Lesley Ann Manville CBE (born 12th March 1956 in Brighton) appeared on Coronation Street in June 1982 as Jill Mason, who was temporarily employed by Gail Tilsley as a childminder to son Nick.
She attended the Italia Conti from the age of fifteen and had a successful early stage career. She also worked extensively with film director Mike Leigh.
Her other television credits include roles in The Emmigrants, King Cider, A Bunch of Fives, Soldier Soldier, The Mushroom Picker, Goggle Eyes, Ain't Misbehavin, Little Napoleons, Tears Before Bedtime, Holding On, Real Women, The Cazalets, North & South, Cranford, Law & Order: UK, Mayday, Fleming, River, Mum, Harlots, Save Me, Love Life, Magpie Murders, Life After Life, Sherwood, Citadel, World on Fire and The Crown, along with the regular role as Rosemary Kendall in Emmerdale Farm from 1975 to 1976.
Film roles include Dance with a Stranger, Christmas Present, Sammy and Rosie Get Laid, High Season, High Hopes, Secrets & Lies, Topsy-Turvy, Milk, All or Nothing, Vera Drake, The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael, Sparkle, A Christmas Carol, Another Year, Clone, Spike Island, Ashes, A Five Star Life, Romeo & Juliet, The Christmas Candle, Mr. Turner, Maleficent, Ghosts, Molly Moon and the Incredible Book of Hypnotism, Rupture, Hampstead, Phantom Thread, Ordinary Love, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, Misbehaviour, Let Him Go, Everything I Ever Wanted to Tell My Daughter About Men, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris and The Critic.
On stage, she appeared in productions of Sons of Light, Savage Amusement, Fear of the Dark, As You Like It, Philistines, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Voice on the Falklands, The Dead Monkey, Philistines and The Wives' Excuse for the Royal Shakespeare Company. Other works include The Marriage of Figaro, Good Fun, Top Girls, The Pope's Wedding, Saved, Serious Money, The Cherry Orchard, Three Sisters, The Alchemist, All About My Mother, Her Naked Skin, Six Degrees of Separation, The Visit and won an Olivier Award for her role as Helene Alving in the Almeida Theatre's revival of the Ibsen play Ghosts.
She was awarded the OBE in the 2015 Birthday Honours for services to drama and promoted to CBE in the 2021 New Year Honours for services to drama and charity.