Cherie Lunghi
Cherie Lunghi | |
---|---|
Born |
Cherie Mary Lunghi[1] 4 April 1952 Nottingham, England |
Occupation | Actress, dancer |
Years active | 1965–present |
Spouse(s) |
Ralph Lawson (m. 1975; div. 1976) |
Children | Nathalie Lunghi |
Cherie Mary Lunghi (born 4 April 1952) is an English film, television, and theatre actress, known for her roles in many British TV dramas. Her international fame stems from her role as Guinevere in the 1981 film Excalibur. Her long list of screen, stage, and TV credits include football manageress Gabriella Benson in the 1990s television series The Manageress and a series of advertisements for Kenco coffee.[2] She also competed in the 2008 series of Strictly Come Dancing.[3] She is the mother of the actress Nathalie Lunghi.
Early life
Lunghi was born in Nottingham.[4] Her father, Alessandro Lunghi, was Italian,[5] and her mother, Gladys Lee, was English.[6][7] After her father returned to Italy, she was brought up in west London by her mother and aunts.[8]
Career
Educated at London's Arts Educational School,[9] Lunghi played Hedvig in The Wild Duck and Alice in Alice in Wonderland on BBC radio while still at school. After graduating from Homerton College, Cambridge and London's Central School of Speech and Drama, she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in the late 1970s, taking leading roles such as Perdita, Celia, and Viola.[9] In 1981 she landed the role of Guinevere in the film Excalibur.[9]
She starred in the 1982 television serial Praying Mantis, based on the book (Les Mantes Religieuses) by Hubert Monteilhet. The thriller co-starred Pinkas Braun, Carmen du Sautoy, and Jonathan Pryce. In 1985 Lunghi played Michal in King David (film) alongside Edward Woodward and Richard Gere. She also appeared alongside Robert De Niro in The Mission (1986 film). Lunghi has said, "It was wonderful working with him, it was extraordinary actually. He transforms right in front of you. You are aware when watching him on screen that he has transformed – he is not Robert De Niro – he is somebody else. I don't think you can learn how to do that; it's just the power of your imagination."[10]
In the mid-1980s, she relocated to Los Angeles for eight years, but returned to England to care for her mother. After the birth of her daughter and the end of her relationship with director Roland Joffé[8] she took various short-term parts, including playing the band members' mutual love interest in the music video for Level 42's song "Something About You". Lunghi has described how she had been working during pregnancy and was working again three months after giving birth, saying, "it was working mother guilt. I was juggling and balancing, trying to be fair to my career and to my child. Nathalie would come everywhere with me."[11]
Lunghi took on the lead role in football drama The Manageress (1989–90), and participated in the BBC adaptation of Edith Wharton's posthumously published novel, The Buccaneers (1995), as Laura Testvalley. In addition to film and television work, she appeared in a long-running advertising campaign on British television for Kenco coffee from the late 1990s onwards.[8]
In 2006, Lunghi appeared on television in Casualty 1906, playing Matron Eva Luckes, and had a recurring guest role in the regular Casualty series as Professor Camille Windsor. In 2013, she narrated some episodes of the BBC genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are?.[12]
Strictly Come Dancing
In 2008, she competed in the sixth series of BBC television's Strictly Come Dancing (14-week run), partnered by James Jordan.[13] After her first dance, the Foxtrot on the Ladies Night in week two, she scored the highest points of the first two weeks (33). She beat this score with another series-best score of 35/40 for the rumba to finish week four atop the remaining 12 contestants with an average score of 34/40. The score for her third dance, the American Smooth, was an impressive 34 to maintain her average, though she slipped to 31/40 for the Paso Doble, and further to 26/40 on her fifth outing, in the Salsa. She returned to form the following week with a Waltz, scoring 36/40, and was joint first on the leaderboard. She was voted off the competition on 16 November 2008, (week nine) losing by three votes to one in the dance-off against model Lisa Snowdon after performing a Cha-Cha-Cha.[14] In the January/February 2009 Strictly Tour, she danced an American Smooth and a rumba with James Jordan.
