Linda Davidson

Infobox actor
name = Linda Davidson


imagesize =
caption =
birthname = Lynda Davidson
birthdate = birth date and age|1964|6|18
location = flagicon|Canada Toronto, Ontario, Canada
yearsactive = 1985-1993
notable role = Mary Smith in "EastEnders"

Linda Davidson (born 18 June, 1964 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian-British former actress. She is best known for playing the wayward punk, Mary Smith in the BBC soap opera, "EastEnders". Mary was one of the serial's original characters and Davidson played her from March 1985 to May 1988. Away from "EastEnders" Davidson has appeared in various television programmes and on stage, but she gave up performing in the 1990s.

Career

Before she became an actress she was a dancer (her mother was a soloist with the Ballet Rambert), but she later attended drama school, the Italia Conti Academy in London, and moved into television acting.cite book |last= Kingsley|first= Hilary|title= The EastEnders Handbook |year=1990|publisher=BBC books|id=ISBN 0-563-206010-563-36292-8-2]

Her big television break came in 1985, when she secured the role of Mary Smith, in the fledgling BBC serial drama, "EastEnders". During Davidson's time on the show her character was involved in storylines about prostitution, unemployment, drugs and the confiscation of her child, Annie, by social services.

After she quit "EastEnders" in 1988, Davidson went on to star in "First of the Summer Wine" (1988); "Bulman"; "Casualty" (1990); "House of Elliot" (1992); "Maria's Child" (1992) and lots of theatre including the first West End revival of the "The Rocky Horror Show" (1990), playing Columbia.cite news|url= http://www.sanityfortoday.com/1990londonrhs.html|title= Richard O'Brien's THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW The Whole Gory Story:1990 London Revival Cast|publisher="Sanityfortoday.com"| accessdate=2007-09-12]

Davidson has now given up acting and worked as a TV sitcom writer, director and voiceover specialist, before becoming a web consultant.cite news|url= http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/is_20060716/ai_n16539502/pg_1|title= SQUARE ARE THEY NOW?|publisher="Sunday Mirror"| date = 2006-07-16| accessdate=2007-09-12] cite news|url= http://www.people.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=16721472&method=full&siteid=93463&headline=square-are-they-now---name_page.html|title= SQUARE ARE THEY NOW?|publisher="The People"| date = 2006-02-19| accessdate=2007-09-12] She has worked as the editor of E4 Interactive and in the mid 90s she worked for BBC online, where she was in charge of the "EastEnders" website and all drama websites.

Personal life

Davidson emigrated from Canada to Southport, Lancashire, England as a child. She now resides in London.

She once dated her "EastEnders" co-star Nejdet Salih, who played Ali Osman, but they split amidst reports that he beat her. [cite news|url= http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/is_20060716/ai_n16539502/pg_2|title= SQUARE ARE THEY NOW?|publisher="Sunday Mirror"| date = 2006-07-16| accessdate=2007-09-12] She has since married Robin Green, a television floor manager and they have one son together.

Selected Television Roles

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0203416|name=Linda Davidson