Kathryn Apanowicz

Kathryn Apanowicz (born 1960) is a British actress best known for her 1980s television appearances in the BBC soap operas, "Angels", where she played Nurse Rose Butchins, and "EastEnders", where she played the caterer, Magda Czajkowski. She has also had minor roles in "Emmerdale" and "Coronation Street", and as a child appeared in the film "Bugsy Malone". Before being cast in these shows, Apanowicz had worked in children's programmes for Yorkshire Television with Mark Curry.

In the early 1990s she presented talk-based magazine programme "Afternoon Live" for cable channel Wire TV. In 2000, she enjoyed a brief stint as one of the presenters of ITV1's daytime magazine show for women, "Live Talk". She is currently both a presenter for BBC Radio Leeds, and a guest presenter for BBC Radio York.

From 1994 to 2005, she was the partner of "Countdown" host, the late Richard Whiteley. After his death, she published a biography of Whiteley titled "Richard by Kathryn". Apanowicz also became friends with Whiteley's "Countdown" co-host Carol Vorderman. In July 2008 Apanowicz made numerous appearances in the British media lambasting Channel 4 bosses for their refusal to negotiate an acceptable pay deal with Vorderman, which had resulted in her departure from the show.

Vision Aid Overseas

Three pairs of Richard Whiteley's spectacles were donated by Kathryn to optical charity Vision Aid Overseas (VAO), who sent them with a team of optical professionals to Ethiopia. VAO is a charity dedicated to helping people in the developing world whose lives are blighted by poor eyesight, particularly where spectacles can help. After setting up an eyecare clinic, the VAO team found three Ethiopians whose eyes fitted Richard’s prescription. The BBC followed this story on their Inside Out programme which was broadcast on September 19th 2007.

External links

*imdb name|id=0031913|name=Kathryn Apanowicz
* [http://www.vao.org.uk Vision Aid Overseas]