Amanda Donohoe Bio

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Amanda Donohoe (born 29 June 1962) is an English actress.

Amanda Donohoe: Early life

Donohoe was born in London, the daughter of Joanna and Ted Donohoe, antique dealers. Her father (who also worked for the foreign office), is of Irish/Russian descent and her mother is Swiss. She left home at sixteen, and in her early twenties she was accepted at the Central School of Speech and Drama. In the late 1980s, she decided to move to Los Angeles to expand her career.

Amanda Donohoe: Career

Donohoe first came to attention of the worldwide audience in 1986, when she was cast opposite Oliver Reed as Lucy Irvine in Nicolas Roeg's Castaway (where she appeared nude in some sequences of the movie). She followed this up with roles in two Ken Russell films The Lair of the White Worm, based on a Bram Stoker novel, and The Rainbow, based on a D. H. Lawrence novel. In 1981, Donohoe appeared in the music videos for the songs "Antmusic" and "Stand & Deliver" by Adam and the Ants.

In February 1991, Donohoe took part in the first lesbian kiss on American television when her character CJ Lamb on L.A. Law kissed Abbie Perkins, played by Michele Greene. Donohoe appeared in L.A. Law for two seasons. More recently Donohoe has worked in film, including Liar, Liar opposite Jim Carrey, and television roles including Murder City, Bad Girls and a guest appearance in Ally McBeal. Donohoe's stage roles include in the spring of 2001, replacing Jerry Hall in the role of Mrs Robinson in The Graduate in London's West End and the title role of Hedda Gabler at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester in 2005.

Donohoe joined the cast of ITV soap Emmerdale at the beginning of 2009 as businesswoman Natasha Wylde.

Channel 4 ranked Donohoe as number 38 in their list of the 50 Greatest British actresses.

Amanda Donohoe: Personal life

Donohoe is a feminist, a socialist and an atheist. Donohoe admits to having experimented with drugs but never became addicted. She dated Adam Ant in the early 1980s and punched an obsessed fan who threatened Ant with a knife. She lived with film maker Nick Broomfield for three years. She has been open about being bisexual, telling Diva magazine, "My first sexual experiences were with women, and if a woman comes into my life who is absolutely stunning and satisfies me emotionally, intellectually and sexually, I'm not going to draw the line and say 'I can't because you're a woman.'"

In 1993, Donohoe ranked 16th in Celebrity Sleuth's 25 Sexiest and in 1995 she ranked 16th in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women.