Gillian Wright

Gillian Wright (born 7 December 1959)[1][2] is an English actress, known for portraying the role of Jean Slater on the BBC soap opera EastEnders since 2004, for which she has won a number of awards.[3] She was a drama teacher and a theatre director before occupying acting roles.[4]

For the Scottish astronomer, see Gillian Wright (astronomer).

Gillian Wright
Born (1959-12-07) 7 December 1959
Bermondsey, London, England
OccupationActress
Years active1993–present
TelevisionChuckleVision
Sir Gadabout: The Worst Knight in the Land
EastEnders

Career

Wright's first television role was in an episode of ChuckleVision as Mrs. Stone in 1994.[5] She went on to portray guest roles in Casualty and Holby City, before portraying the nanny in the CITV children's comedy Sir Gadabout: The Worst Knight in the Land for two series between 2002 and 2003.[6] She also appeared in episodes of Doctors, Calendar Girls and Heartbeat, before taking on her prestigious role of Jean Slater in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. Wright was originally signed for one episode in December 2004, but bosses brought her back into the series a year later for four more episodes.[7] After guest starring in two episodes of rival soap opera Coronation Street, she then returned to EastEnders on a recurring basis until her character moved into Albert Square in November 2007. In 2006, she collected a Mental Health Media Award for her portrayal of Jean, a person living with bipolar disorder.[8]

Wright's departure from the series was announced in 2010, along with her on-screen daughter Stacey Slater, played by Lacey Turner,[9] but it was later confirmed that she would return in spring 2011.[10] In 2012, she won the 'Best Actress' award at the Inside Soap Awards.[11] Wright departed EastEnders again in 2013 and returned for a short stint in August 2014. She also guest starred in one episode of hospital drama, Holby City in early 2015. After making numerous guest appearances from 2015 to 2017, the character of Jean was reintroduced in 2018 by former executive consultant John Yorke.[12] In 2019, Wright won the award for Best Dramatic Performance at that year's British Soap Awards.[13]

Theatre
Wright at the Stevenage Christmas lights switch-on event in November 2013

Wright is also an established theatre actress, and is a visiting director and workshop leader at drama schools, universities and with young people with special needs. She is a co-founder of Pilot Theatre, at York's Theatre Royal.[14]

In December 2011, she played the Fairy godmother in the pantomime Dick Whittington and His Cat at the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, starring alongside Jonathan Wilkes.[15]

In September 2013, she appeared in the world premiere of five visceral new short plays, under the collective title Religion and Anarchy, at the Jermyn Street Theatre. From December 2013 to January 2014, she appeared as the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella at the Gordon Craig Theatre in Stevenage.[16] She also performed at the Theatre Royal, Norwich during a production of Sleeping Beauty in 2017.[17][18]

Filmography
YearTitleRoleNotes
1994ChuckleVisionMrs. StoneEpisode: "Mind over Marrow"
1998CasualtyAmber StevensEpisode: "The Ties That Bind"
2003Holby CityCandice HollowayEpisode: "Can't Always Get What You Want"
2002–2003Sir Gadabout: The Worst Knight in the LandNanny2 series; main cast; 19 episodes
2003Calendar GirlsEddie's womanFilm
DoctorsCarolEpisode: "The Time Is Right"
2004HeartbeatBarbara SimnerEpisode: "Scent of a Kill"
2004–presentEastEndersJean SlaterSeries regular
2005Coronation StreetYvonne2 episodes
2006Dalziel and PascoePat RichardsonEpisodes: "A Death in the Family: Parts 1 & 2"
Silent WitnessDr. Angeline ParryEpisode: "Terminus: Part 1"
The BillSharon Little3 episodes
2007SpooksKaren DuganEpisode: "The Virus: Part 2"
2013Tamwar Tales – The Life of an Assistant Market InspectorJean SlaterEpisode: "Jean"
2015Holby CityLydia RathboneEpisode: "Tug of Love"

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Result Ref.
2011 Inside Soap Awards Funniest Performance Shortlisted [19]
2012 Inside Soap Awards Best Actress Won [20]
2013 TV Choice Awards Best Soap Actress Shortlisted [21]
2019 TV Choice Awards Best Soap Actress Shortlisted [22]
2019 The British Soap Awards Best Female Dramatic Performance Won [23]
2019 Inside Soap Awards Best Actress Shortlisted [24]
2019 I Talk Telly Awards Best Soap Performance Nominated [25]
2022 The British Soap Awards Best Leading Performer Shortlisted [26]
2022 The British Soap Awards Best Dramatic Performance Nominated [26]
2022 The British Soap Awards Best On-Screen Partnership (shared with Lacey Turner) Won [26]
2022 27th National Television Awards Serial Drama Performance Shortlisted [27]
2022 Inside Soap Awards Best Double Act (shared with Turner) Shortlisted [28]
2022 Inside Soap Awards Best Actress Won [29]
2022 TV Choice Awards Best Soap Actress Won [30]
2022 I Talk Telly Awards Best Soap Performance Nominated [31]

