Ashley Jensen

Ashley Jensen

Jensen at the 60th Annual Emmy Awards, 21 September 2008
Born Ashley Jensen
(1969-08-11) 11 August 1969
Annan, Scotland
Occupation Actress
Years active 1990–present
Spouse(s) Terence Beesley (m. 2007)
Children 1

Ashley Jensen (born 11 August 1969) is a Scottish actress and narrator. She was nominated for an Emmy for her role on the television series Extras, on which she appeared from 2005–2007. She was also a cast member of the ABC show Ugly Betty and the short-lived CBS sitcom Accidentally on Purpose.

Career

Jensen was born in Annan, Scotland to Margaret and Ivar Jensen. She was raised by her mother, a special-needs teacher. She trained at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh and was a member of the National Youth Theatre.

Jensen's first big television role was as Clare Donnelly, daughter of Glasgow criminal Jo-Jo Donnelly (played by Billy Connolly) in the 1993 BBC drama Down Among the Big Boys. In 1994 she played eccentric secretary Rosie McConnichy in the final series of BBC comedy May to December, as a replacement for the character of secretary Hilary, and Heather in Roughnecks, a BBC television series based around the workers on a North Sea Oil platform. Jensen had a small role in a Dangerfield episode "Contact" as the mother of a young girl with meningitis. She then appeared as Fiona Morris in EastEnders. She also appeared in Two Thousand Acres of Sky on the BBC in 2003 along with Michelle Collins and Paul Kaye.

Jensen starred alongside Ricky Gervais in the BBC Two/HBO television programme Extras as the socially inept Maggie Jacobs. For her work on the first series, she received best television comedy actress and newcomer awards at the 2005 British Comedy Awards. In 2006, Jensen received two British Comedy Awards and a BAFTA nomination for her role in Extras. Her role in the 2007 Christmas Special earned her an Emmy Award nomination. In January 2006 she starred in the short-lived drama series Eleventh Hour on ITV, alongside Patrick Stewart. Later that year she played Steve Coogan's agent in A Cock and Bull Story. In 2007, she provided the narration for the film Taking Liberties, directed by Chris Atkins.

In September 2006, Jensen's first major role on American television came when she took the role of regular character Christina McKinney on the ABC series Ugly Betty. Her character was originally an American, but when she met with the show's producers they liked Jensen's accent and changed the nationality of the character, keeping McKinney British. Production of Ugly Betty moved to New York from Los Angeles in mid-2008, causing a conflict for Jensen, who became a recurring member of the cast.

In January 2009, Jensen starred in No Holds Bard, a BBC Scotland one-off special comedy shown on Burns Night as part of a line-up of special programming to mark the 250th Birthday of Robert Burns. She is the narrator of Channel 4's Embarrassing Illnesses and Embarrassing Bodies. She also narrates Bank of Scotland's current advertisement campaign and Persil detergent adverts for both television and radio. From September 2009 to May 2010, she co-starred with Jenna Elfman in the sitcom Accidentally on Purpose as Olivia. Jensen starred in the BBC comedy Nativity as Jennifer Lore, a Hollywood producer's secretary and the love interest of Paul Maddens played by Martin Freeman. Nativity was released in cinemas on 27 November 2009.

On 21 December 2010, she starred in the one-off/pilot BBC comedy drama Accidental Farmer, playing a London executive who buys a derelict farm with her philandering boyfriend's credit card. In 2011, she voiced Nanette the frog in the animated production Gnomeo and Juliet. She starred in the ITV drama The Reckoning in April of that year. On 6 October 2012, she appeared as a guest on the BBC cookery programme Saturday Kitchen hosted by James Martin.

On 22 August 2014, Sky announced that it had commissioned a television film adaptation of the M. C. Beaton novel Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death for Sky1, starring Ashley Jensen as the titular character, Agatha Raisin.[1]

In 2015, Jensen starred opposite Sharon Horgan and American comedian Rob Delaney in Catastrophe, a six-part comedy series for the British Channel 4[2] that will air in the UK from 19 January 2015.

In 2015, Jensen co-starred with Susan Calman in the BBC Radio 4 comedy series Sisters.[3] Calman also wrote the series.

