Haydn Gwynne

Biography

Haydn Gwynne (born 1960) is a BAFTA, Tony Award and Olivier Award nominated British actress Personal life Born in Hurstpierpoint, Sussex to father Guy Thomas Hayden-Gwynne, she played county level tennis before studying Modern Languages at the University of Nottingham,[1] and is fluent in French and Italian. She then took a five year lectureship in Italy at the University of Rome La Sapienza, where she taught English. Gwynne lives in London with her partner, Jungian psychotherapist Jason Phipps, and their two sons, Orlando (born 1997) and Harrison (born 2000). She also undertakes voluntary work for the charity Sightsavers International, a group committed to combating blindness in developing countries. [edit] Career Gwynne became an actress in her mid-twenties, with her past reflected in her first prominent television role as feminist lecturer Dr Robyn Penrose in the BBC dramatisation of David Lodge's Nice Work in 1989. Her first high profile comedy role was in Drop the Dead Donkey in 1990. She later became a regular in Peak Practice, first appearing at the start of Series 7 (Episode 1) in 1999 as Dr Joanna Graham. The character of Dr Joanna Graham was written out of the show at the end of Series 9 (Episode 13) when she was fatally shot whilst intervening in a conflict between a man and his daughter. After Peak Practice Gwynne went on to star in Merseybeat in 2001. Her theatre work has included a variety of regional and London based appearances, from Bolton Octagon in Hedda Gabler, to Richard Cheshire's Way of the World appearing in London's West End productions of Ziegfeld and Billy Elliot the Musical at the Victoria Palace Theatre, for which she was nominated for an Olivier Award.[1] She reprised her role as Mrs Wilkinson in the Broadway production of Billy Elliot, which opened at the Imperial Theatre on November 13, 2008.[2] Haydn has been awarded the Outer Critics Circle Award, Theatre World Award, and Drama Desk Award for her performance in Billy Elliot. She was also nominated for a 2009 Tony Award. Gwynne has also performed in numerous productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company. Her television appearances are now more focused on shorter dramas, such as the role of Julius Caesar's wife, Calpurnia, in the TV series Rome. She also appeared in the first Christmas special episode of Midsomer Murders. She has most recently starred in an episode of Lewis in the first of a new series (2008). She appeared in the first episode of Series 2, "And the Moonbeams Kiss the Sea", playing the character of Sandra Walters.