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Lesley Joseph
Joseph in Cardiff, Wales, May 2011
Born	Lesley Diana Joseph (1945-10-14) 14 October 1945 (age 79) Finsbury Park, London, England
Occupation(s)	Broadcaster, actress
Years active	1964–
Television	Birds of a Feather
Height	5 ft 2 in (1.57 m)
Children	2

Lesley Diana Joseph (born 14 October 1945) is an English actress and broadcaster, whose career on stage and screen spans over fifty years. She is best known for playing Dorien Green in the television sitcom Birds of a Feather from 1989 to 1998 and again from 2014 to 2020. Other television credits include Absurd Person Singular (1985) and Night and Day (2001–2003).

Her stage roles include UK touring productions of Thoroughly Modern Millie (2005), Calendar Girls (2011) and Annie (2015). In 2018, she was nominated for the Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical, for the original West End production of Young Frankenstein.

Early life

Joseph was born on 14 October 1945, in Finsbury Park, Haringey, London, England. She grew up in Kingsthorpe, Northampton and attended Northampton School for Girls.

Career

Stage

In May 1973, Joseph appeared in Godspell at the Pavilion Theatre, Bournemouth.

Joseph appeared in Cinderella at Theatre Royal, Plymouth in 2008 and the Orchard Theatre in Dartford in 2009 and starred as Myra Wilson in the UK Tour of Hot Flush!. In 2014, Hot Flush! embarked on its third UK tour.

From 4 December 2010 to 22 January 2011, she appeared at The Grand Opera House, Belfast as the Wicked Queen in the pantomime Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

In the Summer of 2011, Joseph appeared as Chris in the stage show Calendar Girls, based on the film of the same name.

Between 2014 and 2015, she performed at the Theatre Royal Nottingham as the Wicked Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

In 2015, she appeared as Miss Hannigan in the stage production of Annie at certain venues, sharing the role with Jodie Prenger and Elaine C Smith she was cast as the fairy godmother in Cinderella at the cliffs pavilion (Southend on sea). In 2016/17, she was part of the cast in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth. Joseph then portrayed Frau Blucher in the West End production of Young Frankenstein.

Between 2022 and 2024, Joseph starred in Sister Act: The Musical, playing the roles of Sister Mary Lazarus and Mother Superior.

Birds of a Feather

From 1989 to 1998, Joseph played Dorien Green in the BBC One sitcom Birds of a Feather, alongside Pauline Quirke and Linda Robson.

In December 2011, it was confirmed that Joseph would reunite with fellow Birds of a Feather cast members, Quirke and Robson, for a theatre adaptation of the series. The trio toured the United Kingdom from May to July 2012. Following the success of the stage adaption, a new series of Birds of a Feather was commissioned after the rights had been acquired by ITV. The new series began airing on 2 January 2014 for eight episodes. To promote the return of the series, Joseph, Quirke and Robson appeared as guest panellists on Loose Women on 16 January 2014.

In March 2015, it was confirmed that a second series of Birds of a Feather had been commissioned by ITV which began airing in December. Following this, a third series was commissioned and aired in early 2016, Joseph appeared in three more Christmas specials airing in 2016, 2017 and 2020 respectively, before the show's cancellation was announced in May 2021.

Further TV work

Joseph starred in the ITV soap Night and Day from 2001 to 2003 playing the show's resident bitch, Rachel Culgrin. In 2002, Joseph appeared on a special edition of What Not to Wear, where she was given a makeover by Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine. In 2004, she performed in The Vagina Monologues opposite Linda Robson and Mica Paris.

Since 2009, she has been a regular newspaper reviewer on This Morning. She appeared in the 2014 series Secrets of the Asylum, a two-part series for ITV. In 2015, Joseph took part in ITV's celebrity sheep herding series Flockstars, beginning on 30 July.

In 2014, Joseph appeared with Forrest Dunbar on ITV2's Freshers: A Year On. She makes frequent appearances on Channel 5's Big Brother's Bit on the Side.

