Local Roots

Born in Leeds of a West Indian father and a white mother. At the age of three, Angela was put up for adoption and moved to a Banardo’s home in the north east.

The Bruce family from Craghead near Stanley, following a visit made by their daughter, a nurse, to a Barnardo's home, offered Angela a weekend with them. She stayed for over 16 years!

Angela attended Craghead Infant school, then Gateshead High School where she won a scholarship to Eastcliffe Grammar School in Gosforth.

At 15, she enrolled on a three year nursing course at Durham Technical College, not her first choice of career. "My sister was a nurse, so it seemed a good enough job," she explained.

After two years training, Angela failed her exams and quit nursing. Angela then completed a City and Guilds. According to her mother, she laughs, "you’ll never be out of work as a caterer" !

Hair we go!

Angela as Mrs Justin in Ghosthunter: BBC North

It was the early 70’s and the progressive rock musical Hair was playing at Newcastle Theatre Royal, "I was enthralled by how much fun the vibrant, multicultural cast appeared to be having, so I bought a ticket, made up a fictional friend to go with and went to the theatre on my own," she revealed.

With her heart set on acting, Angela attended an audition for a newly commissioned TV hospital drama. This was Angels, a popular series set in a fictional (St. Angela's) hospital, prerunner to Casualty and Holby City.

Angel in the wings

The drama dealt with real issues and real people; students nurses working in a Birmingham hospital. Angels is just one example of the BBC's prodigious drama output from the 1970s.

In its time Angels was groundbreaking stuff: a much tougher version of hospital life than any previously attempted on British TV. It was also one of the few places on TV which showed Britain as a progressive multiracial society.

Angela (centre) and the cast of Angels

"When they were casting Angels, there were only a handful of black female actors in The Spotlight (the casting directory),
Angels needed a young multicultural cast. I was initially cast in a minor role for one episode," she explained.

Northern Accent

At the time, northern actor, Lesley Dunlop, was a main character in Angels. When she left they needed a replacement, so Angela joined as student nurse Sandra Ling, a role which actually capitalised on her northern accent.

After Angels, it seemed that Angela was never off the TV. Her roles were numerous, and some where ground breaking.

Home produced TV sitcoms and drama were enjoyed great successes in the mid 70’s. It was also the era of totally unrepeatable sitcoms such as Love Thy Neighbour, Mixed Blessings and Mind your Language. There are few black actors who survived being typecast during these times.

TV Pioneer

Angela has often been referred to as a pioneer in the casting of black women on British TV - from the feisty student nurse Sandra Ling to Brigadier Winifred Bambera in Dr Who.

Angela as Brigadier Winifred Bambera in Dr Who

Even today, Angela is conscious of some of the roles offered to black women and to women in general. This has meant she has lost or missed out on work. But by sticking to her guns, she has avoided stereotypes.

Street life

In 1978, Angela was one of the first black characters to join the cast of Coronation Street as waitress Janice Stubbs. Janice soon caught the eye of Rovers regular, Ray Langton. Within months Ray and Janice were having an affair. Deirdre found out, and Ray left the street for a new life in Holland.

Scary Movie

In 1980, Angela died on screen in a Hammer House of Horror supernatural thriller, Charlie Boy, a truly scary TV movie about a little voodoo doll that carries a curse so powerful, it wipes out an entire English family. This was her very first on screen death - and what a send off - wrapping a Mini round a tree, she emerges from the wreckage impaled on the steering wheel!

Role models

Angela Griffin and David Harewood in Baby Father

During her career, Angela has seen many young black actors achieve much deserved recognition and high profile roles in mainstream drama. Some of her favourites are Angela Griffin and Cathy Tyson.

She also is very proud that black British actor David Harewood has taken over the lead role in ITV’s The Vice from Ken Stott. Not since the 80’s, when David Yip played the Chinese Detective, has a black actor had the lead in a primetime TV drama.

The Norman Beaton Fellowships

With the launch of the Norman Beaton Fellowships, a scheme to encourage actors for radio drama (particularly those from minority ethnic communities), Angela is keen to offer encouragement to any young person considering acting.

"When I started out, this type of initiative would never have occurred," she adds, "young people need an outlet for their expression, to develop self esteem and build character".

She hopes the Norman Beaton Fellowship’s will help make much needed changes within the industry, maybe become more like America where positive casting for TV and film is common practice.

Working and resting

Angela is often cast as a strong formidable woman, such as the forensic pathologist Dr Dugdale in Messiah 2. She has also enjoyed less conventional roles such as Deb Lister in Red Dwarf, starring in an episode in which she impregnates Lister (Craig Charles) with twins. There has also been appearances in Only Fools and Horses and on stage in the Rocky Horror Show.

Angela with David Jason : Only Fools & Horses Christmas Special 1996

Speaking of her future, "acting is a fickle business, and not one you can make a living from. There are only a handful , about 1%, of actors who are in constant work, " she reveals.

Angela sees herself as a jobbing actor, taking work when it's appropriate. Though she says she'll never retire, she does find alternative ways of making a living and getting the most out of life. She is a trained Reflexologist.

Ambassador of Derwentside

In 2000, Angela was made an Ambassador of Derwentside alongside Denise Welch, Susan Maughan and Sir Bobby Robson - chosen because of the success they have achieved in their fields and their links with the district.