Misplaced Pages

Catherine Joy White is an English actress, producer, author and gender advisor for the United Nations (UN). White began her career with the UN as an intern whilst studying at university, later becoming a contracted advisor for them. She then made her debut as an actress in 2019, and set up her own production company, Kusini Productions, which saw her receive an accolade at the British Urban Film Festival for one of her short films. She has also authored a non-fiction novel, This Thread of Gold, which was published in 2023.

Life and career

Catherine Joy White was born to a Jamaican mother and an English father, alongside sister Laura and another sister. She grew up in Northampton, but also spent time in Wales and Yorkshire, where her mother and father descended from, respectively. White later lived between Paris and Geneva intermittently. White obtained degrees in English and French at the University of Warwick from 2012 to 2016. During her time at Warwick, she taught in Madagascar, worked as an English language assistant at a French secondary school, translated for a French magazine, completed an internship with the UK government and became an intern at UNESCO. Then from 2016 to 2017, she obtained a Women's Studies degree from the University of Oxford, in which she achieved a high distinction. During this, she continued her work with UNESCO, becoming a freelance contractor specialised in gender work.

In 2018, White began acting in theatre productions including Shudder, The Watsons and Petroleuse. Then in 2019, White made her television debut in an episode of the BBC soap opera Doctors. A year later, she set up her own production company, Kusini Productions. The aim of her company is to be a female-led platform created to champion voices of Black women. In 2021, Dialogue Books signed a deal with White to publish a narrative and an essay collection about Black women. From 2021 to 2022, White appeared in a recurring role on the Channel 4 comedy series Threesome. In 2022, White was included in Forbes 30 Under 30 list and appeared in the Prime serie Ten Percent. In 2023, White released her first novel with Dialogue, a non-fiction book that is centred around historical Black women. It received critical acclaim, with i newspaper describing it as "an essential new book". A chapter of the book is set to be adapted into an animated short film, To My Daughter, which she wrote and will direct. She wrote the chapter after she was enraged about Roe v. Wade was overturned in America.

Filmography

Stage

Bibliography

• This Thread of Gold (2023)

Awards and nominations

References

1. "Season 3 Episode 2 - Actress, Director and Filmmaker Catherine White". Coffee with Karina. SoundCloud. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
2. ^ "Fierce Females no.28: Catherine Joy White, Filmmaker, Writer & founder of Kusini Productions". Slo Active. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
3. White, Laura (18 June 2020). "I am mixed race. Dual heritage. Biracial. And I am whole. I am a cocktail of fried dumplings for breakfast and walks in the Yorkshire moors. Of middle class and working class, of large family and of small. Of gospel music and carnival dance and singing we'll meet again. Of a small British town and the Jamaican countryside, that moved to Wales to start again. Of hair that's free and refuses to stay put no matter how much I used to will it straight. Of Christmas filled with noise and of laughter and debates. From a Northern soul and a Jamaican heart came three children born of love. I am mixed race. Dual heritage. Biracial. And I am whole" – via Instagram.
4. ^ "Cat White". Curtis Brown. Archived from the original on 15 August 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
5. ^ "Catherine Joy White" (in French). LinkedIn. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
6. "Trapped". BBC. Archived from the original on 4 September 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
7. "Viaplay Orders Second Season Of Threesome". Nordik Drama. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
8. "How Wild Swimming As A Black Woman Helped Me Heal From My Grief". Refinery29. 28 September 2021. Archived from the original on 18 August 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
9. "Dialogue snaps up narrative and essay collection from White". The Bookseller. 8 July 2021. Archived from the original on 24 December 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
10. "Viaplay's next Original is season two of 'Threesome'". Cision. 19 May 2022. Archived from the original on 19 May 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
11. "News". Dean Leon Anderson. Archived from the original on 19 March 2019. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
12. "Cat White". Forbes. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
13. Roberton, Kirsten (18 June 2023). "Writer's 'call to arms' to recover the true history of Black women". Metro. (DMG Media). Archived from the original on 22 June 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
14. Villar, Franchescha (16 June 2023). "In Commemoration Of Windrush 75, Here Are The Remarkable Stories That Brixton Village Has To Tell". Secret London. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
15. Bonet, Anna (2 June 2023). "The best new books in June 2023, from the latest EL James to Rob Rinder's debut novel". i. Archived from the original on 2 June 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
16. Ravindran, Manori (30 June 2023). "Gugu Mbatha-Raw to Lead Voice Cast of 'To My Daughter' Short on Black Womanhood (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
17. White, Cat. "#BlackMirror is out todaaaay!". Instagram. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
18. "Cat White CV". Curtis Brown. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
19. "Cat White and Laurence Ubong Williams start rehearsals for The Watsons at Chichester Festival Theatre". University of Oxford. 25 September 2018. Archived from the original on 3 December 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
20. "5 reasons to see 'Petroleuse' at Evolution 2019". Lyric Theatre. 20 February 2019. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
21. "Women of Paradise at Trafalgar Studios Review". London Theatre. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
22. "Forbes 30 Under 30 2022: Entertainment". Forbes. Archived from the original on 8 October 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
23. Morris, Colleen. "FIFTY-FOUR DAYS". CollenMorris. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
24. Morris, Colleen. "FIFTY-FOUR DAYS". CollenMorris. Retrieved 25 June 2023.

External links

• Official website
• Cat White at IMDb

• 1993 births
• 21st-century English actresses
• 21st-century English novelists
• 21st-century English women writers
• Alumni of the University of Oxford
• Alumni of the University of Warwick
• Black British actresses
• English film producers
• English soap opera actresses
• English stage actresses
• English television actresses
• English women novelists
• Living people
• Actresses from Northampton