Honeysuckle Weeks

This article is about the British actress. For The Submarines' album, see Honeysuckle Weeks (album).
Honeysuckle Weeks

Honeysuckle Weeks, November 2008
Born (1979-08-01) 1 August 1979
Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales, United Kingdom
Occupation Actress
Years active 1993–present
Spouse(s) Lorne Stormonth-Darling (m. 2007)
Children 1
Relatives Perdita Weeks (sister)
Rollo Weeks (brother)

Honeysuckle Hero Susan Weeks[1][2] (born 1 August 1979) is a British actress known for her starring role as Samantha Stewart in the ITV wartime drama series Foyle's War beginning in 2002.

Early life

Weeks was born in Cardiff, Wales,[3][4] to Robin and Susan (née Wade) Weeks (who have since divorced),[5] and grew up in Chichester and Petworth. Her parents named her after honeysuckle flowers because they were in bloom when she was born. She has a younger sister Perdita and brother Rollo, both of whom have also pursued careers in acting.

Weeks was educated at Great Ballard School,[6] Sussex, Roedean School and Pembroke College, Oxford, where she read English (graduating with upper-second class honours).[7] She also spent time studying art on the John Hall Pre-university Course in Venice, Italy. As a child she was a member of the Chichester Festival Theatre. From the age of nine, Weeks studied at the Sylvia Young Theatre School at the weekends.

Aged 11, Weeks was flown to the United States and cast in the Walt Disney Pictures feature A Far Off Place being directed by Steven Spielberg.[8] However, when Spielberg dropped out of the project, Weeks' role was re-cast with Reese Witherspoon.[9]

Career

Television

Her acting career began with the juvenile lead in a television series, an adaptation of Anne Fine's Goggle-Eyes (1993), alongside Perdita. Since then she has appeared in many programmes, including the children's series The Wild House and the long-running series Midsomer Murders and Poirot. In 1997 Honeysuckle and Perdita were both in Catherine Cookson's The Rag Nymph, wherein Perdita played the younger version of her sister's character. Her film roles include Annie Ridd in Lorna Doone (2000) and Sarah in My Brother Tom (2001). She starred in The Bill in 2009 as Julie Nowak.[10]

She has recently starred in The Five, created by bestselling thriller writer Harlan Coben. She is currently best known for her parts in three television series: Close Relations (1998), Ladies & Their Gentlemen (2002–2006), and Foyle's War (2002–2010, 2013, 2015). In the last, a BAFTA Award–winning detective series set in Hastings during and just after World War II, she starred opposite Michael Kitchen. In 2007, Weeks starred in The Inspector Lynley Mysteries as Tania Thompson, a character based on the Canadian serial killer Karla Homolka. In 2008, she appeared as Harriet Pringle in the Radio 4 adaptation of Fortunes of War. In 2012, she played a small part as Mrs Beeton in an episode of the BBC educational programme The Charles Dickens Show.[11]

In 2015 she appeared as Mae Harmer in the BBC TV series Death in Paradise episode 4.8. On 9 May 2015 she portrayed a wartime letter writer at VE Day 70: A Party to Remember in Horse Guards Parade, London that was broadcast live on BBC1. She also appeared in the ITV series Lewis episode "Magnum Opus".

Film

Weeks has appeared in the films My Brother Tom, Red Mercury and The Wicker Tree (the "spiritual successor" to The Wicker Man).[12]

Stage acting

In early 2010, she appeared as "Sarah Prentice" in a production of the Agatha Christie play A Daughter's A Daughter at London's Trafalgar Studios.[13] Later that year, Weeks appeared as Eliza Doolittle in a production of Pygmalion at the Chichester Festival Theatre in West Sussex.

She starred in the UK premiere of Melanie Marnich's play These Shining Lives from 8 May to 9 June 2013.[14]

Personal life

Weeks was engaged to the poet and musician Anno Birkin for a short period before his death, at age 20, in a car crash in Italy in 2001. She married hypnotherapist Lorne Stormonth-Darling[5] in an impromptu Buddhist wedding ceremony while on holiday in the Himalayas in 2005, followed by a London wedding in July 2007.[15] The couple have one child, Wade, born in 2011, and live in Petworth.[15]

In August 2015, Weeks was caught speeding on the A3 in south-west London. It later emerged that she was already banned from driving under the totting-up scheme, and in early 2016 was ordered to wear an electronic tag as a consequence when the court imposed a four-week night time curfew on her.[16][17]

In July 2016, it was reported that Weeks had gone missing, with relatives said to be concerned for her welfare.[16] However, she was later found safe and well and remained with police late that night before being returned to West Sussex.[18][19]

Awards and nominations

In 2004, Weeks was nominated in the Most Popular Newcomer category at the National Television Awards.

References

  1. ↑ My Titanic career move: Perdita Weeks on landing her first major role | Daily Mail Online
  2. ↑ http://directors.findthecompany.co.uk/l/7880735/Honeysuckle-Hero-Susan-Weeks
  3. ↑ Interview from official press release, September 2002, retrieved from www.foyleswar.com
  4. ↑ General Records Office - Birth registration index
  5. 1 2 Hoyle, Antonia; Robertson, Peter (8 March 2008), "What would Foyle say! The shocking truth about Honeysuckle Weeks, 'the primmest girl on TV'", Daily Mail, retrieved 12 April 2010
  6. ↑ "INTERVIEW: Honeysuckle Weeks is more than over the moon at her Chichester return". Bognor Regis Observer. 22 April 2010. Retrieved 16 May 2012. She grew up just near Petworth, went to school at Great Ballard and started her acting career with Chichester Festival Youth Theatre in 1988.
  7. ↑ "Honeysuckle Weeks Video - Celebrity Interview and Paparazzi". OVGuide. Retrieved 16 May 2012. Weeks was educated at Great Ballard School, Sussex, Roedean School and Pembroke College, Oxford
  8. ↑ "Craig Ferguson 5/28/14E Late Late Show Honeysuckle Weeks". YouTube.
  9. ↑ "Honeysuckle Weeks on getting into character". Ideas Mag. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  10. ↑ IMDb, Honeysuckle Weeks, Filmography
  11. ↑ "BBC Two - The Charles Dickens Show". bbc.co.uk. 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
  12. ↑ "The Wicker Tree". Moria. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  13. ↑ Gardner, Lyn (4 Jan 2010). "'A Daughter's A Daughter' Review". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  14. ↑ Hemley, Matthew (19 April 2013). "Honeysuckle Weeks to star in Melanie Marnich's These Shining Lives". The Stage. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  15. 1 2 Claudia Joseph (19 March 2013). "Foyle's War star Honeysuckle Weeks: I am not a bit like my character". Daily Express. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
  16. 1 2 "Honeysuckle Weeks: Fears grow for missing Foyle's War actress". BBC. 29 July 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  17. ↑ Foyle's War's Honeysuckle Weeks ordered to wear an electronic ankle tag | Daily Mail Online
  18. ↑ Rawlinson, Kevin (29 July 2016). "Actor Honeysuckle Weeks found 'safe and sound'". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  19. ↑ Honeysuckle Weeks: Missing actress found 'safe' - BBC News

External links

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