Cathy Shipton
Catherine Ellen Shipton (born 27 March 1957) is an English actress from Lewisham, London.
Biography
Born to Irish/English parents, she is the seventh and second girl of nine children, where only three of her brothers survived. Shipton was raised as a Roman Catholic, and was educated in a convent in south London. She studied two languages and journalism, but her drama teacher told her that she had the potential to become an actress, and consequently she trained at Rose Bruford College from 1977 to 1980.[1]
Career
During a five-year career after graduation which involved long periods of unemployment, she trained as an aerobics instructor as a secondary career. Originally her agent thought she should be considered for the role of Susie the receptionist on BBC One's Casualty, however since most people thought she was a nurse she suggested otherwise with the result that on 11 January 1986 cast as Lisa "Duffy" Duffin. She played the role for the first eight series, which saw the character becoming a sister in the Emergency Department and become a single mother, before taking a four-series-long break, and returning for a further four series. She departed in 2003 and returned for a two-part special in 2006 for the series opener of series 21.
Once again reprising her role as Duffy in August 2015, Duffy returned for two episodes.
Shipton is set to reprise the role of Duffy again in 2016.
Personal life
Shipton and her partner, actor Christopher Guard, met when both worked on Casualty. The couple live in Acton, west London, and have a daughter Tallullah Grace Lily (born March 2001), given a Cherokee name meaning "she laughs like a babbling brook," after inspiration from Jan Anderson.[1]
She enjoys keeping fit, jogging, swimming, yoga, astrology, dancing, cooking; she was given the nickname "Witchy-poo" by the cast of Casualty, because of her interest in homeopathy and alternative medicines. She is a strict non smoker and has run various marathons.[1]
Filmography
- Doctors - 2008
- Lisa "Duffy" Duffin in Casualty (236 episodes, 1986–1993, 1998–2003, 2006, 2015, 2016-)
- Jenny Andrews in Doctors (1 episode, 2004)
- Alice Merchant in The Bill (2 episodes, 1996; 2003)
- Sister Lisa Duffin in Holby City aka Holby (1 episode, 1999)
- Midwife in Spice World (1997)
- Mrs. Simpson in Agent 'Z' and the Penguin from Mars (1996) TV Series
- Mrs. Burridge in 'One Foot in the Grave'(1 episode, 1990)
- "Sarah Price in 'Taggart'" ( 1 episode 1993)
- Who's Listening? (1990) TV Episode
- Hold the Back Page (1985) (mini) TV Series
- Oedipus the King (1984) (TV) Theban Citizen, aka Theban Plays: Oedipus the King (USA)
References
- 1 2 3 "Cathy Shipton". holby.tv. Retrieved 2008-12-01.