Catherine Tate (born Catherine Jane Ford, 5 December 1969) is an English actress, comedian and writer. She has won numerous awards for her work on the BBC sketch comedy series The Catherine Tate Show (2004–2007), as well as being nominated for an International Emmy Award and seven British Academy Television Awards. Tate played Donna Noble in the 2006 Christmas special of the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who, and reprised her role for the fourth series in 2008, and the 60th anniversary episodes in 2023.
Following the success of The Catherine Tate Show, Tate starred as Joanie Taylor ("Nan") in its spin-off series Catherine Tate's Nan (2009–2015) and in the film The Nan Movie (2022). In 2011, she began a recurring role as Nellie Bertram in the U.S. version of the sitcom The Office and was a regular until the series ended. She played the role of Miss Sarah Postern in the BBC One sitcom Big School (2013–2014) and voiced Magica De Spell in the Disney Channel animated series DuckTales (2017–2021). In the 2020s, Tate created and starred in two sitcoms, Netflix's Hard Cell (2022) which she also co-directed, and BBC One's Queen of Oz (2023).
Early life
Tate was born in Bloomsbury, London, on 5 December 1969 and was raised in the Brunswick Centre. Her mother, Josephine, was a florist. Tate has said that the character of Margaret in The Catherine Tate Show, who shrieks at the slightest of disturbances, is based largely on her mother. Tate never knew her father as he left very early on in her life and, consequently, she was brought up in a female-dominated environment, being cared for by her mother, grandmother, and godparents. As a child, Tate had obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and was obsessed with word association. For example, she was not able to leave a jumper on the floor because it might have brought misfortune to her mother, whose name began with the letter "J" like "jumper".
Tate attended St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School in Holborn, and Notre Dame High School, a convent secondary school for girls in Southwark. By the time she was a teenager, she knew she wanted a professional acting career; following the abolition of the sixth form at her secondary school, she was sent to a boys' Roman Catholic school, Salesian College in Battersea, at the age of 16, as it had the necessary facilities for drama. She left school without sitting her A levels. She then tried for four years to get a place in the Central School of Speech and Drama, succeeding on her fourth attempt. She studied there for three years. Prior to getting a place there, Tate went to the Sylvia Young Theatre School, but left after a week, later stating, "Even at that age, I realised I wasn't Bonnie Langford. It was very competitive." She was also a member of the National Youth Theatre.
Born Catherine Ford, she changed her name when she got her Equity card as an actress. She chose her new surname after the character of Jessica Tate, played by Katherine Helmond, from the American sitcom television series Soap.
Career
1988–2003: Early acting and stand-up career
From 1988 to 1990 Tate toured with the National Youth Theatre production of Blood Wedding, which also starred Daniel Craig and Jessica Hynes. In 1994, she got the part of Lydia Lubey in the Oxford Stage Company production of Arthur Miller's All My Sons. She then worked at the Royal National Theatre, playing small roles in The Way of the World (1995) and The Prince's Play (1996). Tate also performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company during its 10-month tour across the UK, Australia and the US with Lee Hall's adaptation of The Servant of Two Masters (2000–2001).
Her television acting career began with roles in serial dramas such as The Bill and London's Burning. Her debut happened in an episode of the sitcom Surgical Spirit in 1991. She was offered an audition for the part by the casting director who also owned a sandwich shop Tate used to go in and knew she was about to go to drama college. On the set, she got to work with actor Duncan Preston, of whom she was a big fan.
In 1996 Tate began performing stand-up comedy. Soon after, she co-wrote and starred in Barking (1998), a late-night sketch show broadcast on Channel 4 featuring a host of performers who included David Walliams, Peter Kay and Mackenzie Crook. In 2000, she became involved with Lee Mack's Perrier Comedy Award-nominated New Bits show at the Edinburgh Film Festival and appeared in television sketch shows such as The Harry Hill Show and That Peter Kay Thing. The next year, she returned to the festival with her own sell-out one-woman show, which was followed by roles in comedy series Big Train, Attention Scum, Charlie Brooker's TVGoHome and several BBC Radio productions.
After being spotted at Edinburgh by the casting director Tracey Gillham, she was given her first major television role as Angela in the comedy Wild West (2002–2004) set in the small Cornish town. Tate became pregnant before filming the first series and had to wear a lot of baggy clothes as Angela. The show also starred Dawn French as her lesbian partner and local shop and post office co-owner Mary, who commented, "Catherine Tate is far too talented and she must be destroyed."
2004–2005: Breakthrough with The Catherine Tate Show
Tate was approached at a post-show party at the Edinburgh Festival by then-BBC controller of comedy Geoffrey Perkins, who encouraged Tate to develop her character ideas, especially to push the boundaries with her teenage character Lauren Cooper. Undertaking Perkins's advice, after a live show, Tate found the audience walking out of the show repeating the character's catchphrase "Am I bovvered?". Produced by Perkins at Tiger Aspect, Tate was given her own programme on BBC Two in 2004, which she co-wrote and starred in with Derren Litten, entitled The Catherine Tate Show, which ran for three series. Two of the show's well-known characters are teenager Lauren Cooper and Joanie "Nan" Taylor, the cockney grandmother. Tate's inspiration for the grandmother character came from visits to old people's homes when she was at drama college. Tate won a British Comedy Award for Best Comedy Newcomer for her work on the first series of The Catherine Tate Show, and with the first series becoming a success, in March 2005, Tate made a guest appearance during the BBC's Red Nose Day as the character of Lauren, alongside boy band McFly, which gained her further exposure.
In November 2005 Tate appeared in another charity sketch as part of the BBC's annual Children in Need telethon. The segment was a crossover between EastEnders and The Catherine Tate Show, featuring EastEnders characters Peggy Mitchell, Little Mo Mitchell and Stacey Slater, whilst Tate appeared as Lauren. Also at that time, she was a guest star at the 77th Royal Variety Performance, appearing again in the guise of Lauren Cooper. During the sketch, Tate looked up at the Royal Box and asked the Queen, "Is one bovvered? Is one's face bovvered?", while her co-star Niky Wardley (in character as Liese) remarked: "That old man sitting next to her has fallen asleep." Prince Philip then reportedly complained to the show's executive producer, saying he had been insulted. Tate later won a British Comedy Award for Best British Comedy Actress for her work in the second series of The Catherine Tate Show.
In January 2005, Tate appeared as Mitzi Kosinki in the ITV adaptation of Agatha Christie's novel A Murder Is Announced, starring Geraldine McEwan as Miss Marple. Towards the end of the year, Tate played the part of Kate in the unaired pilot episode of Lee Mack's sitcom Not Going Out and Mrs Chadband in an episode of the BBC television adaptation of Bleak House.
Tate returned to the stage for the first time since working with the Royal Shakespeare Company, to play a role in the original West End production of Some Girl(s) (2005), alongside Sara Powell, Lesley Manville, Saffron Burrows and Friends star David Schwimmer. In an…