Personal life
Lunghi was briefly married to South African student Ralph Lawson after the pair met while studying at London's Central School of Speech and Drama.[5] The 1975 marriage was one of convenience so that Lawson could remain in the UK. The couple never lived together as husband and wife, instead staying in separate homes in Newcastle. Lawson ended up moving back to South Africa two years later to take a new job.[15] In the 1980s, she was in a relationship with director Roland Joffé with whom she has a daughter Nathalie Lunghi (born 1986).
Filmography
Year | Title | Role |
---|---|---|
1980 | Diversion | Erica |
1981 | Excalibur | Guinevere |
1985 | King David | Michal |
Lying Still | ||
Parker | Jenny Parker | |
1986 | The Mission | Carlotta |
Letters to an Unknown Lover | Helene | |
1988 | Intrigue | Adriana |
To Kill a Priest | Halina | |
1990 | Ransom | Claire Stein |
1993 | Silent Cries / Guests of the Emperor | Audrey |
1994 | Mary Shelley's Frankenstein | Baroness Frankenstien (Victor's Mother) |
1995 | Jack and Sarah | Anna |
1997 | An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn | Myrna Smithee |
2001 | Back to the Secret Garden | Lady Mary Craven |
2004 | Viper in the Fist | Miss Chilton |
2011 | Love's Kitchen | Margaret |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1973 | The Brontes of Haworth | Student | |
1976 | Bill Brand | Alex Ferguson | |
1978 | Edward and Mrs. Simpson | Lady Thelma Furness | |
Kean | Anna Danby | ||
The Comedy of Errors | Ephesus Townsperson | ||
1979 | Prince Regent | Princess Charlotte | |
1980 | If Winter Comes | Csöppi/Ilóna | |
Tis Pity She's a Whore | Annabella | ||
Armchair Thriller | Stephanie | Episode: "Dead Man's Kit" | |
1981 | Tales of the Unexpected | Karen Masterson | |
The Manhood of Edward Robinson | Noreen | ||
1982 | Oliver Twist | Nancy | |
Praying Mantis | Beatrice Manceau | ||
1983 | The Sign of Four | Mary Morstan | |
1984 | Strangers and Brothers | Margaret Davidson/Eliot | |
Master of the Game | Margaret Van der Merwe | ||
Ellis Island | Una Marbury | ||
Much Ado About Nothing | Beatrice | ||
Bones | Jenny Parker | ||
1985 | Vicious Circle | ||
"Something About You" by Level 42 | Love interest | Music video | |
1986 | Harem | Usta | |
The Monocled Mutineer | Dorothy | ||
1987 | Coast to Coast | Susan | |
The Lady's Not for Burning | Jennet Jourdemayne | ||
1988 | The Man Who Lived at the Ritz | Lili | |
1989 | The Manageress | Gabriella Benson | |
1990 | The Ruth Rendell Mysteries | Dinah Sternhold | Put on by Cunning |
1991 | The Strauss Dynasty | Jetti | |
1992 | Covington Cross / Charing Cross | Lady Elizabeth | |
1993 | A Question of Guilt | Helen West | |
1995 | The Buccaneers | Laura Testvalley | |
1996 | Strangers | Joan | Episode 1 of Canadian TV series |
The Canterville Ghost | Lucille Otis | ||
Moloney | Dr. Sarah Bateman | ||
1998 | Little White Lies | Julia | |
1999 | Hornblower | Duchess of Wharfedale/Kitty Cobham | Episode: "The Duchess and the Devil" |
David Copperfield | Mrs Steerforth | ||
2000 | A Likeness in Stone | Merie Kirschman | |
2001 | EastEnders | Jan Sherwood | |
2002 | The Inspector Lynley Mysteries | Sarah Gordon | Episode: "For the Sake of Elena" |
The Seasons Alter | Titania | ||
2003 | Cutting It | Zinnia Raggitt | |
Midsomer Murders | Lillian Webster | ||
New Tricks | Diane Loveless | ||
2004 | The Brief | Cleo Steyn | |
2005 | Agatha Christie's Marple | Sadie Swettenham | Episode: A Murder is Announced |
