Verity Rushworth
Verity Charlotte Rushworth (born 15 August 1985) is an English actress. She is known for portraying the role of Donna Windsor in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale from 1998 to 2009, with a guest appearance in 2014. She has twice played leading roles in London’s West End theatre amongst many other theatre roles throughout the UK, and in 2020, she began appearing in the BBC soap opera Doctors as Lily Walker.
Verity Rushworth | |
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Rushworth in April 2009 | |
Born | Verity Charlotte Rushworth 15 August 1985 Bradford, England |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1997–present |
Television | Emmerdale Doctors |
Spouse(s) | Dominic Michael Shaw ( m. 2013) |
Children | 2 |
Life and career
Rushworth attended St. Mary's Catholic High School, Menston.[1][2] In 1997, Rushworth had small roles in ITV television programmes such as Heartbeat, and in 1998, at the age of 12, she went on to play her most notable role of Donna Windsor in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale, having taken over the role from Sophie Jeffery who played the part from 1993 to 1997.[3] After appearing on Emmerdale for over 10 years, Rushworth filmed her final scenes at the end of 2008 which were later aired in January 2009.
From 2 February 2009, she made her West End debut by playing the role of Penny Pingleton in a production of Hairspray, taking over the role from Elinor Collett.[4] Rushworth then played the leading role of Maria Von trap in the 2011 UK tour of The Sound of Music for Andrew Lloyd Webber which led to many other theatre roles for her. She took on the role of Velma in Chicago at Curve Theatre, Leicester from November 2013 to January 2014 [5] On 6 January 2014, it was announced that Rushworth would be returning to Emmerdale to reprise the role of Donna, after a five-year-absence. Rushworth began filming in February, and returned on screen on 19 March 2014. It was announced that she would be back as Donna for 5 months and departed on 15 August 2014.[6] On the 2016 tour of the Breakfast at Tiffany's, she shared the role of Holly Golightly with Pixie Lott.[7] Her latest theatre role was ‘Lauren’ in the West End cast of Kinky Boots until 2018. In June 2020, she began appearing in the BBC soap opera Doctors as receptionist Lily Walker.[8]
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1997 | Heartbeat | Lucy Keen | Episode: "Friendly Fire" |
1998–2009, 2014 | Emmerdale | Donna Windsor | Series regular; 1311 episodes |
2007 | Soapstar Superstar | Herself | Contestant |
2007 | Soapstar Superchef | Herself | Contestant |
2020 | Doctors | Lily Walker | Recurring role |
Stage
- Hairspray - Penny Pingleton (2009–2010 London West End)
- Departure Lounge - Sophie (2010)
- The Sound Of Music - Maria (2011 UK Tour)
- Annie - Grace Farrel (2011 - West Yorkshire Playhouse)
- Seven Year Itch - Salisbury Playhouse - March 2012
- Merrily We Roll Along - Theatr Clwyd - May 2012,[9]
- Chicago - Velma - (2013–2014 Curve Theatre Leicester)
- And Then There Were None - Vera Claythorne (2015 UK Tour)
- Kinky Boots - Lauren (2017 London West End)[10]
References
- "The West End Girl: Meet Leeds' own Verity Rushworth INTERVIEW". www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk.
- "Rawdon's Verity comes home in musical classic". Wharfedale Observer.
- Derbyshire Council (Verity Rushworth interview) Archived 9 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- Playbill.com Archived 22 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 16 October 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- Brown, David (8 January 2014). "Emmerdale: Verity Rushworth to return as Marlon's ex-wife Donna". Radio Times. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
- "Verity Rushworth To Star In Richard Greenberg's Adaption Of Breakfast At Tiffany's". 10 November 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
- Director: Merlyn Rice; Producer: Caroline Slater; Executive Producer: Mike Hobson (9 June 2020). "Wild Assumptions". Doctors. BBC. BBC One.
- Mark Shenton (10 May 2012). "The Stage / Reviews / Merrily We Roll Along". Thestage.co.uk. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
- "Simon-Anthony Rhoden and Verity Rushworth join Kinky Boots cast". 5 May 2017.