Suzanne Packer

Suzanne Packer (born Suzanne Jackson; 20 September 1958) is a Welsh actress who is best known for playing the role of Tess Bateman in the long-running television series Casualty from September 2003 until August 22, 2015, as Suzanne quit the show after playing Tess for nearly 12 years. Packer will return to Casualty as a guest for the 30th Anniversary episodes.

The daughter of Jamaican immigrant parents to Abergavenny, her mother worked as a nurse. She is the elder sister of the Olympic hurdler Colin Jackson. Whilst studying at Llanedeyrn High School in Cardiff, she already showed an interest in acting, playing the lead in school plays including Oklahoma and The King and I.

Packer attended the National Youth Theatre of Wales before becoming a BA in theatre and drama at the University of Warwick, she then trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

Embarking on an acting career, in the early 1990s she was most well known for her role as Mick Johnson's wife Josie in the Channel 4 soap Brookside. She then undertook a degree in teaching at Goldsmiths College, and after graduating in 1996 taught drama in London.

Whilst acting, she met and married American actor Jesse Newman. The couple moved to New York City, where she taught drama and acted, and in 2003 gave birth to their son Paris. After the birth their relationship began to break down, and they agreed to move back to the UK, but Newman later decided to stay in the USA. The couple divorced the following year.

Arriving back in Cardiff with her three-month-old son, she gained an audition for BBC drama Casualty. Three weeks later she started work as Sister Tess Bateman, first appearing on screen from September 2003. In November 2006 Martina Laird who played the role of Comfort left casualty and this then meant that Suzanne was the second longest serving cast member. On August 22, 2015, she quit Casualty after playing the character of Tess for nearly 12 years to become a member of the cast of Stella and of Doctors.

Packer appeared with her brother Colin on the first series of Pointless Celebrities on 6 July 2011. They were eliminated in the first round.

Packer is divorced from American actor Jesse Newman and in 2006 lived in Cardiff with their son Paris.

TV