Kitty McGeever
| Kitty McGeever | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Catherine Jane Mitchell 15 October 1966 Bramley, Leeds, England, UK |
| Died | 16 August 2015 (aged 48) Bradford, England, UK |
| Cause of death |
Diabetic retinopathy Kidney failure |
| Other names | Kate McGeever Kate McGreever |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Known for |
Emmerdale (1972) (1997) B. Monkey (1998) |
Catherine Jane Mitchell (15 October 1966 – 16 August 2015), known professionally as Kitty McGeever, was an English actress and comedian.
She was the first blind actress to be cast in a British soap opera, playing the fictional character Lizzie Lakely in Emmerdale from April 2009 to March 2013.
Born in Bramley, Leeds, McGeever grew up in Liversedge and Farsley, West Yorkshire. She changed her name from Catherine Mitchell to Kitty McGeever as there was already an actress named Catherine Mitchell. She trained at RADA and became diabetic at age 19.
McGeever became pregnant in 2001, but developed pre-eclampsia. Her son Felix was born two months early; he spent some time in a special care baby unit. At the age of four months, he suddenly became very ill, having problems with his heart and lungs. During her son's illness, McGeever also became ill due to the stress — her kidneys stopped working, she had heart trouble and diabetic retinopathy caused her to begin to lose her sight. Laser treatment was ineffective; five months later she was blind at the age of 32. Her son Felix died in January 2003, aged fifteen months. She was given a kidney transplant in a successful 12-hour operation. Following her recovery, she contacted her agent in 2008 and suggested that she was ready to begin performing again and would consider television.
She was spotted by production staff from the soap Emmerdale when she was appearing in a one-woman stage show where she talked about her life as a blind woman. They approached her with a view to creating an authentic blind character for Emmerdale, to be played by McGeever, who would also develop the part. She first appeared as former criminal Lizzie Lakely in Emmerdale on 28 April 2009, at the age of 42; Lakely was the first permanent blind character in a British soap. She was given her scripts as sound recordings and had two government-sponsored assistants to guide her around the studios; they also guided her through the sets during rehearsals and ensured continuity between recordings.
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