dance for Comic Relief with a duo from Casualty. The trio performed "Uptown Funk" by Bruno Mars and came second place. In 2017, she took part in the fifteenth series of Strictly Come Dancing on BBC One. She was the first celebrity to be eliminated after a disappointing Foxtrot which lacked flow and the traditional format of the dance. [10] Akudolu took part in The Weakest Link one-off celebrity episode for Children in Need. She was the strongest link in 5 out of the 6 rounds, and beat Rylan Clark-Neal in the final round to win, earning £1,130 for Children in Need, which the programme doubled.

2018 saw Akudolu compete on Richard Osman's House of Games , televised on BBC Two, [11] alongside Tom Allen, Charlie Higson, and Kate Williams. [12] Having won one of the episodes in her week, she returned for a House of Champions special along with Miles Jupp, Amol Rajan and Ellie Taylor, broadcast in 2020. [13]

In January 2019, Akudolu played Butterfly Brown in Death in Paradise . [14]

In 2022, Akudolu competed in Celebrity Hunted for Stand up to Cancer. She was caught third in the series, with her teammate Lisa Mafia caught shortly after her.

She also made a guest appearance in ITV's sitcom Kate and Koji as Lisa.

Personal life

She has a brown belt in karate and is an experienced calligrapher. Her mother was a midwife. [ citation needed ]

Filmography

YearShowRoleNotes
2004 15 Storeys High MelindaEpisode: "Vince the Shirker"
EastEnders Mattie George1 episode
Stupid! VariousSeries regular
2006 Green Wing Car Parking Attendant1 episode
The Complete Guide to Parenting Miss KanoutiSeries regular
2007 Roman's Empire Mummy1 episode
2008 Nuzzle and Scratch Whippety Whips LadyEpisode: "Ice Cream Van"
Dead Set AngelSeries regular
Dustbin Baby Railway WomanTelevision film
2009 In the Loop U.N CleanerFilm
Agent XAliceTelevision film
Hollyoaks Later Receptionist
Jinx CookieSeries regular
Gigglebiz VariousSeries regular [15]
2010 The Inbetweeners MaggieEpisode: "Will's Dilemma"
The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret Shopper
2011 Twenty Twelve Jane Owen
Campus Grace 2Series regular
Scoop LorraineEpisode: "Northenders"
Mongrels Office WorkerEpisode: "Nelson and the Amazing Nuts"
2012 Silent Witness NurseEpisode: "And Then I Fell in Love"
2012–2017, 2018, 2022 Holby City Mo Effanga Series regular
20155 MinutesDenise
2016Hood DocumentaryJulie
2016, 2020– Sorry, I Didn't Know Panelist10 episodes
2017 Let's Sing and Dance for Comic Relief Herself
Strictly Come Dancing Series 15
The Weakest Link Children in Need special
2018 Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators Sandra KinglyEpisode: "The Chameleon's Dish"
Celebrity MasterChef HerselfEliminated
Impossible Celebrities
2018–2019 Loose Women Panellist (20 episodes)
2018, 2020 Richard Osman's House of Games
2019 Death in Paradise Butterfly Brown
Glow Up: Britain's Next Make-Up Star HerselfGuest star
Hetty Feather Mrs. DoughtyChristmas special
2020County LinesSophie
Hapless June Brady
Chef vs CornershopHost (5 Episodes)
2021 Too Close The Squeak
Creating A ScenePresenter
2022Celebrity HuntedHerself / FugitiveCaught 3rd in the series
Kate and Koji LisaEpisode: "Koji's Date"
Man vs. Bee Judge2 episodes
2023 Pointless Celebrities ContestantSeries 16, Episode 8 [16]
Best Interests Mercy4 episodes [17]
2024 Criminal Record Jasmine Peters3 Episodes

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References

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  9. "EastEnders up for four MVSAs". EastEnders. BBC Online. 4 October 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  10. Hogan, Michael (1 October 2017). "Strictly Come Dancing 2017, first live results: Chizzy Akudolu becomes the first celebrity hoofer sent home". The Telegraph via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  11. "BBC Two – Richard Osman's House of Games".
  12. ""Richard Osman's House of Games" Episode #2.25 (TV Episode 2018) – IMDb". IMDb .
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  14. "Meet the cast of Death in Paradise series 8". Radio Times. 10 January 2019. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  15. Gigglebiz (TV Series 2009– ) - IMDb . Retrieved 17 April 2024 via www.imdb.com.
  16. Riet, Richard van't (30 December 2023), Episode #16.8, Pointless Celebrities, Alexander Armstrong, Richard Osman, Chizzy Akudolu, retrieved 17 April 2024{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  17. "Meet the cast of Best Interests". Radio Times . 12 June 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2024.