Julia Hills

Julia Hills (born 3 April 1957) is a British actress, known for being a member of the cast of the Channel 4 late-night comedy sketch show Who Dares Wins in the 1980s. She also played the character of Rona, the man-hungry neighbour, in eight series of the BBC hit sitcom 2point4 children.^[1]

Early life and career [link]

Hills was born in Nottingham and is a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company where she played many leading roles including Sally Forth in the premiere of Peter Nichols' musical Poppy. Perdita in The Winters Tale and Diana in Alls Well That Ends Well directed by Trevor Nunn. She also played Edwin Drood in the New York Shakespeare Theatre production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood at the Savoy Theatre in 1987 playing opposite Lulu and Ernie Wise.

Theatre work [link]

She was nominated for an Olivier Award (Actress of the Year in a Musical) in 1984 for her performance as Emily Tallentire in Howard Goodall and Melvyn Bragg's The Hired Man.

Other theatre credits include Eve in Flying Under Bridges by Sandi Toksvig adapted by Sarah Daniels (Watford Palace Theatre) Betty in Larkin with Women (Coventry Belgrade) Vera in Stepping Out (New Vic Theatre Stoke), The Hired Man (Leicester Haymarket and West End), A Midsummer Nights Dream (RSC Stratford and Barbican) Rusty in Our Friends in the North by Peter Flannery (RSC Newcastle and Barbican), The Witch of Edmonton (RSC Stratford), Beside Herself by Sarah Daniels (Royal Court), We The Undersigned, Dealing With Clair by Martin Crimp (Orange Tree Richmond), Toine in Piaf, Beauty and the Beast, Guys and Dolls, The Tempest, Sylvia Raven in The Philanderer, Beside The Sea, Susannah in Bedroom Farce, A Mad World my Masters, Dorcas Frey in Plenty (Bristol Old Vic), A Midsummer Nights Dream (Bristol Old Vic and London Old Vic), Mr Puntila and his Man Matti, Does This Train Stop at Southend? (Stratford East), Bunty Mainwaring in The Vortex, Shore Saints and Sea Devils (Library Theatre Manchester), Fertility Dance (Nuffield Southampton), Jack and the Beanstalk (York Theatre Royal) and two national tours of Who Dares Wins – Sex and Drugs and Sausage Roll. From February 2009 she took part in a nationwide tour of Calendar Girls^[2] before it moved to the Noel Coward Theatre from April 3, 2009.

She recently appeared as Mrs Eynsford-Hill in Pygmalion at Manchester Royal Exchange Theatre. She rejoined the tour of Calendar Girls last July to play the role of Annie. She has just played Amy Ruskin in 'Special Occasions' at The Mill Theatre Sonning playing opposite her husband Paul Clarkson and is currently to be seen in The Borrowers at The Nuffield Theatre Southampton until January 2012. She will then be moving to The Tobacco Factory Bristol to play Goneril in King Lear and Madame Ranevskaya in The Cherry Orchard both directed by Andrew Hilton

Television work [link]

Hills has appeared in many TV shows most notably in 2point4 children in which she played Rona for the shows 8 series run on BBC1 (1991–1999). She also starred as all of the women and even some of the male characters in Channel 4 comedy series Who Dares Wins (1984-8). More recently she has appeared as Caroline Joyner in hospital drama Casualty (2004-5). She had previously appeared in the series in 1993 as Carol Simpson for one episode.

She also made an appearance in Ladies in Charge for 6 episodes in 1986 and shared a leading role with Kevin McNally in BBC sitcom Dad as Beryl Hook for 13 episodes (1997–1999) over 2 series. Dad was written by Andrew Marshall who also created 2point4 children.

Other appearances

• Outnumbered (2010)
• Doctors (2010)^[3]
• All in the Game (2006)
• Casualty (1993, 2004-5)
• Wipe Out (2004)
• Murder in Suburbia (2004)
• Star (2003)
• Trevor's World of Sport (2003)
• Murphy's Law (2003)
• Doctors (2002)
• Peak Practice (2000)
• Dad (1997–1999)
• 2point4 Children (1991–1999)
• Haggard (1992)
• The Upper Hand (1991)
• Boon (1990)
• The Bretts (1988)
• The Refuge (1987)
• Ladies in Charge (1986)
• The Lenny Henry Show (1985)
• Storyboard (1985)
• Who Dares Wins (1984–1988)
• Goodbye Days (1984)
• The Lost Tribe (1980)

She has also appeared as herself on The Alan Titchmarsh Show in 2009 and The Good Sex Guide in 1993.

Radio [link]

Julia is also well known for playing Annabelle Scrivener in The Archers as well as numerous other radio plays.

• Falco
• Revolting People
• Julie and the Prince
• Earth Song
• It Started With a Click
• Dealing With Clair
• The Culper Tapes
• Saturday Night Fry
• The Rainbow Bridge
• Gilbert Without Sullivan
• The Lost Child
• The Walsall Boys
• Book at Bedtime
• Our Man in Havana
• Life Death and Sex with Sue and Mike
• The Long Hot Satsuma

Film Work [link]

Hills's films include Homeground.

Personal life [link]

She is married to actor and director Paul Clarkson who played John Tallentire in The Hired Man. They have been married for 26 years and have three children.

References [link]

External links [link]

• Julia Hills at the Internet Movie Database
• Julia Hills' website