Nina Conti

Nina Joelene Conti (born 5 June 1974) is an English actress, comedian and ventriloquist. Her primary on-stage puppets are a white-haired Scottish grandmother named Granny and a deadpan monkey named Monk.

Conti was born and raised in Hampstead, London, the daughter of actors Tom Conti and Kara Wilson. She was educated at King Alfred School, London, and graduated with a First Class Honours Degree in Philosophy from the University of East Anglia in 1995.

Conti has worked as an actress since 1996. She appeared in several roles in Daisy and Ken Campbell's 1999 and 2000 productions of The Warp, Neil Oram's 24-hour play cycle, and was a member of the RSC's 2000/2001 company in Stratford and London. Ken Campbell subsequently devised the ventriloquist play Let Me Out!!! for her, which she took to the 2001 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. She appeared as half-Afghan camera operator Azadine in Henry Naylor's play Finding Bin Laden at the 2003 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In 2005, Conti voiced Latrina in the animated comedy series Bromwell High.

Conti has appeared in several television shows, including Black Books, Holby City, Single, and the Australian panel show Spicks and Specks. Her radio performances include characters in Radio 4 comedy Clare in the Community.