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Janice Connolly
BEM
Connolly as Barbara Nice
Born (1953-08-07) 7 August 1953 (age 71)
Stockport, Cheshire, England
Alma materBirmingham City University
Occupations

Janice Connolly BEM (born 7 August 1953) is an English actress, comedian and artistic director. She runs the Birmingham-based group Women and Theatre and performs stand-up comedy as her character Mrs Barbara Nice. Connolly has also appeared in Coronation Street, That Peter Kay Thing, Phoenix Nights, Max and Paddy's Road To Nowhere, Thin Ice and Dead Man Weds. In 2017, Connolly was awarded a British Empire Medal in the New Years Honours list for services to community arts in the West Midlands. In 2022, she began appearing in the BBC soap opera Doctors as Rosie Colton.

Early life

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Connolly was born in Stockport on 7 August 1953.[1][2] She left to study drama at Birmingham Polytechnic (now Birmingham City University).[3] After graduating, she became a drama teacher and a social worker for Barnardos.[4]

Career

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Connolly was part of the Birmingham independent music scene in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She performed with the Surprises and the Evereadies regularly in Moseley at the Fighting Cocks. Singles championed by John Peel included "Jeremy Thorpe is Innocent" and "Martian Girlfriend".[4] She then became known for her character Barbara Nice - a caricature of a middle aged housewife and mother of five from Kings Heath, Birmingham.[5] Her act is heavily reliant on interaction with the audience, for example, acting as an agony aunt to the audience.[6] Connolly was performing as Barbara Nice at the Palace nightclub in Levenshulme in 1997 when spotted by Peter Kay at the finals of the Manchester Evening News New Act of the Year. She went on to appear in several of his television shows.[7] She played Holy Mary in Phoenix Nights, a part Dave Spikey claimed he wrote with her in mind and which was reprised in Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere written by Kay and Paddy McGuinness.[4]

Connolly later began performing on the British comedy circuit as a headline act and has performed one woman shows across the UK. She appeared as Barbara Nice in solo shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2012, 2014[8][7] and 2018 [9] In October 2015, Connolly recorded a pilot for BBC Radio 2's Comedy Showcase series, which was made available on the BBC iPlayer in November before being broadcast later that month.[8] The BBC said: "Barbara is worried she and Ken (played by John Henshaw) are at risk of adding to the numbers of silver splitters - they have nothing in common; Ken's idea of retirement involves a marathon session of Pointless and that doesn't fit with Barbara's idea of a well-spent golden age."[8] The pilot was well received with 4 episodes commissioned and subsequently broadcast in March 2017.[10]

In October 2015, Connolly appeared in the stage adaptation of Meera Syal's novel Anita and Me at the Birmingham Rep, for which she was acclaimed for her "comic talent".[11] Further stage appearances have included Birmingham Comedy Festival's Lost Hancocks: Vacant Lot (2017-2018).[12] and Prime Time (2019).[13] In September 2016, Connolly performed at the Keep Corbyn rally in Brighton in support of Jeremy Corbyn's campaign in the Labour Party leadership election.[14]

On 20 April 2019, Connolly auditioned in the character of Barbara Nice on the television programme Britain's Got Talent. She made it to the live shows, however, she was later eliminated in the fifth semi-final.[15] In 2022, Connolly began portraying receptionist Rosie Colton in the BBC soap opera Doctors.[16][17] She appeared on a temporary basis between February and September 2022 and again from May to November 2023, before returning permanently in September 2024 up until the conclusion of the programme in November 2024.