On 22 August 2016, it was announced that Joseph would take part in the fourteenth series of Strictly Come Dancing. She was partnered with Anton du Beke. In their first week, the couple scored 23 points for their waltz to "What'll I Do", in week two, 26 for their cha-cha-cha to "Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps", in week three, 27 for their quickstep for "A Couple of Swells" from Easter Parade and in week four, 31 for their Charleston to "Won't You Charleston with Me?" from The Boy Friend. The couple left the series in week five, after scoring 24 for their tango to "Whatever Lola Wants".

She was one of the four competitors who appeared in the special Christmas edition of The Great British Sewing Bee that was transmitted on New Year's Eve 2020 on BBC 1. Her fellow competitors in the programme were Sabrina Grant, Sally Phillips and The Vivienne.

In 2022, Joseph won the seventh series of Celebrity Coach Trip alongside her Birds of a Feather co-star Linda Robson.

Radio

Joseph began presenting a radio show in 2008 on BBC London 94.9 with Christopher Biggins, airing every Sunday between 9 am to 12 noon. Biggins left the show after a few months, however Joseph has continued to host. She also stood in for Vanessa Feltz on her weekday morning talk show whilst Feltz was on holiday.

Personal life

Joseph is Jewish. She has two children.

Joseph's mother, Rebecca Mundy (née Maccoby), was born in May 1912 and died in March 2016, aged 103.

Filmography

Stage

References

1. Rubinstein, W.D.; Jolles, M.; Rubinstein, H.L. (2011). The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 491. ISBN 9781403939104. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
2. "A 'homecoming' for Lesley Joseph". www.bbc.co.uk. 22 April 2008. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
3. BBC. "A 'homecoming' for Lesley Joseph". Retrieved 7 January 2017.
4. "Brighton Theatre Royal - Godspell - 1972 - Jess Conrad 1970s Theatre Show Programme 72 [T02111] : THEATRE MEMORABILIA .co.uk, Theatre Programmes for Sale UK Dealer".
5. Cole, Emily (21 April 2017). "Hadley Fraser, Summer Strallen & More to Star in London's Young Frankenstein". Broadway.com. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
6. "Lesley Joseph - Sister Act: The Musical". Sister Act: The Musical. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
7. "Birds of a Feather". BBC. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
8. "'Birds of A Feather' reunion tour dates announced". Digital Spy. 16 December 2011. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
9. "Birds of a Feather cast takeover Loose Women and reveal they felt "like they've never been away"". Daily Mirror. 16 January 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
10. "Birds of a Feather renewed for series 12". Digital Spy. 12 March 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
11. Seddon, Paul (16 May 2021). "ITV announces Birds of a Feather has been cancelled following Pauline Quirke's exit". Digital Spy. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
12. "The Vagina Monologues – coming soon". BBC. 11 August 2004. Retrieved 3 May 2009.
13. "Flock Stars: Lesley to fleece 'em in Britain's search for our best shepherd". 27 April 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
14. "Who is Lesley Joseph? Strictly Come Dancing 2016 contestant guide". Radio Times. 6 November 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
15. "Lesley Joseph becomes fifth celebrity to be voted off Strictly Come Dancing". ITV. 23 October 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
16. "The Great British Sewing Bee". BBC. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
17. "I'm Birds of a Feather stars back together on Celebrity Coach Trip". The List. 19 October 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
18. "Lesley Joseph Lesley Joseph BBC London 94.9's version of those glossy supplements in your Sunday newspaper!". BBC. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
19. "How We Met: Maureen Lipman & Lesley Joseph – Profiles – People". The Independent. 11 July 2009. Archived from the original on 14 June 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
20. Wolfisz, Francine. "'I blessed the Pope - just like any good Jewish girl would do!'". Jewish News. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
21. Martin, Tricia (7 April 2019). "Lesley Joseph on not feeling her age, and being cheeky to the Pope". Daily Mirror.
22. Norford, Olga, "SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS", Music in Disney's Animated Features, University Press of Mississippi, pp. 56–78, doi:10.2307/j.ctv5jxpcg.8, retrieved 8 January 2023

External links

• Lesley Joseph at IMDb
• Lesley Joseph at the British Film Institute

• 1945 births
• English stage actresses
• English television actresses
• Jewish English actresses
• Living people
• Actresses from Northampton
• Actresses from London
• People from Finsbury Park
• English women radio presenters
• English broadcasters
• Actors from the London Borough of Haringey