- Born
- Birth nameDenise Nixon
- Denise is an English actress probably best known for her iconic TV character Hazel, the mum all gay men wanted in Russell T Davies' 'Queer as Folk' and 'Cucumber'. Also siren soap characters Denise Osbourne in 'Coronation Street', Joanie in 'Emmerdale' and Denny's mad, bad mum in 'Bad Girls'. She plays Ms Madden, pathologically loyal secretary to Lord Baddingham (David Tennant) in a power packed British cast of the series adaptation of Jilly Cooper's 'Rivals'.
Denise was born in Portsmouth, UK. She also has a passionate interest in theatre and music. She got her equity card with the Actor's Touring Company in the early '80s performing plays around the globe and her first title role in 'La Pasionaria' by Pam Gems at the Newcastle Playhouse. She won the Manchester Evening News award 'Best Supporting Actress' for her portrayal of Mrs Byant in Roots (Wesker) at the Royal Exchange. In 2018 she won 'Best Performance In a Play' at the UK Theatre Awards for 'The Cherry Orchard'.
Denise appears in two great British movies: 'Last Orders' and 'The Last Tree'. She also plays autoharp and writes songs.
- IMDb mini biography by: denbland
- SpousePaul Sand
- She was awarded the 1982 London Critics' Circle Theatre Award (Drama Theatre Award) for Best Supporting Actress of 1981 for her performance in Street Wise.
- Children: Sam (b. 1988) and Dandy (b. 1991).
- Her Coronation Street (1960) character Denise Osbourne became the eighth woman on the soap opera to give birth. Denise had a son Daniel (played originally by Lewis Harney and later Dominic Holmes), born on 4 January 1995.
- Her husband is a composer.
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