Zara Dawson is an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 actress and television presenter.

Career

Her most high-profile television roles to date include Down to Earth

Down to Earth (UK TV series)

Down to Earth was a BBC One television series first broadcast in 2000 about a couple who start a new life on a Devon farm. The early episodes of the series were based on a series of books written by Faith Addis about their real-life move from London to Devon.The music in the series was composed by...

 (in which she played Emma Murphy, the wayward daughter of Ricky Tomlinson

Ricky Tomlinson

Eric Tomlinson , known by his stage name Ricky Tomlinson, is an English actor and comedian, best known for his roles as Bobby Grant in Brookside, DCI Charlie Wise in Cracker and James "Jim" Royle in The Royle Family....

 and Denise Welch

Denise Welch

Jacqueline Denise Healy is an English actress, dancer and television presenter.-Early life:Denise Welch was born in Ebchester, County Durham, to father Vin and mother Ann and has a younger sister Debbie...

), Holby City

Holby City

Holby City, stylised as Holby Ci+y, is a British medical drama television series that airs weekly on BBC One.The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama Casualty, and premiered on 12 January 1999...

, Doctors

Doctors (BBC Soap Opera)

Doctors is a British daytime television soap opera, set in the fictional Midland town of Letherbridge, defined as being close to the City of Birmingham. It was created by Chris Murray; Mal Young drove its development, and Carson Black was the original producer. The first episode was broadcast on...

, Mike Bassett: Manager

Mike Bassett: Manager

Mike Bassett: Manager is a British TV comedy series, which began transmitting from 29 September 2005 on ITV. It is a follow-up to the film Mike Bassett: England Manager, and stars Ricky Tomlinson in the title role Steve Edge as his assistant, and Amanda Redman as his long-suffering wife, Karine...

 and Family Affairs

Family Affairs

Family Affairs was a British soap opera broadcast on Five, from 1997 to 2005. It was the second programme to be broadcast on the channel on 30 March 1997, the channel's launch night...

, in which she played Eve O' Brien. After producers realised the popularity of her character, they decided the last episode should centre around Eve's wedding to Nathan.In addition, she has guest presented the CBBC

CBBC

CBBC is one of two brand names used for the BBC's children's television strands. Between 1985 and 2002, CBBC was the name given to all the BBC's programmes on TV for children aged under 14...

 show Xchange

Xchange (TV series)

Xchange was a factual entertainment BBC television programme for children. It was broadcast initially on BBC Two and later the CBBC Channel. The programme was transmitted live from studio TC2 at BBC Television Centre...

 and Diggit on ITV.

She has just completed filming the Nicholas Winter feature film Breathe

Breathe (film)

Breathe is a 2009 British independent film directed by Nicholas Winter and starring Ricci Harnett, Zara Dawson, Lee Otway and Jing Lusi. The film was shot on location in London and Somerset in 2007, and debuted at the Genesis Cinema in London in 2009...

, released in 2009 and is currently filming a new British comedy feature film Mixed Up playing the daughter of Billy Murray

Billy Murray (actor)

Billy Murray is an English actor, best known for playing Don Beech in The Bill from 1995 to 2004, Johnny Allen in the BBC soap opera EastEnders from 2005 to 2006, Captain John Price in the video games Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare...

 and starring alongside Adele Silva

Adele Silva

Adele Silva is an English actress and television personality who has been on stage and television since she was a young girl. She is best known for playing the role of Kelly Windsor in the television soap opera Emmerdale....

, Lee Otway

Lee Otway

Lee Otway is an English actor best known for his role as David "Bombhead" Burke in the British television drama Hollyoaks....

, Abi Titmuss

Abi Titmuss

Abi Titmuss, , is a former English nurse turned glamour model, television personality and actress.-Early life:...

 and Sylvester McCoy

Sylvester McCoy

Sylvester McCoy is a Scottish actor. As a comic act and busker he appeared regularly on stage and on BBC Children's television in the 1970s and 80s, but is best known for playing the seventh incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who from 1987 to...

, due for release in 2009, directed by Lawrence Pearce. Zara will start filming feature film Turnout in August 2010 with Ophelia Lovibond, Frank Harper, Neil Maskell and Ben Drew.

On stage, she has appeared as "Juliet" in the West End

West End theatre

West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...

 musical

Musical theatre

Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...

 version of Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...

. and other theatre work includes "Jo" in Little Women

Little Women

Little Women is a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott . The book was written and set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House, in Concord, Massachusetts. It was published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869...

, "Roberta" in The Railway Children

The Railway Children

The Railway Children is a children's book by Edith Nesbit, originally serialised in The London Magazine during 1905 and first published in book form in 1906...

. and "Hermia" in A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...

. She was also a backing vocalist

Backing vocalist

A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...

 for Charlotte Church

Charlotte Church

Charlotte Maria Church is a Welsh singer-songwriter, actress and television presenter. She rose to fame in childhood as a classical singer before branching into pop music in 2005. By 2007, she had sold more than 10 million records worldwide including over 5 million in the United States...

 alongside Eastenders Kara Tointon

Kara Tointon

Kara Louise Tointon is a British actress, best known for playing Dawn Swann in BBC soap opera EastEnders. Tointon was the 2010 winner of BBC television series Strictly Come Dancing.-Early life:...

.

Personal life

Born in King's Lynn

King's Lynn

King's Lynn is a sea port and market town in the ceremonial county of Norfolk in the East of England. It is situated north of London and west of Norwich. The population of the town is 42,800....

, she is an alumna of the primary school Silfield School and Wisbech Grammar School

Wisbech Grammar School

Wisbech Grammar School is a co-educational independent school in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire for students ages 11 to 18. Founded by the Wisbech Guild of the Holy Trinity in 1379, it is one of the oldest schools in the country. The present headmaster is N.J.G. Hammond, a member of the Headmasters' and...

, the Sylvia Young Theatre School

Sylvia Young Theatre School

Sylvia Young Theatre School is an independent fee-paying stage school, in Westminster, London, named after its founder and Principal, Sylvia Young.-Outline:...

 and Redroofs Theatre School

Redroofs Theatre School

Redroofs Theatre School is an independent theatre training school in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England.The school was established in 1947 in London and moved to Littlewick Green in 1964 into a house that was once the home of Ivor Novello. The school currently has two bases in Maidenhead, and two...

. Zara began her career as a ballerina dancing for the Royal Ballet Company before to turning to acting & singing. She is engaged to actor Alexis James, most noted for creating the on-stage role of "The Artillery Man" in Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds

Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds

Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds is a 1978 concept album by Jeff Wayne, retelling the story of The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells. Its format is progressive rock and string orchestra, using narration and leitmotifs to carry the story via rhyming melodic lyrics that express...

.

External links

• Official Website