Sheridan Smith's Biography

Who is Sheridan Smith?

She is a past winner of the Junior Search For A Star competition held in Cleethorpes.

Sheridan once worked in a burger van but hated the job as she got fed up with asking: "d'ya want ketchup on that, luv?"

It was revealed on Who Do You Think You Are that Sheridan was the daughter of a country music duo and her father's family featured a string of banjoists.

In 1999, she had her first professional role, acting in the Donmar Warehouse's production of Into the Woods.

Sheridan Smith played Cleo Martin in BBC's Love Soup, which was originally broadcast in 2005 and started its second series in March 2008.

Her other credits include Holby City, The Royle Family, Eyes Down, and The Comic Strip's Sex Actually.

Sheridan Smith played the sister of James Corden in Gavin & Stacey.

In Eyes Down, Sheridan Smith played a pregnant Scouser. Not a native of Liverpool herself, Sheridan explained to the BBC website that she was a little nervous:

"As it happens, I did a production of The People are Friendly at the Royal Court with Michelle Butterfly, who plays Pamela in Eyes Down.

"The play was set in Birkenhead, which meant that I had to do a Scouse accent for that, so I decided to stick with it for this too.

"I'm quite nervous as to what genuine Scousers might say, but I think it's worked pretty well."

One of Sheridan Smith's most notable roles was as Janet in the BBC sitcom Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps, with Ralf Little, Will Mellor and Natalie Casey.

Sheridan has been open in interviews about some drunken episodes including once when:

"I ended up in The Dreamboys dressing room with a bottle of red wine in one hand and a bottle of baby oil in the other, and I was oiling up the dancers. I wrote 'Hello Mum' on Will's bottom, and when he was dancing and showed his bare bum the camera zoomed in on the message."

Sheridan Smith is afraid of spiders.

In 2007 Sheridan appeared in the West End in Little Shop of Horrors.

In December 2007, Chortle reported that Sheridan Smith was to star as Samantha in the BBC's remake of Bewitched.

In 2010 Sheridan Smith received praise from critics for her role as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde: The Musical.

In November 2010 Sheridan Smith was nominated for the London Evening Standard Theatre Awards award for best actress.

In February 2011, Sheridan Smith won the best actress in a musical award at the What's On Stage Awards for her role in Legally Blonde.

In March 2011, the accolades for her role in Legally Blonde continued when she was awarded best musical actress at the Laurence Olivier Awards.

In 2012, she was cast in the title role of Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen at London's Old Vic Theatre.

It came during a busy period for Sheridan Smith, which saw her perform in the TV dramas Mrs Biggs and The Scapegoat; and the films Hysteria and Tower Block.

In December 2015, she was cast as the American vaudevillian Fanny Brice in the musical Funny Girl.

In May 2016 she had a break from the role, but returned a couple of months later in July.

In February 2017, Sheridan Smith starred in the BBC drama The Moorside about the disappearance of Shannon Matthews.

It was directed by Paul Whittington, with whom she had previously worked on Mrs Biggs and Cilla.

In 2017, ITV commissioned a one-off special with Sheridan having her own show.

Additionally they cast her as Sam in the drama Clean Break.

In February 2019, the BBC announced that Sheridan Smith had been cast as Sarah Sak, the mother of Anthony Walgate, in a new drama with the working title The Barking Murders.

In 2019, she also played the narrator in a new stage production of Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

In March 2020, the BBC announced that Sheridan Smith would host a competitive dog styling series on BBC One, Pooch Perfect.

Also, in 2020, ITV produced a documentary called Sheridan Smith: Becoming Mum, which recounted the story of her mental health struggles and her journey to motherhood.

In the same year, ITV commissioned a four part drama series No Return, starring Sheridan Smith as Kathy.

In January 2021, Sheridan Smith, who herself has six dogs, hosted the 16 part series Pooch Perfect on BBC One.

In 2024, she was nominated for an Olivier Award for best actress for Shirley Valentine.

Also in 2024, she starred in the musical Opening Night.