Personal life

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Connolly is married with two children and lives in Kings Heath, Birmingham.[3]

Connolly is the artistic director and founder member of the Birmingham-based Women and Theatre.[7] The company is committed to social change through new theatre and drama and in its mission statement, it states that it aims to make heard the voices of those who are not usually listened to. The company performs in a variety of settings including schools, arts centres, health centres and conference halls.[6] She ran the Laughing for a Change project, funded by Time to Change, which encouraged comedians and audiences to talk about mental health; this culminated in a stand-up tour in 2014 featuring Seymour Mace, Rob Deering and others.[18][19]

In 2017, she appeared in the New Years Honours list in recognition of her contribution to community arts through her work with Women and Theatre. She was awarded a British Empire Medal.[20]

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1997 The Locksmith Occupational Therapist Episode: "Ghosts"
2000 That Peter Kay Thing Mrs. Balfour Episode: "Leonard"
2001–2002 Phoenix Nights Holy Mary Main role
2004 Coronation Street Dolly Gartside 1 episode
2004 Doctors Shirley Episode: "Checking Out"
2004 Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere Holy Mary Guest appearance
2005 Dead Man Weds Carol Sykes Main role
2006 Thin Ice Inga Main role
2009 Lunch Monkeys Mrs. Wilson Episode: "Spacepants"
2009 Coronation Street Sheila Wheeler Guest role
2011–2012 In with the Flynns Sister Mary Guest role
2013 The Johnny and Inel Show Dinner Lady Guest role
2018 Eaten by Lions Barbara Nice Film
2019 Britain's Got Talent Barbara Nice Contestant
2019–2020 So Awkward Mazel Recurring role
2021 Meet the Richardsons Barbara Nice Recurring role
2021 Falling Flat Jackie Television film
2022 Coronation Street Madame Sienna 1 episode
2022-2024 Doctors Rosie Colton Recurring role (2022-2023)
Regular role (2024)

References

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  1. ^ Barnicoat, Becky (29 July 2011). "Weekender: Barbara Nice, comedian, 57". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  2. ^ "Janice Burke". Gov.uk. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  3. ^ a b Laws, Roz (13 March 2017). "Why comedian Barbara Nice threw herself off Birmingham mac's stage for Radio 2 sitcom". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  4. ^ a b c Laws, Roz. "Alright on the Nights; JANICE RISES FROM THE PHOENIX CLUB". Free Library. Birmingham Post and Mail. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  5. ^ "Barbara Nice Profile". Chortle.
  6. ^ a b "Barbara Nice Profile". Comedy CV.
  7. ^ a b c Wallwork, Melanie. "Comic Janice Connolly reunited with Peter Kay and co for Phoenix Nights charity gigs". The Bolton News. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  8. ^ a b c "Radio 2 Comedy Showcase pilot for Barbara Nice". Comedy.co.uk. 12 October 2015. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  9. ^ "Barbara Nice: Raffle | Heroes of Fringe".
  10. ^ "BBC2's Comedy Showcase". BBC Radio. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  11. ^ Laws, Roz (14 October 2015). "Review: Anita and Me at Birmingham Rep is funny and shocking". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  12. ^ What's On Stage, The Lost Hancocks, Sept 2018, https://www.whatsonstage.com/shows/inner-london-theatre/the-lost-hancocks-vacant-lot_172068
  13. ^ The Birmingham Press, Prime time for Women & Theatre, 1 Oct 2019, http://thebirminghampress.com/2019/10/prime-time-for-women-theatre/
  14. ^ Burke, Darren (26 August 2016). "TV star comedians line up for Jeremy Corbyn rally in Doncaster". Doncaster Free Press. Doncaster. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  15. ^ "Barbara Nice wows judges on Britain's Got Talent - but where have we seen her before?". Manchester Evening News. (Reach plc). Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  16. ^ Timblick, Simon. "'Doctors' spoilers: Hazeem Durrani takes a fancy to a beautiful patient!". What to Watch. (Future plc). Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  17. ^ Timblick, Simon. "Doctors spoilers: Rosie Colton knows WHO killed Jacob!". What to Watch. (Future plc). Archived from the original on 25 June 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  18. ^ Stephenson, John-Paul (21 February 2014). "Laughing for a Change: Stand-up tour raises mental health awareness". Giggle Beats. Archived from the original on 13 March 2014. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  19. ^ Gill, Becca (1 March 2014). "Review: Laughing for a Change – The Stand, Newcastle". Giggle Beats. Archived from the original on 10 March 2014. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  20. ^ "New Year's Honours 2017 - Press releases". Gov.uk. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
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