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Welsh actress From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Melanie Walters (born 30 January 1962)[1][2] is a Welsh actress who has worked frequently in television. She is best known for playing Gwen West in the BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey and Emma, a vampire in the third series of Being Human.
Melanie Walters | |
---|---|
Born | Swansea, Wales | 30 January 1962
Nationality | British |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1986–present |
Notable work | Gavin & Stacey Hollyoaks |
Children | 1 |
Walters was born on 30 January 1962 and raised in the Mumbles, near Swansea.[3] Her father died when she was very young, leaving her mother to raise four children under four years old.[2] In 1973, aged 11, she took over her brother's paper round, covering Mumbles Head every day, an experience she described at length on BBC Radio 4 in January 2012. When she was 14 she qualified as a lifeguard, working on the local beaches.[2]
Walters has worked frequently in television, but is best known for playing Gwen West in the BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey between 2007 and 2010, before returning for Christmas special episode in 2019 and for one final Christmas special episode in 2024.[4] She was one of eight celebrities chosen to participate in an intense week learning Welsh in an eco-friendly chic campsite in Pembrokeshire in the series cariad@iaith:love4language shown on S4C in July 2011, and emerged winner of the series.[5] Walters made a guest appearance in Casualty as Carrie on 3 February 2018.
In December 2011 she appeared in the pantomime Cinderella at the Riverfront Arts Centre in Newport.[6]
In July 2020, it was announced that she would be taking on a lead character in the feature film Faulty Roots, directed by Ella Greenwood.[7]
In May 2024 it was announced that a final episode of Gavin & Stacey, to be broadcast on Christmas Day 2024, had been written.[4]
Walters lives with her son in the Mumbles, Swansea, where she also runs a business teaching Pilates.[2]
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