Personal life

After six years together, Jensen married actor Terence Beesley in a ceremony in the woods of Big Sur, California on 29 January 2007.[4] They met in 1999 while working on a stage production of King Lear.[5] The couple also own property in Umbria, Italy. The couple have one son, Francis Jonathan Beesley (born 20 October 2009),[6] and currently live in Bath, Somerset.[7]

In December 2008, Jensen and Beesley were granted a restraining order against Jeff Lewis from Bravo TV's Flipping Out. Jensen and Beesley then were living next door to a Los Feliz house Lewis was renovating, and conflict arose after a deck that Lewis had constructed on the home crossed the property line onto the Jensen-Beesley property. Jensen and Beesley sued, seeking $100,000 for an easement. Lewis reacted negatively and Jensen/Beesley filed a restraining order. In mid-April 2009 the two parties settled for a $30,000 easement and an agreement that the deck would not have to be demolished.

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
1991 Tickets for the Zoo
1999 Topsy-Turvy Miss Tringham
2005 A Cock and Bull Story Lindsey
2009 Nativity! Jennifer Lore
2010 Sunshine Alison short
How to Train Your Dragon Phlegma the Fierce Voice
2011 Gnomeo & Juliet Nanette
Hysteria Fanny
Arthur Christmas Bryony Nominated - Annie Award for Voice Acting in a Feature Production
2012 The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! The Surprisingly Curvaceous Pirate
2014 Small Time Gail
2015 The Lobster Biscuit Woman
2015 The Legend of Barney Thompson Detective Inspector June Robertson
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1990 City Lights 1 episode
1992, 1993 Rab C. Nesbitt 2nd Girl / Sheena 2 episodes
1993 Screen One Claire Donnelly 1 episode
1994 May to December Rosie / Rosie McConnachy 6 episodes
The Tales of Para Handy Catriona MacLean 1 episode
Takin' Over the Asylum Kathleen
1994–95 Roughnecks Heather 13 episodes
1994, 1997 The Bill Diane Wyre / Kate Selby 2 episodes
1995 The Baldy Man Hairdresser 1 episode
Waiting Amanda Cookson
Temp Eileen TV film
Capital Lives Eileen 1 episode
1996 The Big Picnic Nessie TV film
Bad Boys Morag 6 episodes
1996–2004 Casualty Stella / Jess 3 episodes
1997 Dangerfield Michelle Thomson 1 episode
1998–2000 City Central PC Sue Chappell 31 episodes
1998 Mortimer's Law Naomi Childs 1 episode
2000 EastEnders Fiona Morris 2 episodes
2001 Rebus Mhairi Henderson 1 episode
2001–03 Clocking Off Babs Leach / Babs Fisher 5 episodes
2002 Outside the Rules Dawn Deacon TV film
Breeze Block 5 episodes
2003 Coming Up Rachel 1 episode
Silent Witness DI Becky Metcalf "Fatal Error" 2 Episodes
Sweet Medicine Faye Brooks 5 episodes
The Office Interviewer 2 episodes (voice)
2005 Meet the Magoons Policewoman No.1 1 episode
Taggart Agatha Ferry
2005–07 Extras Maggie Jacobs 13 episodes
British Comedy Award for Best Newcomer
British Comedy Award for Best Television Comedy Actress (2005)
Nominated BAFTA Award for Best Comedy Performance
Nominated Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
Nominated Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Actress
Nominated British Comedy Award for Best Television Comedy Actress (2008)
Nominated Rose d'Or Award for Best Sitcom Performance (follower-up)
2006 Eleventh Hour Rachel Young 4 episodes
2006–2010 Ugly Betty Christina McKinney 66 episodes (Series Regular; 1–3 / Guest Star; Season 4)
Nominated BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Acting Performance in Television
Nominated Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2007, 2008)
2007–15 Embarrassing Bodies Narrator Documentary
2009 No Holds Bard Isobel TV film
2009–10 Accidentally on Purpose Olivia 18 episodes
2010 Accidental Farmer Erin Taylor TV film
2011 The Reckoning
2013 All Stars
Love and Marriage Sarah
The Escape Artist Kate Burton
2014–present Agatha Raisin Agatha Raisin TV film
2015–present Catastrophe Fran

References

External links

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