References
  1. Outhwaite, Tamzin (5 May 2016). "So on Wikipedia it says it's Gillian Wright's birthday today. Our company manager did all this, and We all signed a card . Gillian then revealed her real birthday to be in December. So we sang happy birthday and all had cake. Each cake has the name of someone who REALLY has a birthday today. Some lovely people who do not share their birthday with Gill. #gilliansfakebirthday". Instagram.
  2. "Gillian WRIGHT". Gov.uk. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  3. Harp, Justin (12 March 2019). "EastEnders' Gillian Wright earns huge praise for Jean Slater's breakdown scenes". Digital Spy. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  4. "BBC EastEnders: Gillian Wright's life from forgotten role on Coronation Street to short-lived marriage with famous musician and why she doesn't 'regret' not having children". MyLondon. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  5. "BBC EastEnders' star you probably didn't know became famous after appearing on ChuckleVision". MyLondon. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  6. "Gillian Wright – Credits". GillianWright.co.uk. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  7. "Jean Slater – BBC EastEnders". BBC. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  8. "EastEnders scoops mental health media award". Disability News Service. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  9. Green, Kris (29 April 2010). "Stacey and Jean to leave 'EastEnders'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
  10. Kilkelly, Daniel (25 November 2010). "Jean Slater to stay on 'EastEnders'". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi UK. Retrieved 25 November 2010.
  11. "2012 Winners « Inside Soap Magazine". Archived from the original on 31 July 2013. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
  12. Patterson, Stephen (19 December 2018). "From big returns to huge issues, how boss John Yorke has saved EastEnders". Metro. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  13. "Gillian Wright has won Best Female Dramatic Performance in the Soap Awards 2019". National Artists Management. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  14. "Let's talk about Walford and lots more besides as Gillian Wright comes to Berkhamsted to chat about her career". www.berkhamstedtoday.co.uk. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  15. "EastEnders Jean Slater actress Gillian Wright's very impressive career revealed". OK!. 15 March 2018. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  16. Dunne, Martin (23 November 2013). "Panto round-up: EastEnders star comes to town". The Comet. Archant Community Media. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  17. "Who plays Jean Slater in EastEnders and what else has she starred in?". Metro. 4 April 2023. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  18. "EastEnders stars in Snow White at Pavilion". Daily Echo. 6 July 2015. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  19. Millar, Paul (26 September 2011). "Inside Soap Awards 2011: The full winners list". Digital Spy.
  20. Kilkelly, Daniel (17 September 2012). "'Coronation Street' leads Inside Soap Awards 2012 shortlist". Digital Spy. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  21. Rigby, Sam (1 July 2013). "'Enders leads TVChoice soaps shortlist". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  22. "2019 Winners". TV Choice. Archived from the original on 10 September 2019. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  23. "Here are the British Soap Awards 2019 winners in full". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 25 April 2020. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  24. Harp, Justin (30 September 2019). "Inside Soap Awards 2019 full shortlist revealed – which stars are up for prizes?". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  25. Gonzalez, Elliot (2 November 2019). "I TALK TELLY AWARDS 2019 Nominees". I Talk Telly.
  26. Kilkelly, Daniel; Warner, Sam (11 June 2022). "British Soap Awards 2022 winners list - updated live". Digital Spy. (Hearst Communications). Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  27. Earp, Catherine (13 October 2022). "National Television Awards: Full winners list". Digital Spy. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
  28. Harp, Justin (10 October 2022). "Inside Soap Awards announce final shortlist for 2022 ceremony". Digital Spy. (Hearst Communications). Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  29. "EastEnders and Emmerdale win big at the Inside Soap Awards 2022". Digital Spy. 17 October 2022.
  30. Rodger, James (9 August 2022). "TV Choice Awards nominations list announced in full". Birmingham Mail. (Reach plc). Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  31. Gonzalez, Elliot (12 November 2022). "Mo Gilligan leads the I Talk Telly Awards 2022 Nominations". I Talk Telly.
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