Julie Fernandez

Julie Fernandez (born April 20, 1974) is a British actress, best known as Brenda, her award-winning role on the BBC comedy "The Office". She is also a model.

Fernandez was born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta and requires the use of a wheelchair. Her acting career began in 1992 when she starred as "Vanessa Lockhead" in the short-lived BBC soap opera "Eldorado". She went on to play Sean Maguire's girlfriend in BBC1 drama "Dangerfield" before landing the role of Brenda in "The Office".

Fernandez is a prominent disability rights activist in the United Kingdom and has supported campaigns for the Disability Rights Commission. She set up The Disability Foundation, a British pan-disability charity boasting one of the largest disability information databases in the UK. In January 2003, she co-hosted the opening ceremony for the European Year of People with Disabilities in Athens.

In 2004, Fernandez formed a television production company called The Wheelie Good Company and spent the time since working on new programme ideas. The company was set up by Fernandez to improve the representation of disabled people in the media but no longer focus on disability-related material.

She appeared as a regular guest on the quiz show "HeadJam".

External links

* [http://www.juliefernandez.com/ Julie Fernandez's Official Website]
*imdb name|0272994
* [http://www.disabilitynow.org.uk/search/z02_07_Jy/profile.htm 'Disability Now' Interview: "Ready for prime time"]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/ouch/features/fernandez.shtml BBC Interview]
* [http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/09/09/nlaw09.xml "Daily Telegraph" Article]