Sheridan Smith

Despite lacking formal drama training, Sheridan Smith emerged as one of Britain’s most cherished performers, celebrated for her sharp comic instincts, expansive emotional depth, and resonant vocal power. Born in Epworth, Lincolnshire, in 1981 to the country duo the Daltons, she first appeared onstage with her parents at age four, dancing during their sets. She pursued dance studies and earned highest honors in performing arts at school, prompting a teacher to urge her toward an audition for the National Youth Music Theatre. That connection delivered her first significant part at sixteen, playing Tallulah in a West End staging of Bugsy Malone, followed by a role in the company’s production of Into the Woods. Early television appearances paved the way for her breakthrough in 2001, when she took the role of Janet Keogh in the BBC sitcom Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, which continued for nine seasons. Exceptionally prolific, she accumulated credits across scores of television projects, earning accolades for her portrayals in Mrs. Biggs and the biopic Cilla, centered on the beloved ’60s singer Cilla Black. She simultaneously sustained careers in film and, with greater prominence, on stage, moving between buoyant musical comedies such as Legally Blonde and intense dramatic works including Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler. She secured Olivier Awards in consecutive years and received the WhatsOnStage Theatregoers’ Choice Award on two occasions. In 2016 she earned widespread praise for leading the West End revival of the musical Funny Girl. The next year she released her debut album, Sheridan, in November 2017, interpreting a nostalgic collection of pop standards that spanned Tin Pan Alley to classic vocal jazz. She followed in 2018 with her second LP, A Northern Soul, co-written with Amy Wadge (Ed Sheeran, Shannon Saunders).