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Catherine Tate is an English actress and comedian, primarily known for the role of Donna Noble in the "Doctor Who" franchise.

Tate was born as "Catherine Ford" during 1969, in Bloomsbury. Bloomsbury is a district of the London Borough of Camden, known as the home of several of London's museums, colleges, and universities. Tate's mother Josephine was a florist and raised her daughter as a single mother. Tate was reportedly brought up in a "female-dominated environment", as her grandmother and her godparents helped in her upbringing.

Tate attended St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School in Holborn, which was also within the London Borough of Camden. She then attended the Notre Dame High School of Southwark, an all-girls' Roman Catholic comprehensive school. The high school is owned and operated by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, a Roman Catholic institute of religious sisters.

In 1984, the 16-year-old Tate enrolled in the Salesian College of Battersea, a Roman Catholic, Voluntary Aided school for boys. She was one of the College's rare female students, because she was interested in the drama lessons it offered and its theatrical facilities. Afterwards, she applied four times to become a student of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, whose alumni included famed actors such Laurence Olivier and Peggy Ashcroft. Tate's application became accepted at her fourth attempt.

In the 1990s, Tate started her television career with small roles in the police procedural "The Bill" (1984-2010) and the fire-brigade themed drama "London's Burning" (1988-2002). In 1996, Tate started performing stand-up comedy. In 1998, she was one of the main performers and writers in the late night sketch comedy show "Barking". The show lasted for 1 series, consisting for 6 episodes.

In 2000 and 2001, Tate performed at theatrical shows staged during the annual Edinburgh International Film Festival. The increased attention helped her gain a co-starring role in the sitcom "Wild West" (2002-2004). She played the role of Angela Phillips, a bored bisexual woman living in a small town of Cornwall, the westernmost and southernmost county of England. Angela is involved in an unsatisfying lesbian relationship with Mary Trewednack (played by Dawn French), but they are both seeking other lovers. Having decided that they will stay together until something better comes along. The series lasted for 2 seasons, and a total of 12 episodes.

In 2004, Tate was granted her own television series by BBC Two, called "The Catherine Tate Show" (2004-2007). It was a sketch comedy show, where Tate got to showcase some of the characters she had developed in her comedy routines. Among the most notable of them were the foul-mouthed grandmother Joannie "Nan" Taylor, and the argumentative teenager Lauren Cooper. The initial series lasted for 3 seasons. Tate has occasionally revived the characters in the number of television specials, broadcast from 2009 to 2015. The show allowed Tate to win 2 British Comedy Award, a Royal Television Society Award, and a National Television Award.

Tate's newfound popularity in the United Kingdom helped her receive more theatrical roles, and to make frequent guest appearances in other television shows. In 2006, Tate played the character Donna Noble in the "Doctor Who" Christmas special "The Runaway Bride". In the special, Donna is a secretary for a Torchwood Institute subsidiary company, who is about to get married to fiance. But she is actually a pawn in a larger conspiracy, and her fiance has is one of the conspirators. Donna serves as the Tenth Doctor's companion for this episode. He offers her a more permanent position at the TARDIS time machine, but she declines.

In 2007, Tate played the role of frustrated mother Karen in the television film "The Bad Mother's Handbook", an adaptation of a novel by Kate Lomh (1964-). The film depicts Karen's relationships with her Altzheimer-suffering mother Nan (played by Anne Reid), and her intelligent but temperamental daughter Charlotte (played by Holly Grainger).

In 2008, Tate returned to the character of Donna Noble in the "Doctor Who" television series. She was a main character during Series 4 of the television show, but has her memory erased at the series finale "Journey's End". Tate played an amnesiac Donna in the two-part episode "The End of Time" (December, 2009-January, 2010). Unlike other then-recent female companions of the Doctor, Donna was depicted as his best friend and not as his love interest. Tate was praised for performing well in both the comedic and tragic scenes involving the character. In a number of published polls, Donna was praised by show fans as the second-best companion in the television show's history.

From 2011 to 2013, Tate appeared in the American sitcom "The Office" (2005-2013), playing the regular character Eleanour Donna "Nellie" Bertram. Nellie was depicted as a working-class British woman from the Borough of Basildon, Essex, who somehow got promoted to the position of President of Sabre's special projects. The character often commented at her impoverished background and lack of formal education, and it was implied that she was promoted due to favoritism.