2006 | Dalziel & Pascoe | Kay Miclean | |
Casualty 1906 | Matron Eva Luckes | ||
2007 | Hotel Babylon | Mrs. Poldark | |
2007–2011 | The Secret Diary of a Call Girl | Stephanie | Series regular |
2007, 2008 | Casualty | Camille Windsor | |
2008 | Casualty 1907 | Matron Eva Luckes | |
A Touch of Frost | Detective Sergeant Annie Marsh | Episode: "Dead End" | |
Apparitions | Woman | Episode 6 | |
Strictly Come Dancing | Herself | ||
2009 | Casualty 1909 | Matron Eva Luckes | |
2011 | Lewis | Grace Orde | |
2013 | Who Do You Think You Are? | Narrator | |
Pat & Cabbage | Cabbage (Jean) | ||
Death in Paradise | Jayne Smythe | Series 2, Episode 3 | |
2014 | Wizards vs Aliens | Eva Starling | Series 3, Episode 2: "The Quantum Affect" |
2016 | Midsomer Murders | Alexandra Monkford | Season 18, Episode 4: "A Dying Art" |
Selected stage credits
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1975 | Teeth 'n' Smiles | Laura | |
1976 | Much Ado About Nothing | Hero | |
1976 | The Winter's Tale | Perdita | |
1978 | As You Like It | Celia | |
1979 | Twelfth Night | Viola | |
1991 | The Homecoming | Ruth | |
2000 | Passion Play | Eleanor |
References
- ↑ "Cherie Lunghi". Debrett's. Archived from the original on 15 September 2014. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
- ↑ Hardy, Rebecca (5 June 2009). "Cherie Lunghi: Why can't I find a man?". Daily Mail. London. Archived from the original on 28 July 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
- ↑ Midgley, Neil (18 September 2008). "Cherie Lunghi: Strictly Come Dancing". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 11 November 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
- ↑ General Registry Office (GRO) birth records
- 1 2 "Cherie Lunghi: I have 'seduced' so many men". Daily Express. 14 October 2008. Archived from the original on 14 January 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2008.
- ↑ Barber, Richard (5 June 2003). "A faded alcoholic beauty?". Daily Mail. London. Archived from the original on 22 June 2014. Retrieved 17 September 2008.
- ↑ Swann, Yvonne (18 March 2004). "'I'm content with myself'". Daily Mail. London. Archived from the original on 14 January 2013. Retrieved 7 September 2008.
- 1 2 3 Barber, Richard (10 October 2008). "Cherie Lunghi: Strictly single-and loving it!". Daily Mail. London. Archived from the original on 29 July 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2008.
- 1 2 3 Butler, Robert (14 November 1993). "Show People: Scoring a different goal: Cherie Lunghi". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 30 January 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
- ↑ Paul Stenning, Success – By Those Who’ve Made It. 2013, p.94 and p.95.
- ↑ Paul Stenning, Success – By Those Who’ve Made It. 2013, p.95.
- ↑ Mullin, Cheryl (24 July 2013). "What's on TV tonight: Who Do You Think You Are?, The Café and Love/Hate". Birmingham Mail; Trinity Mirror. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
- ↑ "Strictly Come Dancing stars unveiled". Daily Mirror. 28 August 2008. Archived from the original on 3 February 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2008.
- ↑ "Cherie No More!". Daily Express. 17 November 2008. Archived from the original on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2008.
- ↑ "Strictly Come Dancing's Cherie Lunghi had sham marriage". Daily Mirror. 11 October 2008. Archived from the original on 2 February 2009. Retrieved 19 November 2008.