SARAH Lancashire won our hearts as the ditsy but lovable barmaid Raquel in Coronation Street before becoming one of the UK’s most sort after actresses.
She has been a fan favourite since she burst onto our screens and tottered up the cobbles and has gone on to forge an amazing and award-winning career.
How old is Sarah Lancashire?
Sarah is 57 years old and was born in Lancashire, funnily enough, in the town of Oldham, on October 10, 1964.
The actress has three brothers – one her twin, one older and one younger.
Her father Geoffrey was a television scriptwriter for Coronation Street and The Cuckoo Waltz and her mother Hilda was his personal assistant.
Sarah was educated at Oldham Hulme Grammar School and started battling depression at the age of 17.
Is Sarah Lancashire married?
When she was 22, she married music lecturer Gary Hargreaves, her first serious boyfriend, who was 11 years her senior and who she had been dating for four years.
They had a son, Thomas, in 1987 before another son, Matthew, followed in 1989.
But unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be as she and Gary separated in 1995 before eventually divorcing.
In 2001, Sarah married TV producer and executive Peter Salmon with whom she has a son, Joseph, born in 2003.
How did Sarah Lancashire get into acting?
Sarah was offered a place at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and graduated in 1986.
She was given her first job with the Manchester Library Theatre Company, which got her an Equity card.
And as she had big gaps between work, Sarah worked as a drama teacher at Salford University to support herself.
Sarah got her big break when she landed the role of Linda in the West End production of Blood Brothers at the Albery Theatre in 1990.
How did Sarah Lancashire become a household name?
In 1991, two weeks after her run in Blood Brothers came to an end, she landed the part of Raquel Wolstenhulme, a colleague of Norman ‘Curly’ Watts, played by Kevin Kennedy, in Coronation Street.
She proved to be an instant hit with fans of the soap, even more so when Raquel and Curly married, and starred in the spin-off Coronation Street- The Cruise, which focused on their honeymoon.
Sarah quit the soap in 1996 and her final scenes attracted 20 million viewers.
What is Sarah Lancashire working on now?
It has been revealed that Sarah will star as the famous French chef and host, Julia Child, in HBO Max's new drama series, Julia, along with fellow cast members – David Hyde Pierce, Bebe Neuwirth, Brittany Bradford, Fran Kranz and Fiona Glascott.
The show is set to debut on March 31, 2022, with guest stars including; Isabella Rossellini, Judith Light, Robert Joy, and more.
"We are so happy to help bring the incomparable Julia Child back to the small screen, when we need her more than ever," Sarah Aubrey, Head of Original Content at HBO Max said in a 2021, prepared statement.
“This show’s look into her life, marriage and trailblazing career as she transformed the way we talk about food is an absolute delight.
"Our incredible cast and formidable creative team are a recipe for success, and we couldn’t be more excited.”
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What else has Sarah Lancashire starred in?
After Corrie, Sarah went on to star as district nurse Ruth Goddard in ITV drama Where the Heart Is before making a guest appearance on the dark comedy series Murder Most Horrid.
After she quit Where the Heart Is in in 1999, she returned to Corrie for a one-off episode which starred just her and Kennedy, in which Raquel asks Curly for a divorce.
Sarah then landed the role of factory employee Yvonne in the BBC One drama series Clocking Off and then starred in legal sitcom Chambers after playing an actress in the TV film Seeing Red.
In the summer of 2000, ITV sought to secure her with a golden handcuffs deal which was worth £1.3million and made her the highest paid actress on British television.
Her first role under the new contract was in six-part drama The Glass where she starred opposite John Thaw before appearing in the two-part psychological drama The Cry.
In recent years she has narrated the BBC One series Lark Rise To Candleford, played the mother of a murder victim in the BBC drama Five Daughters and the Head of Ladies-wear Miss Audrey in The Paradise.
She was also one of the lead cast members in the BBC drama Last Tango in Halifax and won critical acclaim for her role as police sergeant Catherine Cawood in Happy Valley, which returned to screens in 2022, after a six-year hiatus.
In June 2020 Sarah returned to TV in Alan Bennett's Talking Heads and is now starring in the HBO Max series, Julia.
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