Diane Parish

Diane Carol Richards (born 6 November 1969), known professionally as Diane Parish, is an English actress, who has been portraying the character Denise Fox on the BBC One soap opera EastEnders since 2006.^[1]

Diane Parish
Parish in 2023
Born	Diane Carol Richards (1969-11-06) 6 November 1969 (age 55) Tottenham, London, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1991–present
Children	2

A graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Parish has acted on British television for over two decades. She has appeared in a number of TV shows over the years, including the ITV dramas The Bill and M.I.T.: Murder Investigation Team playing Detective Eva Sharpe. She is also known for appearing in two series of the BBC One comedy drama Lovejoy (1993–1994).

Career

Parish attended Kingsmead School in Enfield, where she wrote and performed in school drama productions.^[2]

After graduating from London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, she worked mainly in theatre, including playing Cordelia in Talawa Theatre Company's 1994 production of King Lear.^[3][4]

Parish has appeared in various television roles. In Lovejoy, she played Beth Taylor, the replacement for the character Eric Catchpole. Another television role was as Lola Christie, the girlfriend of Mick McFarlane, the manager of the EastEnders night cafe, in 1998.^[5]

Parish has also appeared in television dramas including The Bill and its spin-off M.I.T.: Murder Investigation Team, playing DC Eva Sharpe. Before The Bill she starred in Babyfather, for which she received the Royal Television Society's best actress award in 2001, becoming the first black actor to win a major RTS award.^[5] Parish returned to EastEnders in May 2006, but this time playing regular character Denise Fox.^[6] She departed from the soap opera temporarily in January 2008 in order to give birth to her daughter, returning in June that year.^[7] Parish appeared as Millie in the 1996 film Indian Summer (also released under the title Alive And Kicking).^[8]

Personal life

Parish is of Dominican and Montserratian descent. She has two daughters with her former partner Sebastian Hagemeister.^[9]

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1993	Frank Stubbs Promotes	Receptionist	Episode: "Starlet"
	Screen One	Blackpool Waitress	Episode: "Wide-Eyed and Legless"
1993–1994	Lovejoy	Beth Taylor	Main role (series 5–6)
1996	The Final Passage	Milkie	TV film
	Indian Summer	Millie	Film; also marketed as Alive and Kicking
1997	Casualty	Donna	Episode: "Déjà Vu"
	Holding On	Janet	TV mini-series
1998	Picking Up the Pieces	Lisa Gee	TV series
	Driving Miss Daisy Crazy	Daisy	Short film
	EastEnders	Lola Christie	Regular role
1999	Real Women	Rachel	TV series
2000	The Vice	Shirley Robinson	Episodes: "Betrayed: Parts 1 & 2", "Lovesick: Parts 1 & 2"
2000–2001	Clocking Off	Sylvia Robinson	Main role (series 1–2)
2001	Comedy Lab	Jacks	Episode: "Turn the World Down"
2001–2002	Babyfather	Lesley Bailey	Regular role
2002–2004	The Bill	Eva Sharpe	Regular role (series 18–20)
2005	Holby City	Lucy Faulds	Episode: "Live and Let Die"
	Murder Investigation Team	Eva Sharpe	Episodes #2.1, #2.2, #2.3, #2.4
	Waking the Dead	Sheryl Palliser	Episodes: "Black Run: Parts 1 & 2"
2006–present	EastEnders	Denise Fox	Regular role
2010	East Street		Charity crossover between Coronation Street and EastEnders
2010	EastEnders: Farewell Stacey		Television film
2012	The B&B: Kim's Place		2 episodes: "The Deadline", "Branching Out"
2014	EastEnders: The Ghosts of Ian Beale		Charity special
2020	The Queen Vic Quiz Night		Charity crossover between Coronation Street and EastEnders
	EastEnders: Secrets from the Square	Herself	Episode: "Denise and Kim"
2023	EastEnders: The Six	Herself	2 episodes

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2002	Royal Television Society Programme Awards	Actor: Female	Babyfather	Won	[10]
	8th National Television Awards	Most Popular Newcomer	The Bill	Nominated	[11]
2007	British Soap Awards	Best Actress	EastEnders	Nominated	[12]
2010	15th National Television Awards	Serial Drama Performance	EastEnders	Nominated	[13]
	Inside Soap Awards	Best Actress	EastEnders	Nominated	[14]
2011	16th National Television Awards	Serial Drama Performance	EastEnders	Nominated	[15]
2013	2013 British Soap Awards	Best Actress	EastEnders	Nominated	[16]
	TV Choice Awards	Best Soap Actress	EastEnders	Nominated	[17]
2014	19th National Television Awards	Serial Drama Performance	EastEnders	Nominated	[18]
	2014 British Soap Awards	Best Actress	EastEnders	Nominated	[19]
	TV Choice Awards	Best Soap Actress	EastEnders	Nominated	[20]
2016	2016 British Soap Awards	Best Actress	EastEnders	Nominated	[21]
	TV Choice Awards	Best Soap Actress	EastEnders	Nominated	[22]
2017	22nd National Television Awards	Serial Drama Performance	EastEnders	Nominated	[23]
	2017 British Soap Awards	Best Actress	EastEnders	Nominated	[24]
	2017 British Soap Awards	Best Female Dramatic Performance	EastEnders	Nominated	[25]
	Inside Soap Awards	Best Actress	EastEnders	Nominated	[26]
	Digital Spy Reader Awards	Best Soap Actress	EastEnders	Seventh	[27]
2018	23rd National Television Awards	Serial Drama Performance	EastEnders	Nominated	[28]
	2018 British Soap Awards	Best Actress	EastEnders	Nominated	[29]
2020	I Talk Telly Awards	Best Soap Performance	EastEnders	Nominated	[30]
2021		Best Soap Partnership (with Tameka Empson)	EastEnders	Nominated	[31]
2023	2023 British Soap Awards	Best Leading Performer	EastEnders	Nominated	[32]
	28th National Television Awards	Serial Drama Performance	EastEnders	Nominated	[33]
	Inside Soap Awards	Best Actress	EastEnders	Nominated	[34]
2024	29th National Television Awards	Serial Drama Performance	EastEnders	Pending	[35]