Lesley Joseph

Lesley Joseph
Joseph hosting A Breath of Fresh Air, June 2008
Born	Lesley Diana Joseph (1945-10-14) 14 October 1945 Hackney, London, England
Occupation	Broadcaster, actress
Years active	1969–present
Height
Television	Birds of a Feather

Lesley Diana Joseph (born 14 October 1945) is an English actress and broadcaster, best known for playing Dorien Green in the popular sitcom Birds of a Feather from 1989 to 1998 and then again since 2014.

Early life

Joseph was born in Hackney, London and grew up in Northampton. Joseph's mother was born in May 1912, and was still alive in 2014 aged 102.

Career

Joseph starred in the ITV soap Night and Day from 2001 to 2003 playing the show's resident bitch, Rachel Culgrin.

In 2002, Joseph appeared on a special edition of What Not to Wear, where she was given a makeover by Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine.

In 2004, she starred in The Vagina Monologues opposite Linda Robson and Mica Paris.

Since 2009, she has been a regular newspaper reviewer on This Morning. She appeared in the 2014 series Secrets of the Asylum, a two-part series for ITV. In 2015, Joseph took part in ITV's celebrity sheep herding series Flockstars, beginning on 30 July.

In 2014, Lesley appeared with Forrest Dunbar on ITV2's Freshers: A Year On.

Birds of a Feather

Main article: Birds of a Feather

From 1989 to 1998, Joseph played Dorien Green in the sitcom Birds of a Feather which, at the time, aired on the BBC

In December 2011, it was confirmed that Joseph would reunite with fellow Birds of a Feather cast members, Linda Robson and Pauline Quirke, for a theatre adaption of the series. The trio toured the United Kingdom from May to July 2012.

A new series of Birds of a Feather was filmed after the rights had been acquired by ITV. The new series began airing on 2 January 2014 for eight episodes. In March, it was confirmed that a second series had been ordered which began airing on 26 December. Following this, a third series was commissioned. This series will air in early 2016.

To celebrate the return of Birds of a Feather, Joseph, Quirke and Robson appeared as guest panellists on Loose Women on 16 January 2014.

Stage

In May 1973, Joseph appeared in GODSPELL at the Pavilion Theatre in Bournemouth.

Joseph starred in Cinderella at Plymouth Theatre Royal in 2008 and the Orchard Theatre in Dartford in 2009, and starred as Myra Wilson in the UK Tour of Hot Flush!. In 2014, Hot Flush! embarked on its third UK tour.

From 4 December 2010 to 22 January 2011, she appeared at The Grand Opera House, Belfast as the Wicked Queen in the pantomime Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

In the summer of 2011, Joseph appeared as Chris in the stage show Calendar Girls, based on the film of the same name.

In 2014/15, she appeared at the Theatre Royal Nottingham as the Wicked Queen in the pantomime 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

In 2015, she will appear as Miss Hannigan in the stage production of Annie for certain performances.

Radio

Joseph began a radio show in 2008 on BBC London 94.9 with Christopher Biggins, airing every Sunday between 9am to 12pm. Biggins left the show after a few months, but Joseph has continued to host. She also stands in for Vanessa Feltz on her weekday morning talk when Feltz is on holiday.

Personal life

Joseph is Jewish. She supports Tottenham Hotspur and lives in Hampstead, north west London. She has two children a son and daughter.

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role	Reference(s)
1969	The Bastard King	Catherine of Braganza
1974	Another Mother Makes Five	Gypsy Woman
1975	Sadie, It's Cold Outside	Cashier
1979	The Knowledge	Val
1980	Minder	Maureen
1981	Roots	Melanie Goldblatt
1983	Number 10	Rose Rosenburg
1985	Summer Season
1985	Absurd Person Singular	Lottie Potter
1987	First Sight	Pippa
1988	Lea Girls	Shop Assistant
1989	Ruth Rendell Mysteries	Rose Farriner's Neighbour
1989–1998, 2014—	Birds of a Feather	Dorien Green
1995	Rumble	Ma Pecs
1996	Spywatch	Miss Millington
1998	Macbeth	Witch
2001–2003	Night and Day	Rachel Culgrin
2005	Lost Dogs	Maria-Carmen Todd
2006	The Secret of Eel Island	Green Beryl
2007	Kings of 70s Romance	Narrator
2008	The Slammer	Erica the Critic
2008	Celebrity Juice	Amy Whinehouse
2009	Scoop	Receptionist/ Mrs Green
2009—	This Morning	Newspaper reviewer
2011	Little Crackers	Wardrobe Mistress
2014	Text Santa	Dorien Green
2014	Secrets from the Asylum	Contributor
2015	Flockstars	Competitor

Guest appearances

• Celebrity Squares - Herself
• Celebrity Fifteen to One (30 December 1992) - Contestant
• Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes (22 February 2003) - Contestant, as Ethel Merman
• Hell's Kitchen (2004–09) – Herself
• The Mint (2006) – Guest
• Loose Women (2006–09, 2014) – Guest panellist
• Ready Steady Cook (2007) – Herself
• The Underdog Show (2008) – Contestant
• The Greatest Christmas Comedy Moments (2008) – Herself
• Comedy Classics (2008) – Herself
• Celebrity Come Dine with Me (12 January 2009, 17 October 2011) – Contestant
• Cash in the Celebrity Attic (21 January 2009) – Participant
• Let's Dance for Comic Relief (2010) – Contestant
• Celebrity Eggheads (2010) – Contestant
• 100 Greatest TV Ads (2010) – Herself
• Pointless Celebrities (25 February 2012, 9 August 2014) – Contestant
• All Star Family Fortunes (19 January 2014) – Contestant
• Big Brother's Bit on the Side (2014, 2015) – Guest
• You Saw Them Here First (12 March 2014) – Contributor
• Celebrity Antiques Road Trip (18 September 2014) – Participant
• Freshers: A Year On (15 October 2014) – Herself
• The Chase: Celebrity Special (22 November 2014) – Contestant
• Mel and Sue (14 January 2015) – Guest
• The TV That Made Me (12 August 2015) – Guest
• Celebrity Benchmark (26 September 2015, 3 October 2015) – "Benchmarker"

External links

• Lesley Joseph at the Internet Movie Database