Biography

Karen is a British actor who trained at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama and won the BBC's prestigious Carleton Hobbs Award in her final year there. She grew up in London, Surrey and in the North of England and has also spent time living in Brussels, where she studied French and completed a French diploma while providing regular voice overs for the studios in Belgium and Holland. Karen's theatre credits include Shakespearean roles, musicals, off Broadway plays and many comedy productions, both in London's West End and in venues throughout the UK and overseas. She is equally comfortable playing accented, character roles as she is playing 'straight' roles, and excels at characters who appear tough but have a deep vulnerability, and vice versa! Her many tv and film credits have seen her playing everything from medical professional to out and out party girl; from the perfect Mum to an ostentatious, blowsy businesswoman. Most recently Karen filmed episodes of 'Holby City' as top executive Regina Marriott and played Gertrude in Hamlet, with Freddie Fox.
- IMDb mini biography by: Karen Ascoe