Freom 2013 to 2014, Tate appeared in the British sitcom "Big School" (2013-2014), playing the teacher Sarah Postern. The sitcom depicts comedic interactions between the teachers of Greybridge Secondary School, a typical British secondary school. Sarah is portrayed as an attractive French-language teacher, who is romantically pursued by the nerdy chemistry teacher Keith Church (played by David Walliams) and the stereotypical "jerk jock" sports teacher Trevor Gunn (played by Philip Glenister). The show lasted for 2 seasons, and a total of 12 episodes. While considered a ratings hit for the channel BBC One, it was criticized for its humor being overly traditional and inoffensive.

In 2017, Tate started doing voice work for the American animated television series "DuckTales" (2017-). She was cast in the role of Italian sorceress Magica De Spell, one of the main enemies of series protagonist Scrooge McDuck (played vy David Tennant). Tate served as the replacement for Magica's previous voice actress June Foray (1917-2017), who had died prior to the series' production.

By 2019, Tate was 51 years old, but she continued to remain popular in her native United Kingdom, and to make frequent appearances in American productions. She currently lives in the suburban town of Richmond, within Greater London. She lives with her 16-year-old daughter Erin, the result of a previous relationship. Tate has never married and remains a single mother.

London-born Evelyn Laye, daughter of actor parents, was already treading the boards at the age of two. Her father managed the Palace Theatre in Brighton and this was where Evelyn first made a name for herself. A seasoned stage performer by the age of fifteen, she graduated to the London West End three years later in a small part in "The Beauty Spot". During the 1920's, she was one of England's most popular stars of musical revue and operetta, with hits in the aviation musical "Going Up" (1918-19), "Madame Pompadour" (1923), "Betty in Mayfair" (1925-26) and "Merely Molly" (1926-27), the last two at the Adelphi Theatre. She appeared, both in London and on Broadway, in Noël Coward's "Bitter Sweet" in 1929, her song "I'll See you Again" becoming her trademark signature piece. Her performance attracted the attention of producer Samuel Goldwyn, who promptly brought her to Hollywood.

Tagged (by Goldwyn) as "the Champagne Blonde", the lovely Evelyn made her American debut in the operetta, One Heavenly Night (1930), directed by the experienced George Fitzmaurice. The ridiculously contrived story and silly dialogue made this one of the worst flops of 1931, not helped by the wooden performance of Laye's co-star, John Boles. Although New York Times critic Mordaunt Hall, in his January 10 review reserved sole praise for Laye's singing and performance, Goldwyn washed his hands of the whole affair and Evelyn returned to England. She made another attempt at Hollywood, four years later, in The Night Is Young (1935), another continental operetta, co-starring Ramon Novarro, and featuring songs by Sigmund Romberg and Oscar Hammerstein. Reviewer Andre Sennwald (January 14) caustically described the picture as being technically well-made, but otherwise "without any distinguishing virtue". There were considerably better reviews for Evelyn's two British-Gaumont productions, Waltz Time (1933) and, without doubt her best motion picture, Evensong (1934), the story of the rise and decline of an Irish diva.

There was a three-decade long hiatus until Evelyn's return to the screen (though she had appeared as herself with then-husband, and fellow actor, Frank Lawton, in the TV sitcom My Husband and I (1956)). She was also rather incongruously cast in the horror film, Theatre of Death (1967). Three years later, Evelyn gave a strong performance as the mother of Jean Simmons in Say Hello to Yesterday (1971), a romance set in swinging 60's London. For the most part, she continued to act on the stage, which had always been her favourite medium, performing in plays like "Three Waltzes", "The School for Scandal", "Wedding in Paris", "The Marquise" and "The Amorous Prawn". One of her last plays was Noël Coward's "Semi-Monde" (1987-88), at the Royalty Theatre in London, with fellow cast members Kenneth Branagh and Judi Dench. Retaining her popularity well into her nineties, Evelyn Laye made her farewell tour of Britain in 1992. She died three years later at the age of 95.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Dick Emery was one of the most successful comics on the box. He was voted BBC TV Personality of the Year, thanks to creations such as his toothy vicar, sex-starved spinster Hettie, crusty old Lampwick, outrageously camp Clarence, who coined the phrase: "Hallo honky tonks". Perhaps the most memorable of all was Mandy, a busty middle-aged woman whose repressed nature was usually betrayed by a sudden affectionate slap and a cry of: "Ooh, you are awful. But I like you!".

