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Josie Lawrence is one of Britain’s best-loved stage and screen actress, with particular interest in comedic roles.
She first became a household name in Who’s Line Is It Anyway? for Channel 4, becoming the first female performer.
She is also an early member of The Comedy Store Players, alongside the likes of Mike Myers, Paul Merton and Sandi Toksvig. When her schedule permits it, Josie still enjoys performing with the troupe.
Contact Great British Speakers today to book Comedic Actress Josie Lawrence for your next event.
Josie Lawrence started her acting career on stage, starring in a wide range of national and local shows from some of the best theatres in the country. She has performed everywhere from the Donmar Warehouse to the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Birmingham Repertory Theatre to the West Yorkshire Playhouse, as well as throughout the West End.
Her work includes the Taming of the Shrew – for which she won the Peggy Ashcroft Award – Much Ado About Nothing, The King & I (where she replaced Elaine Paige), Acorn Antiques The Musical, Moll Flanders, The Cherry Orchard and Hapgood.
Josie successfully transferred her acting to our TV and Cinema screens. On Channel 4, she had her own show Josie, and starred in the critically acclaimed Outside Edge opposite Timothy Spall and Brenda Blethyn. She has also starred in the likes of Shakespeare and Hathaway: Private Investigators (2020), Good Omens (2019), Agatha Christie’s Poirot (1989), The Kennedys (2015), Jonathan Creek (2014), Doctors (2010), Casualty (2010), EastEnders (2009), Skins (2007) and Robin Hood (2007).
Josie is also a popular guest on comedy panel and quiz shows including An Audience With Ken Dodd (1994), Never Mind the Buzzcocks (1999), Loose Women (2003), QI (2004), Who Wants to be a Millionaire (2009), Would I Lie to You (2012) and the BBC Proms in 2012.
Her film credits are smaller but no less impressive with the likes of Enchanted April (1991), The Old Curiosity Shop (2007) and Finding Your Feet (2017).
She is also a regular on our radio waves, particularly for BBC Radio 4 where she has starred on Just a Minute, The Reluctant Persuaders, The Masterson Inheritance, Galton and Simpson, Reluctant Persuaders and Good Omens.
She is a popular choice to narrate audiobooks, especially those for children including the Little Miss series, Jacqueline Wilson books including The Illustrated Mum and The Bed and Breakfast Star, and Felicity Wishes, Spot the Dog, Dilly the Dinosaur, Room on the Broom and Muffin the Mule. She also recorded for adults, Sun at Midnight, Going Loco and Jamaica Inn.
– Comedy
– Live and Recorded Performance
– Charity Work
– Women in Comedy
Josie is passionate about working with a multitude of charities and using her profile to fundraise much-needed funds. In 2003, she spent eight months walking across China, Cuba, Peru and Tanzania for Breakthrough Breast Cancer, raising over half a million pounds in the process. In 2005 she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for Sunfield, a school for children with complex needs, as well as a VIP-night performance of the play Hapgood in 2008 and a charity appearance of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. She is also a regular supporter of the National Autistic Society’s Make School Make Sense campaign.
In 2009, she joined fellow actor Shane Richie on the celebrity Around the World in 80 Days challenge to raise money for Children In Need 2009; they travelled from Memphis to North Carolina and then to London in just over a fortnight.
