Emer Kenny is a Britishactress andscreenwriter. She is best known for playingZsa Zsa Carter inEastEnders and its spin-offEastEnders: E20, Danielle Reeves inPramface and Penelope "Bunty" Windermere inFather Brown.

Kenny made her professional debut in the 2007BBC television dramaComing Down the Mountain,^[1] and, in 2009, she made her film debut in Phil Claydon'sLesbian Vampire Killers.^[2] She played the role of Kate in an improvisationalBBC production calledFreefall written and directed byDominic Savage,^[3] which was screened in 2009. In January 2010, Kenny began her role in theEastEnders spin-offEastEnders: E20 asZsa Zsa Carter as well as inEastEnders itself.^[4] Kenny was cast in the role of Zsa Zsa after writing the second episode ofEastEnders: E20.^[5] A second series ofEastEnders: E20 was announced in April 2010, with Kenny returning as a writer,^[6] although it was announced the following month that Zsa Zsa would be written out ofEastEnders so Kenny could pursue further acting roles.^[7] She made her last appearance on 30 September 2010.

In 2010, Kenny was painted byRolf Harris asTitania fromShakespeare'sA Midsummer Night's Dream for an edition of BBC TV'sArena ("Rolf Harris Paints His Dream").^[8]

Kenny wrote a further episode ofEastEnders: E20 for series three in 2011 and was selected as the youngest ever writer for theBBC Writers Academy where she trained to write for programmes such asEastEnders,Casualty,Holby City, andDoctors.^[9] Her firstEastEnders episode as a writer was broadcast on 8 May 2012.^[10]

She joined the cast ofE4'sBeaver Falls for its second series playing the character Hope. The second series began airing in early August 2012 with the final episode of the series airing in early September 2012. It was announced on 22 September 2012 that the drama would not be recommissioned.^[11]

In 2011, she was cast as Danielle Reeves in theBBC ThreedramedyPramface alongside herBeaver Falls co-starScarlett Alice Johnson.^[12]Pramface piloted in late February 2012^[13] and was met with good reception, so much so the second series was commissioned by the BBC before the first series had even aired.^[14] She reprised her role for the second series which began airing in the new year of 2013 and was broadcast a second time onBBC One throughout the summer of 2013.^[15] She reprised her role again for a third series which commenced airing in late February 2014.^[16]

She played the role of Rachel alongsideMatthew Crosby,Ben Clark andTom Parry in the first series of BBC Three'ssitcomBadults which aired in the summer of 2013. A second series was commissioned but it was announced that Kenny would not feature in it.^[17]

In 2016, Emer Kenny worked as a scriptwriter on Irish soapRed Rock for a few episodes.

In 2017, she joined the cast of the BBC TV seriesFather Brown as Penelope "Bunty" Windermere, the wayward niece of Lady Felicia.

Kenny wrote the screenplay for and co-starred in the ITV crime dramaKaren Pirie, adapted from the Karen Pirie novels ofVal McDermid.^[18] She co-wrote the second series (to be aired in late 2024) with Gillian Roger Park.^[19]

For writing the first episode ofKaren Pirie, Kenny was nominated for theEdgar Allan Poe Award for Best Episode in a TV Series.^[20]

Kenny is ofIrish andWelsh heritage.^[21]

Kenny married television presenterRick Edwards in 2016,^[22] and gave birth to their son in January 2023.^[23]

• Emer Kenny atIMDb

• Living people
• English television actresses
• Actors from the London Borough of Haringey
• English people of Welsh descent
• British soap opera actresses
• 21st-century English actresses
• Actresses from London
• English female screenwriters

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from February 2020
• Articles with hCards
• Year of birth missing (living people)