Denise Black

Denise Black was born in Portsmouth, UK, on March 16, 1958. Her career in acting began after she studied psychology at London University and traveled extensively. Her first professional role was in ‘Miniatures’ at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre. She obtained her Equity card in 1980 and joined the Actor’s Touring Company, performing Shakespeare internationally. Upon returning to the UK, Black appeared in ‘La Pasionaria’ at the Newcastle Playhouse and formed a jazz group called Denise Black & the Kray Sisters. These musical endeavors led to appearances on Channel 4’s ‘Saturday Live’ and ‘Josie’, and she performed on stage with Julian Clary at the Donmar Warehouse.

Black made her television drama debut in 1990 in the BBC series ‘Casualty’ and also had a role in ‘The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes’ in 1991. In 1992, she joined the cast of ‘Coronation Street’ as Denise Osbourne, a role she held until 1997, and reprised briefly in 2007 and 2017. Her work in television also includes her notable role as Hazel Tyler in Russell T Davies’ ‘Queer as Folk’ (1999-2000) and its follow-up series ‘Cucumber’ (2015). Black has also appeared in other significant British television series such as ‘A Touch of Frost’, ‘Dangerfield’, ‘The Bill’, ‘Bad Girls’, ‘New Tricks’, and ‘Doc Martin’.

Her career includes stage work, earning a Manchester Evening News award for ‘Best Supporting Actress’ in ‘Roots’ at the Royal Exchange. In 2018, she received ‘Best Performance In a Play’ at the UK Theatre Awards for ‘The Cherry Orchard’. She appeared in the films ‘Last Orders’ and ‘The Last Tree’. In 2013, she joined ‘Emmerdale’ as Joanie Wright, returning as a regular cast member from 2015 to 2017. Recent work includes the film ‘The Lady of Heaven’ (2021) and the Disney+ series ‘Rivals’ (2024), where she plays Ms Madden. Black also plays the autoharp and writes songs, performing with her band, The Loose Screw.