Sarah Lancashire

Sarah Lancashire
Lancashire at the 2013 British Academy Television Awards
Born	(1964-10-10) 10 October 1964 (age 52) Oldham, Lancashire, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1987–present
Spouse(s)	Gary Hargreaves Peter Salmon (2001–present)
Children	3 sons
Relatives	Geoffrey Lancashire (father)

Sarah Lancashire (born 10 October 1964) is an English television, film and theatre actress, from Oldham. She trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, graduating in 1986. To support herself, she taught drama at Salford University for five years alongside her acting career. Following a stint in the musical Blood Brothers in London's West-End in 1990, Lancashire was cast as Raquel Wolstenhulme in the long-running ITV soap opera Coronation Street in 1991. After leaving the series in 1996, Lancashire found further success with roles in Where the Heart Is (1997–1999), Clocking Off (2000) and the television film Seeing Red (2000). In the summer of 2000, Lancashire signed a two-year golden handcuffs contract with ITV, making her the highest paid actress in UK television.

In 2004, Lancashire made her directorial debut on the anthology series The Afternoon Play. Subsequent acting roles included costume dramas such as the 2007 television adaption of Oliver Twist, Lark Rise to Candleford (2008–2011) and the 2012 television series The Paradise. In 2011, she played the female lead in the musical Betty Blue Eyes, for which she received an Olivier Award nomination. For her role as Caroline in the contemporary drama series Last Tango in Halifax (2012–), Lancashire won the British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2014. In 2014, Lancashire earned further accolades for her leading role as sergeant Catherine Cawood in the crime thriller series Happy Valley.