Cush Jumbo

Cush Jumbo
Born (1985-09-23) 23 September 1985
Denmark Hill, London, England
Years active 2006–present
Awards Winner of the Ian Charleson Award 2011, UK Theatre Award 2013, Emerging Talent Award at London Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2013

Cush Jumbo (born 23 September 1985) is an English actress and writer. She wrote and starred in a one-woman show, Josephine and I. In 2011, she won the Ian Charleson Award for young actors as Rosalind in As You Like It and received an Olivier nomination in 2012 as Mark Antony in an all-female cast of Julius Caesar.[1] She played attorney Lucca Quinn in the seventh season of the US drama series The Good Wife on CBS and its spinoff The Good Fight on CBS All Access.

Early and personal life

Jumbo was born in King's College Hospital in Denmark Hill to parents Angela (née Hall) and Marx Jumbo. Her mother is British and her father is Nigerian. The second of seven children, she grew up in Lewisham and Southwark.[2] Jumbo began dance classes at the age of 3, learning tap, ballet and modern, and went on to learn street dance, contemporary and ballroom and Latin in later years. From the age of 11 to 15, she trained at the Francis Cooper School of Dance whilst attending Cator Park School for Girls, but at 14 she left Cator Park to pursue acting more seriously at the BRIT School in Selhurst. Jumbo graduated with a first from the BA (Hons) Acting course at Central School of Speech and Drama before starting her professional career. She considered undertaking teacher training in London before finally settling on a career as an actress.[3][4]

Career

Jumbo's theatre credits include Brixton Stories at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, Liquid Gold at the Almeida and Love's Labour's Lost at Shakespeare's Globe.[5] She has also appeared in productions of The Cherry Orchard, The Crucible, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Richard III[6] and Pygmalion at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester for which she received MEN and Ian Charleson Award nominations. In 2012 she won the Ian Charleson Award for her performance as Rosalind in William Shakespeare's As You Like It at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester. Clare Brennan of The Guardian spoke of Jumbo's performance in ' As You Like It saying "If these performances truly reflect her talent, Jumbo looks set to become one of the best actresses of her generation". Jumbo played Constance Neville in She Stoops to Conquer at the National Theatre in 2012 and Mark Antony in an all female production of Julius Caesar at the Donmar Warehouse for which she received a nomination for an Olivier Award.[7] She took part again in the production when it was revived in New York in October 2013. In May 2013, she played the role of Nora in A Doll's House at the Royal Exchange Theatre. In October 2013 she won a UK Theatre Award for this performance.[8]

In July and August 2013, Jumbo performed in her own debut play Josephine and I, a one-woman play about jazz singer Josephine Baker, which premiered at the Bush Theatre, London.[9][10] She won an Emerging Talent Award at the London Evening Standard Theatre Awards in November 2013 for this performance.[11] The show was developed for transfer[12] and began previews on 27 February 2015 at The Public Theater in New York.

She made her Broadway debut in the autumn of 2014 when she appeared in the transfer of the Royal Court Theatre production of The River by Jez Butterworth, alongside Laura Donnelly and Hugh Jackman.[13]

Jumbo also co-wrote the musical Rebels and Retail, a shortlisted entrant in the Perfect Pitch West End Showcase 2008.[14]

Jumbo is the co-author of 101 Dance Ideas for 5–11 yr Olds which is published by A & C Black.

On television, Jumbo has appeared in My Family, Harley Street, as receptionist Hannah Fellows, as Lois Habiba in all five episodes of Torchwood: Children of Earth, as Becky on BBC Three's drama series Lip Service, Casualty and as Nurse Damaris in Getting On Series 2 and 3, written by Jo Brand, Jo Scanlon and Vicki Pepperdine in which she was directed by fellow Torchwood actor Peter Capaldi. She appeared as DC Bethany Whelan in series 2 of ITV's Vera starring Brenda Blethyn and returned to the show for series 5, broadcast in 2015, and for episode 1 of series 6 in 2016. She has also appeared several times on BBC Radio 4 in dramas and as a guest on the panel show Dilemma. She became a regular cast member in the 2015–2016 season of the CBS series The Good Wife until the series ended in 2016. She reprised her role in the series' spinoff The Good Fight.

Filmography

Year(s)TitleRoleNotes
2007My FamilyGirlfriendEpisode: "Dutch Art and Dutch Courage"
2008Harley StreetHannah FellowsSix episodes
2009TorchwoodLois HabibaSeries 3: Children of Earth
2009CasualtyZara FinchleyEpisode: "Every Breath You Take"
2010Lip ServiceBecky LoveSix episodes
2010Getting OnDamarisEpisode 2.5 and all of series 3
2011The Inbetweeners MovieJaime
2012, 2015–2016VeraDC Bethany WhelanRegular, series 2 and from series 5 until episode 6.1
2015–2016The Good WifeLucca QuinnMain cast (season 7)
2015RemainderCatherine
2016City of Tiny LightsMelody
2017–presentThe Good FightLucca QuinnMain cast

References

  1. ↑ "One-woman show with a cast; Cush Jumbo soars in a solid Ibsen revival, says Dominic Maxwell; Theatre." Times [London, England] 9 May 2013: 10. Academic OneFile. Web. 19 Mar 201
  2. ↑ Henderson, Kathy (13 November 2014). "Cush Jumbo on Her Unusual Name, Her New Buddy Hugh Jackman & Starring in the 'Shocking' Drama The River". Broadway.com.
  3. ↑ Shore, Robert (11 July 2013). "My childhood idol Josephine Baker saved my career". Metro.
  4. ↑ Day, Elizabeth (24 November 2012). "'I'm not interested in being in Heat magazine'". The Guardian.
  5. ↑ "Theatre on the Fly Opens FRED'S DINER, August 15". Broadwayworld.com. 19 July 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  6. ↑ "Harley Street Press Pack" (DOC). ITV. Retrieved 11 July 2009.
  7. ↑ "Olivier awards 2013 – full nominations". The Guardian. 26 March 2013.
  8. ↑ Youngs, Ian (24 November 2012). "This Is My Family musical wins two UK Theatre Awards". London: BBC.
  9. ↑ "Bush Theatre". Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  10. ↑ Sebastian Shakespeare, "Londoner's Diary", London Evening Standard, 8 August 2013
  11. ↑ Jury, Louis (17 November 2013). "Dame Helen Mirren crowned best actress at Evening Standard Theatre Awards". London Evening Standard. London.
  12. ↑ Phyllida, Lloyd (27 April 2014). "Me and Meryl Streep, by Phyllida Lloyd". The Yorkshire Post. Leeds.
  13. ↑ Merrfield, Niccola (9 May 2014). "Hugh Jackman, Cush Jumbo and Laura Donnelly to star in The River on Broadway". The Stage. London.
  14. ↑ Perfect Pitch Music Musicals – Rebels and Retail Archived 4 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
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