Catherine Tate is an English comedian, actress and writer. She has won numerous awards for
her work on the sketch comedy series The Catherine Tate Show as well as being nominated for an
International Emmy Award and seven BAFTA Awards. Following the success of The Catherine Tate
Show, three Christmas specials of the series aired, in 2007, 2009 and 2014, with the second
and third focusing on the character of Nan. Tate has also played Donna Noble in Doctor
Who, and continued the role until 2010. In 2011, she began playing Nellie Bertram in
the US version of The Office, and was a series regular until the show ended in 2013. Tate
is currently starring in the BBC sitcom, Big School, and plays French teacher, Ms. Sarah
Postern.
Early life and education Tate was born in Bloomsbury and brought up
in the Brunswick Centre. Her mother, Josephine, was a florist, and Tate has said that the
character of Margaret in The Catherine Tate Show, who shrieks at the slightest of disturbances,
is based largely on Josephine. Tate never knew her father as he left very early on in
her life and, consequently, she was brought up in a female-dominated environment, being
cared for by her mother, grandmother and her godparents. As a child, Tate suffered from
an obsessive-compulsive disorder which centred on word association. For example, Tate was
not able to leave a jumper on the floor or it might have brought misfortune to her mother
whose name began with the letter "J" like jumper.
She attended St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Macklin Street, Holborn and Notre
Dame High School, Southwark, a south London convent secondary school for girls. By the
time Tate was a teenager, she knew she wanted to follow a professional acting career and,
following the abolition of the sixth form at her secondary school, was sent to a boys'
Roman Catholic school, Salesian College in Battersea at the age of 16 for sixth form
as it had the necessary facilities for drama. Tate left school without sitting her A-Levels.
She then tried for four years to get a place in the Central School of Speech and Drama,
succeeding on her fourth attempt. She studied there for three years, and until the age of
26, lived in Holborn and Bloomsbury. Prior to getting a place at the Central School of
Speech and Drama, Tate went to the Sylvia Young Theatre School, but left after a week;
"Even at that age, I realised I wasn't Bonnie Langford. It was very competitive", she stated.
Personal life Tate's former partner is stage manager Twig
Clark. They have a daughter, Erin, delivered following an emergency caesarean section.
The family had a home in Richmond-upon-Thames, London. The family had both a cat and a dog,
the latter of which was given to her by Jonathan Ross. Tate and Clark split before summer 2011.
Tate is the patron for the Laura Crane Youth Cancer Trust, supporting the charity since
August 2006. In 2011 she took part in the charity's 2011 Charity Calendar Tate suffered
from post-natal depression, from which she only recovered after the filming of the second
series of The Catherine Tate Show. She also suffers from occasional panic attacks. Regarding
her personal outlook, Tate has said "I'm an incredibly negative person, so any form of
success is only ever going to be a relief to me and set my default position back to
neutral." Awards & Nominations
Mainly For The Catherine Tate Show: Awards
2004: British Comedy Award – Best Comedy Newcomer
2006: RTS Television Award – Best Comedy Performance
2006: British Comedy Award – Best TV Comedy Actress
2007: National Television Awards – Most Popular Comedy Programme
2008: TV Quick Award – Best Actress in a Drama Series
2009: Constellation Awards –Best Female Performance in a Science Fiction Television
Episode Nominations
2004: British Comedy Award – Best TV Comedy Actress
2005: British Comedy Award – Best TV Comedy Actress
2005: British Comedy Award – People's Choice Award
2005: International Emmy – Best Performance by an Actress
2005: BAFTA TV Award – Best New Writer 2005: BAFTA TV Award – Comedy Programme
or Series Award 2006: BAFTA TV Award – Best Comedy Performance
2007: BAFTA TV Award – Best Comedy Programme 2008: Nickelodeon's UK Kids Choice Awards
2008 – Funniest Person 2008: Nickelodeon's UK Kids Choice Awards
2008 – Best TV Actress 2008: National Television Award – Outstanding
Drama Performance 2011: BAFTA TV Award – Catherine Tate's
Little Cracker Filmography
Television Film
Theatre Radio & CD Audio Drama
References
External links Catherine Tate at bbc.co.uk/comedy
The Catherine Tate Show at bbc.co.uk/comedy Catherine Tate at the Internet Movie Database
Works by or about Catherine Tate in libraries