Kathy Burke

Katherine Lucy Bridget Burke (born 13 June 1964, Camden) is an English actress, comedienne, playwright and theatre director. She was born at the Royal Free Hospital in London, and raised in Islington. Her mother died of cancer when she was two, and she was raised by neighbours (The Galvin Family) for the following few years. Subsequently, she returned to live with her father, a violent alcoholic, who died of cancer in the 1990s. Burke attended th... more

Katherine Lucy Bridget Burke (born 13 June 1964, Camden) is an English actress, comedienne, playwright and theatre director. She was born at the Royal Free Hospital in London, and raised in Islington. Her mother died of cancer when she was two, and she was raised by neighbours (The Galvin Family) for the following few years. Subsequently, she returned to live with her father, a violent alcoholic, who died of cancer in the 1990s. Burke attended the Maria Fidelis RC Convent School. She has two brothers. Burke's first role was in the controversial 1983 film Scrubbers, directed by Swedish actress Mai Zetterling and featuring Pam St. Clement, Robbie Coltrane, Miriam Margolyes, Honey Bane, Debby Bishop and Eva Mottley. The movie was set in a young offenders' institute for girls and was seen as a female version of the infamous Scum. Burke first became familiar to television audiences as a player of minor roles in sketches by better-known performers such as Harry Enfield, Dawn French and... less