Gemma Bissix
| Gemma Bissix | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Gemma Bissix 6 June 1983 Chertsey, Surrey, England |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1993–present |
| Television |
EastEnders Hollyoaks Dancing on Ice |
Gemma Bissix (born 6 June 1983) is an English actress. She has been acting since the age of 9. Her most prominent roles have been in soap operas, as Clare Bates in EastEnders (1993–1998, 2008) and Clare Devine in Hollyoaks (2006–2007, 2009, 2013); she was awarded with two British Soap Awards for the latter role. Away from soap opera, Bissix has appeared in various television programmes and she competed in the 2009 series of Dancing on Ice. She has appeared in various pantomimes. On 5 February 2013 it was confirmed that Bissix would reprise her role as villain Clare Devine, and made her final appearance in the soap on 16th October 2013, after the character of Clare was killed-off.
Bissix was born in St Peters Hospital in Chertsey and is the eldest of five siblings. Her parents divorced when she was 11. She was brought up in Elmbridge, Surrey and attended Thames Ditton Middle School and Hinchley Wood School.
Bissix began smoking at the age of 11; she quit in 2009 at the age of 25 and lent her support to the NHS "Stop Smoking Service" to promote No Smoking Day, but has since started again which her parents let her do. She is a patron of the White Lodge Centre for disabled adults and children in Chertsey, and hosts charity auctions at her father's bar, Reds, in Weybridge.
Bissix began her acting career at a young age. At the age of nine, in 1993, she was cast as Clare Tyler (later Bates), the daughter of Debbie Tyler (Nicola Duffett) and stepdaughter of Nigel Bates (Paul Bradley), in the long-running BBC soap opera, EastEnders. Her first acting role, Bissix had received no formal training, and has since commented, "that was my training [...] quite a lot of people [attend] drama school, I was trained by EastEnders."
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