Joanne Froggatt

Joanne Froggatt (born 21 August 1980) is an  Emmy-nominated English actress of stage, television, and film, most notably appearing in  Downton Abbey as Anna, the head housemaid. She earlier had a regular role in  Coronation Street and has also appeared in many other television dramas including  Bad Girls,  dinnerladies,  Nature Boy,  Red Cap,  A Touch of Frost,  Other People's Children,  The Street,  Rebus,  Island at War, and  Life on Mars.

Biography and career
Froggatt was born and brought up in the village of Littlebeck. Her parents, having run a corner shop, next started a rare breed sheep farm on a smallholding near Whitby. Froggatt initially joined a drama group in Scarborough  and then left her family home at the age of 13 to attend the Redroofs Theatre School in Maidenhead, Berkshire.

In 1996, Froggatt made her TV debut in the long-running ITV drama, The Bill, and shortly afterwards landed the role of teenage mother Zoe Tattersall in Coronation Street. She left the programme in 1998 when her character was written out.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13px;">In 2003, Froggatt played the leading role in the controversial one-off drama, Danielle Cable: Eyewitness, based on the true story of a teenage girl who witnessed the murder of her boyfriend in a reputed road rage attack. Whilst researching the role, she met Cable who later contacted her to commend her on her portrayal. The film earned a BAFTA TV Award nomination for Best Single Drama.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13px;">Froggatt starred as a main character in the drama Missing, made by SMG Productions in 2006 alongside Gregor Fisher. However, the two-part thriller wasn't broadcast on STV until November 2008.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13px;">Also in 2006, she played the sister of Myra Hindley in the ITV drama, See No Evil: The Moors Murders, and recently appeared in another controversial role as the title character in Joanne Lees: Murder in the Outback, which first aired onChannel Ten in Australia on 18 March 2007, and was screened in Britain on ITV on 8 April 2007. She also appeared on the London stage in the adaptation of All About My Mother in the part of Sister Rosa (played in the 1999 film byPenélope Cruz), which ran from July to November 2007 at the Old Vic Theatre.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13px;">She portrayed Kate, a peasant, in the third season of the BBC TV series Robin Hood. She played Hannah, in Spooks: Code 9, and features in the BBC Radio adaptation of Solaris as Rheya. In May 2009, she played Kelly on BBCdrama Moving On.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13px;">On 25 September 2009, Froggatt played the title role in the BBC Radio Four play I am Emma Humphreys. On 3 October of that year, Froggatt played Princess Yvonne in the BBC Radio Four Saturday play The Von Trapps and Me.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13px;">On 15 April 2010, Joanne Froggatt appeared opposite Lee Ingleby in the BBC Radio Four play The Disappearance by Peter Whalley. In her film début, In Our Name, Froggatt played Suzy, a soldier suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. She garnered critical acclaim for her performance and won Best Newcomer at the British Independent Film Awards.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13px;">From 2010, Froggatt has appeared in Downton Abbey as Anna, the head housemaid, for which she received an Emmy nomination in 2012.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13px;">On 25 December 2010, she appeared in the Royle Family Christmas special 'Joe's Crackers' as Saskia, the girlfriend of Antony Royle. Despite having been mentioned by name in earlier episodes this was the first time that Saskia had appeared in person. Froggatt starred in John Donnelly's play The Knowledge at the Bush Theatre, West London from 12 January to 19 February 2011.