While his creations left millions howling, in private Emery was a man with a terrible fear of failure. He was often sick before performances and would sleep to escape stage nerves prior to a performance. Bob Monkhouse once incurred his wrath by accidentally waking him before a Royal Variety Performance. Emery exploded in a torrent of abuse as Monkhouse recalled in his book 'Over the Limit'. Emery used to spend hours in analysis, was hypnotised, tried many sedatives and drugs to cure his tension - though the pills scared him as much as the fear of failure.

He once told friend and co-star Roy Kinnear: "I don't just envy the confidence that other comics seem to have, I resent it. I hate them for it, just like my dad did. If there's such a thing as a chip off the old block, it's on my shoulder."

Emery married five times and left his last wife to live with a showgirl 30 years younger than him. His BBC show was axed after 12 years in 1979 and he died four years later.

Gerald Campion was born on 23 April 1921 in Bloomsbury, London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), The Sandwich Man (1966) and Department S (1969). He was married to Suzie Mark and Jean Symond. He died on 9 July 2002 in Agen, Lot-et-Garonne, France.

Charles Robert Watts (2 June 1941 - 24 August 2021) was an English musician who achieved international fame as the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021.

Originally trained as a graphic artist, Watts developed an interest in jazz at a young age and joined the band Blues Incorporated. He also started playing drums in London's rhythm and blues clubs, where he met future band-mates Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Brian Jones. In January 1963, he left Blues Incorporated and joined the Rolling Stones as drummer, while doubling as designer of their record sleeves and tour stages. Watts's first public appearance as a permanent member was in February 1963, and he remained with the group for 58 years.

Nicknamed "The Wembley Whammer" by Jagger, Watts cited jazz as a major influence on his drumming style. At the time of Watts's death, Watts, Jagger and Richards were the only members of the band to have performed on every one of the band's studio albums. Aside from his career with the Rolling Stones, Watts toured with his own group, the Charlie Watts Quintet, and appeared in London at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club with the Charlie Watts Tentet.

In 1989, Watts was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2004, he was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame with the Rolling Stones. He is often regarded as one of the greatest drummers of all time.

English composer Richard Addinsell was born in 1904. After finishing his law studies at Oxford, he took a short course in music at the Royal College of Music in London and studied from 1929 to 1932 in Berlin and Vienna. From 1933 to 1935 he lived in the USA writing scores for the Hollywood studios.

Bruno Barnabe, was a manly British actor who worked from 1927 for the stage, the big and small screen. Born in London, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and took his first steps on the boards just one day after his twenty-second birthday. From then on he would be seen in various theaters not only in England but also in the USA (and even once on Broadway in 'Escape Me Never'), in Egypt, Australia and New Zealand. The play 'Escape Me Never' was for that matter an opening door to the cinema as he was hired for its screen adaptation. From then he worked regularly both in feature films and on television. Often chosen by directors to play Italians (he himself was of Italian origin), he found himself in the skin of even more exotic characters such as Frenchmen ('Second Bureau'), Egyptians (the Pharaoh in 'The Mummy's Shroud'), Arabs (and particularly Viziers and Grand Viziers !), Greeks, Russians or Spaniards. His strong build destined him to roles of tough guys, but it is to be noted that he was more often on the right side of law (most of the time as a police officer or inspector - preferably but not necessarily Italian) than the opposite (the night club doorman in 'Pit of Darkness') After fifty years of commitment and loyal service, Bruno Barnabe decided to retire. He died in 1998 at the respectable age of 93.

Moira Stuart became Britain's first black TV newsreader, working for the BBC first as a radio newsreader and continuity announcer in the 1970s and moving to television in 1981. She's now one of the UK's most recognizable TV faces, and was awarded the OBE in 2001 for services to news broadcasting.

