Gemma Craven
Birthday: Born in 1950-06-01 in Dublin, Ireland
Deathday: Alive
Rita Gemma Craven (née Gabriel; born 1 June 1950) is an Irish actress. Her father, Gabriel, was a bus conductor and her mother, Lillian, was a dancer and comedienne on the music halls, Gemma made her debut at the age of 3 singing 'Out of my Heart' at the Marymont Hall in Dublin and won 1st prize. The family eventually moved to Westcliff on Sea when she was 9 and her father worked on Ford's production line. Gemma's first professional part was in 'The Flower Drum Song'at the Little Theatre then became ASM at the Palace Theatre, Westcliffwhich was her first full time job while her first professional stage role was in 'Cinderella' in 1960.
TV Credits
Father Ted
Character: Polly Clarke
A crazy comedy about three rather strange parish priests exiled to Craggy Island, a remote island off the Irish west coast....
The Bill
Character:
The daily lives of the men and women at Sun Hill Police Station as they fight crime on the streets of London. From bomb threats to armed robbery and drug raids to the routine demands of policing this ground-breaking series focuses as much on crime as it does on the personal lives of its characters....
3-2-1
Character:
3–2–1 was a popular British game show that was made by Yorkshire Television for ITV. It ran for ten years, between 29 July 1978 and 24 December 1988, with former Butlins Redcoat Ted Rogers as the host. It was based on a Spanish gameshow called Un, dos, tres... responda otra vez and was three shows in one, a quiz show, a variety show and a game show. The show was a huge success consistently pulling in large ratings. The first series, though, intended as a summer filler, attracted up to 16.5 mill...
Robin of Sherwood
Character: Lilith
Robin of Sherwood was a British television series, based on the legend of Robin Hood. Created by Richard Carpenter, it was produced by HTV in association with Goldcrest, and ran from 1984 to 1986 on the ITV network. In America it was retitled Robin Hood and shown on the premium cable TV channel Showtime and on PBS. The show starred Michael Praed and Jason Connery as two different incarnations of the title character. Unlike previous adaptations of the Robin Hood legend, Robin of Sherwood combined...
Pennies from Heaven
Character: Joan Parker
Pennies From Heaven is a 1978 BBC television drama serial written by Dennis Potter. The title is taken from a song of the same name written by Johnny Burke and Arthur Johnston. It was one of several Potter serials to mix the reality of the drama with a dark fantasy content, and the earliest of his works where the characters burst into miming to popular 1930s songs....
My Life in Film
Character: Mrs Jones
Art is an independent film-maker with big ideas... sadly nobody will listen to these ideas, with the exception of his best friend Jones. The series follows Art as his overactive imagination turns every day into a cinematic classic, with homages to 'Top Gun' and 'The Shining' to name but a few....
Heartbeat
Character: Judy Dean
Set during the 1960s in the fictional North Yorkshire village of Aidensfield, this enduringly popular series interweaves crime and medical storylines....
Midsomer Murders
Character: Judy Hicks
The peacefulness of the Midsomer community is shattered by violent crimes, suspects are placed under suspicion, and it is up to a veteran DCI and his young sergeant to calmly and diligently eliminate the innocent and ruthlessly pursue the guilty. ...
Movie Credits
The Hole
Character: Mrs. Dunn
Four teenagers at a British private school secretly uncover and explore the depths of a sealed underground hole created decades ago as a possible bomb shelter....
The 50 Greatest Television Dramas
Character: Self
Boasting an amazing selection of the most watched, most influential and most highly acclaimed programmes ever made, The 50 Greatest Television Dramas presents a long overdue assessment of the rich heritage television drama has to offer. Channel 4 invited over 200 of Britain's top television drama professionals – writers, directors, producers and commissioners – to take part in an exclusive poll to discover what they consider the finest dramas ever produced....
The Slipper and the Rose
Character: Cinderella
Prince Edward wants to marry for love, but the King and court of the kingdom of Euphrania are anxious for the prince to wed no matter what. When the prince meets Cinderella at a ball, he's sure she's the one, and when she loses her slipper upon exiting the dance, the prince is determined to find and marry her....
She Loves Me
Character: Amalia Balash
BBC production of the 1963 Broadway musical which was based on Ernst Lubitsch's 1940 film "The Shop Around The Corner."...
Double X: The Name of the Game
Character: Jenny Eskridge
Expert safecracker Arthur Clutten masterminds heists for a criminal syndicate he belongs to. But after witnessing the brutal methods of persuasion being meted out by gang leader, Ignatius Smith Clutten decides to quit. But he realizes the gang would sooner see him killed than quitting. After stealing some documents incriminating Smith and his boss, Edward Ross, Clutten then puts his family in hiding and goes on the run...but his daughter has been kidnapped by the gang and a hitman has been hired...
East Lynne
Character: Barbara Hare
Adaptation of the novel by Mrs Henry Wood....
The Last Bus Home
Character: Reena's Mother
Though it is late in the punk rock movement, four Dublin youths get together in 1979 to form their own band. Accurately recounting the energy and rawness of the era, this drama follows their tumultuous and ill-fated journey on the rocky road to success. It takes three long years of unpaid performing for Reena, her lover Jessop, bassist Joe and drummer Petie to make a name for The Dead Patriots. Just as they are about to find real success, internal difficulties arise that leave each of them suspi...
Words Upon the Window Pane
Character: Mrs. Mallet
In 1928 Dublin, during séances concerning Jonathan Swift, the spirits of his former lovers, Stella and Vanessa, emerge to resume their ancient quarrel....
Why Not Stay For Breakfast?
Character: Louise Hamilton
The peaceful existence of a New York post-office clerk is interrupted by the unexpected arrival of a heavily pregnant girl on his doorstep...