Quick Facts
Biography
Susan J P Holderness (born 28 May 1949) is an English actress. Since 1985 she has played the role of Marlene Boyce in the British sitcom Only Fools and Horses (until 2003) and its spin-off The Green Green Grass (from 2005 until 2009).
Career
Holderness was born in Hampstead. After taking her A-levels, she trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama. She began her acting career with Manchester’s 69 Theatre Company in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Peer Gynt and as Desdemona in Catch My Soul (Jack Good’s rock-musical version of Othello). She has worked consistently in theatre, radio, film and television. West End plays include The Female Odd Couple, Why Not Stay for Breakfast, The Male of the Species and the highly acclaimed one-woman play Our Kid (based on Myra Hindley).
Sue regularly appears in The Vagina Monologuesand she is part of the cast of the touring play Seven Deadly Sins Four Deadly Sinners. She has toured the country in numerous plays and worked in several repertory companies. Much of Sue’s career has been spent doing Alan Ayckbourn plays, three of which (Relatively Speaking, Time and Time Again, and How The Other Half Loves) she toured with John Challis, who plays Boycie to Sue’s long-suffering Marlene in Only Fools And Horses. The Green, Green Grass ran from 2005 - 2009. A total of four series and two Christmas Specials were created.
Sue played the role of Annie in the 2010 UK Tour of Calendar Girls (April–August). She played Annie again in 2011(April–August.)She played Celia in the 2012 tour(Jan - May) and went back to playing Annie in the Autumn 2012 tour (Sep - December).
Television roles include Marianne in The Sandbaggers (two series), Liz in It Takes a Worried Man (two series), Jo in The Brief, Cleopatra IV in The Cleopatras, episodes of Minder, Bless This House, The New Avengers, Thriller, Sob Sisters, Growing Pains, Doctors, Lime Street with Robert Wagner, and Murder in Suburbia. She played Rowan Atkinson's love interest, Lorraine, in Canned Laughter, and did numerous impersonations in two series of End of Part One. She played Maggie in Dear John, by John Sullivan, Joan Forrester (Oscar Blaketon's former wife) in Heartbeat for YTV, Joan Travis in Revelations, and Rachel’s mum in Cold Feet, also for Granada.
Films include That'll Be the Day (1973) and It Could Happen to You (aka Intimate Teenage Secrets) (1975). Sue also appeared in the low budget feature Meat Draw and Out of Sight for Granada.
Sue regularly appears in pantomime. and has appeared in productions across the UK. In 2014, Holderness appeared in the BBC One medical drama Casualty as Alice Sweeney.