Tommie Connor was born on 16 November 1904 in Bloomsbury, London, England, UK. He was a composer, known for Ladder 49 (2004), The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) and Memphis Belle (1990). He died on 28 November 1993 in Farnborough, London, England, UK.

Iris Hoey was born on 17 July 1885 in Bloomsbury, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Just William (1940), Those Were the Days (1934) and Tense Moments with Great Authors (1922). She was married to Cyril Raymond and Max Leeds. She died on 13 May 1979 in Chelsea, London, England, UK.

Elisabeth Lutyens was born on 9 July 1906 in Bloomsbury, London, England, UK. She was a composer, known for My Nights with Susan, Olga, Albert, Julie, Piet & Sandra (1975), Never Take Candy from A Stranger (1960) and The Terrornauts (1967). She was married to Edward Clark and Ian Glennie. She died on 14 April 1983 in Hampstead, London, England, UK.

Neville Bishop was born in 1903 in St. Giles, Bloomsbury, London, England, UK. He died on 31 December 1967 in Thetford, Norfolk, England, UK.

John Barbirolli was born on 2 December 1899 in Bloomsbury, London, England, UK. He is known for Bronson (2008), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) and Husbands and Wives (1992). He was married to Evelyn Rothwell and Marjorie Parry. He died on 29 July 1970 in Marylebone, London, England, UK.

Bertha Russell was born on 10 October 1895 in Bloomsbury, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Dynamiters (1956), It Happened Here (1964) and Mrs Thursday (1966). She died on 1 December 1966 in Westminster, London, England, UK.

Nita Harvey was born on 26 July 1911 in Bloomsbury, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Sky Raiders (1938), Vanity (1935) and Swinging the Lead (1934). She died in 1988 in Hounslow, London, England, UK.

E. Lewis Waller was born in 1884 in Bloomsbury, London, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for The Night Angel (1931), Find the Lady (1936) and Under Proof (1936). He was married to Marie Blanche. He died in 1951 in Uckfield, East Sussex, England, UK.

Charles Chilton was born on 15 June 1917 in Bloomsbury, London, England, UK. He was a producer and writer, known for Oh! What a Lovely War (1969), Songs for the Times (1964) and Aces High (1976). He was married to Penelope Colbeck. He died on 2 January 2013 in Hampstead, London, England, UK.

Jessica Black was born on 28 October 1884 in St. Giles, Bloomsbury, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Tomorrow We Live (1936). She died on 4 January 1967 in Handforth, Cheshire, England, UK.

Kyrle Bellew was born on 23 March 1887 in Bloomsbury, Middlesex, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Tense Moments with Great Authors (1922), Vanity Fair (1922) and It Happened in Paris (1935). She was married to John Beckett, Arthur Bourchier and Allen Nicholson. She died on 8 June 1962 in Roundham, Paignton, Devon, England, UK.

Neil Porter was born on 10 January 1895 in Bloomsbury, London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Gallows Glorious (1938), A Hundred Years Old (1938) and The Cup That Cheers and the Split in the Cabinet (1938). He was married to Marjorie Clayton. He died on 21 April 1944 in Buckhurst Hill, Essex, England, UK.

Norman Cheyne was born on 7 April 1881 in Bloomsbury, London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Girl Who Loves a Soldier (1916). He died on 11 April 1924 in Chantilly, Oise, France.

Travers Humphreys was born on 4 August 1867 in Bloomsbury, Middlesex, England, UK. He was married to Zoë Marguerite Neumans. He died on 20 February 1956 in South Kensington, London, England, UK.

Henry Sherek was born on 23 April 1900 in Bloomsbury, London, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for Strauss' Great Waltz (1934), Theatre Night (1957) and Autumn Laughter (1938). He was married to Pamela Carme. He died on 23 September 1967 in Venice, Italy.

Robert Braithwaite Martineau was born in 1826 in Bloomsbury, Middlesex, England, UK. He was married to Maria Wheeler. He died on 13 February 1869 in Campden Hill, Middlesex, England, UK.

Michael Heath was born on 13 October 1935 in Bloomsbury, London, England, UK.