Sue Johnston (born Susan Wright, 7 December 1943) is an English actress. She is known for portrayingSheila Grant in theChannel 4soap operaBrookside (1982–1990), Barbara Royle in the BBC comedyThe Royle Family (1998–2012), Grace Foley in the BBC dramaWaking the Dead (2000–2011),Gloria Price in theITV soap operaCoronation Street (2012–2014) and Miss Denker in the ITV dramaDownton Abbey (2014–2015). She won the 2000British Comedy Award for Best TV Comedy Actress and was nominated for the 2000BAFTA TV Award for Best Comedy Performance^[1] forThe Royle Family.

Johnston was born on 7 December 1943 inWarrington and grew up inPrescot, both inLancashire.^[2] She is the daughter of Fred and Margaret Jane Wright (née Cowan).^{[citation needed]}

After working as aHigher Gradetax inspector,^[2] when her boyfriend was one of the pop groupthe Swinging Blue Jeans, Johnston worked forBrian Epstein. From the age of 21, she attended theWebber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art inLondon.^[3]

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Johnston made her television debut, aged 38, with a minor recurring role onCoronation Street in the summer of 1982, playing the role of Mrs. Chadwick, the wife of a bookmaker.^[4]

From 1982 to 1990, she appeared asSheila Grant in the soap operaBrookside. She appeared in the show's debut episode on 2 November 1982 – broadcast on the first day Channel 4 went on air – and her last episode was aired in September 1990, when the character was written out of the series following her divorce fromBobby Grant (Ricky Tomlinson) and remarriage toBilly Corkhill (John McArdle).

Since then she has appeared in many drama series and films, includingInspector Morse,Hetty Wainthropp Investigates,Brassed Off andMy Uncle Silas. In 1992, Johnston appeared in the three-part award-winning dramaGoodbye Cruel World, in which she portrayed a woman coming to terms with a muscle-wasting illness.^[5]

She was the subject ofThis Is Your Life in 1998, when she was surprised byMichael Aspel at theRoyal Exchange Theatre, Manchester.^{[citation needed]}

Johnston played Barbara Royle in the BBC comedy seriesThe Royle Family, appearing from 1998 until 2012, with her former on-screen husband inBrookside,Ricky Tomlinson.

From 2000 to 2011, she starred in the television seriesWaking the Dead, in which she played the role of psychological profiler Grace Foley, alongsideTrevor Eve.^[6]

In 2004, she appeared in one episode of the series,Who Do You Think You Are?, in which she traced her family tree.^[7]

She starred inJennifer Saunders's comedy dramaJam & Jerusalem onBBC One, alongsideJoanna Lumley,Maggie Steed andDavid Mitchell. The first series aired in 2006, the second series began on New Year's Day 2008 and the third in August 2009. Also in 2008, she played Affery Flintwinch in the BBC adaptation ofLittle Dorrit. In May 2008 it was confirmed Johnston would return as Barbara Royle for another episode ofThe Royle Family, which aired on Christmas Day 2008 onBBC One.^[8] The show returned for further Christmas specials in 2009, 2010 and 2012. She shared a role withBillie Piper in the television adaptation ofA Passionate Woman which aired on BBC One on 11 April 2010.^[9]

On 2 April 2012,Coronation Street series producerPhil Collinson announced Johnston had joined the soap opera asGloria, the mother ofStella Price (played byMichelle Collins). She made her first screen appearance on 5 September 2012.^[10] It was announced in June 2013 that Johnston would leave the soap opera in 2014 to pursue other acting roles.^[11] She departed on 21 February 2014.^[12]

In December 2011, she played Eileen Lewis in theBBC one-off dramaLapland, a role which she reprised in 2013 for a series,Being Eileen.^[13][14]

In May 2014, it was announced that Johnston would guest star in the fifth series of the period dramaDownton Abbey. She played Denker, a lady's maid to the Dowager Countess, played byDame Maggie Smith.^[15]

In 2018, Johnston played Ivy-Rae in the BBC drama series,Age Before Beauty^[16] and in August 2019, she played Joan in the second series ofHold the Sunset.^[17]

In 2021, she appeared in the TV film,Help.^[18]

In 2022, she appeared in the Channel 5 seriesWitness Number 3.^[19][20] In the same year she reprised her role as Denker in the filmDownton Abbey: A New Era.^[21]

In 2024, Johnston was announced to appear as a contestant in the "New Year Treat 2025" special ofTaskmaster, alongsideDavid James,Hannah Fry,Martin Lewis, andMelanie Blatt. She won the special.

Johnston is a supporter of theLabour Party and has been an outspokengay rights campaigner.^[22] She is a supporter ofLiverpool F.C. andSt Helens R.F.C.

In 1967, she married her first husband Neil Johnston and became pregnant at the age of 24. She suffered amiscarriage shortly after and the couple later divorced, but she kept his surname as her professional name.^[23] She has one son, Joel, from her second marriage to David Pammenter.^[24] She has two grandchildren.^[25]

Johnston is staunchlyopposed to smoking.^[26] Johnston quit smoking in 1978, but had to smokelow-tar cigarettes while playing the role of Barbara inThe Royle Family.

In 1989, Johnston, assisted by Lesley Thomson, published her first book, a memoir titledHold on to the Messy Times.^[27] In 2011, she published another memoir titledThings I Couldn't Tell My Mother.^[28]

In 1970, Johnston wassexually attacked at the age of 27 which inspired her storyline inBrookside asSheila Grant, where she wasraped.^[29]

In her autobiography,Things I Couldn't Tell My Mother,^[30] she states that she was originally going to be called Margaret Jane Wright, after her mother and grandmother, but her father thought that it would be best to call her Susan.

She is distantly related to horse trainerMark Prescott, via her maternal line, as discovered by ITV's DNA Journey; aired 16 Oct 2024.^[31] She is also related to the ConservativeMember of ParliamentWilliam Prescott.^[32]

Johnston was appointedOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the2009 Birthday Honours.^[33] In November 2010, she was awarded an honorary doctorate byUniversity of Chester atChester Cathedral.^[34]

She was made aFreeman of the city ofLiverpool in June 2024.

Additional credits

• Brookside: The Lost Weekend ... Sheila Corkhill (1997 video special)
• Brookside: Friday the 13th ... Sheila Corkhill (1998 video special)
• 2013 BBC Sports Personality of the Year ... Herself^[37]

• Sue Johnston atIMDb

• 1943 births
• 20th-century English actresses
• 21st-century English actresses
• 20th-century English memoirists
• 21st-century English memoirists
• 20th-century English women writers
• 21st-century English women writers
• Living people
• Actors from the London Borough of Haringey
• Actresses from Warrington
• Alumni of the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art
• British LGBTQ rights activists
• English autobiographers
• English film actresses
• English television actresses
• English soap opera actresses
• Labour Party (UK) people
• Officers of the Order of the British Empire
• People associated with the University of Chester
• People from Muswell Hill
• People from Prescot
• Tax inspectors

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