Maggie O'Neill

Margaret O'Neill (born 15 November 1962) is an English actress. She is known for her television roles in Peak Practice (2000–2002), Shameless (2004–2007) and EastEnders (2008). In 1986 she appeared in the music video for Simply Red's single Holding Back The Years. In 1988 she appeared in the film Gorillas in the Mist.

Biography

The youngest of six Catholic brothers and sisters, born to head teacher parents, O'Neill grew up in the Midlands, where she was educated at a convent school, and after being inspired by a sixth-form drama teacher, "fell" into acting.

After training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, she starred in the video for Simply Red's Holding Back the Years in 1986, before making her professional stage debut in Moving Pictures, by Stephen Lowe, at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds in 1985. After making her screen debut in the British production Mona Lisa opposite Bob Hoskins in 1986, she made her Hollywood screen debut in the Sigourney Weaver film Gorillas in the Mist in 1988. She also played alongside Keith Barron and Annette Crosbie in the 1989 TV series Take Me Home.

O'Neill played Alex Redman in ITV's medical drama Peak Practice, but is best known to British audiences for playing Sheila Jackson in Channel 4's comedy drama Shameless. O'Neill also played Max and Jack Branning's sister Suzy in the BBC1 soap opera EastEnders, for five months in 2008, before leaving the show during the Christmas Day episode.

Other appearances

• Simply Red, Holding Back The Years (1985) (music video) as the young teacher
• Clock Opera, The Lost Buoys (2012) (music video) as the wife