Cherie_Lunghi

Cherie Lunghi

Cherie Lunghi

English actress and voice over artist

Cherie Mary Lunghi (born 4 April 1952) is an English film, television, theatre actress and voice over artist. She is known for her roles in many British dramas. Her international fame stems from her role as Guinevere in the 1981 film Excalibur. Her long list of screen, stage, and TV credits include football manager Gabriella Benson in the 1990s television series The Manageress and a series of advertisements for Kenco coffee. She also competed in the 2008 series of Strictly Come Dancing.[2] She is the mother of the actress Nathalie Lunghi.

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Early life

Lunghi was born in Nottingham.[3] Her father, Alessandro Lunghi, was Italian.[4]

She was raised by her mother, aunt and grandmother, seeing her father only occasionally. Lunghi has described herself as feeling "different" as she did not have a mother and father like other children.[5]: 89, 90  Lunghi attended Richmond Grammar School in North Yorkshire but has said that she was not academic and far more interested in make believe.[5]: 90 

Career

Educated at London's Arts Educational School,[6] Lunghi played Hedvig in The Wild Duck [7] and Alice in Alice in Wonderland [8] on BBC radio while still at school. After graduating from Homerton College, Cambridge[failed verification] and London's Central School of Speech and Drama, she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in the late 1970s, taking leading roles such as Perdita, Celia, and Viola.[6] She had a starring role in the 1979 British short film Diversion (the prototype for the 1987 U.S. film Fatal Attraction). In 1981 she landed the role of Guinevere in the film Excalibur.[6]

She starred in the 1982 television serial Praying Mantis, based on the book (Les Mantes Religieuses) by Hubert Monteilhet. The thriller co-starred Pinkas Braun, Carmen du Sautoy, and Jonathan Pryce. In 1985 Lunghi played Michal in King David alongside Edward Woodward and Richard Gere. She also appeared alongside Robert De Niro in The Mission. Lunghi told author Paul Stenning, "It was wonderful working with him, it was extraordinary actually. He transforms right in front of you. You are aware when watching him on screen that he has transformed – he is not Robert De Niro – he is somebody else. I don't think you can learn how to do that; it's just the power of your imagination."[5]: 94 and 95 

In the mid-1980s, she relocated to Los Angeles for eight years, but returned to England to care for her mother. After the birth of her daughter she took various short-term parts, including playing the band members' mutual love interest in the music video for Level 42's song "Something About You". Lunghi has described how she had been working during pregnancy and was working again three months after giving birth, saying, "it was working mother guilt. I was juggling and balancing, trying to be fair to my career and to my child. Nathalie would come everywhere with me."[5]: 95 

Lunghi took on the lead role in football drama The Manageress (1989–90), and participated in the BBC adaptation of Edith Wharton's posthumously published novel, The Buccaneers (1995), as Laura Testvalley. In addition to film and television work, she appeared in a long-running advertising campaign on British television for Kenco coffee from the late 1990s onwards.

In 2006, Lunghi appeared on television in Casualty 1906, playing Matron Eva Luckes, and had a recurring guest role in the regular Casualty series as Professor Camille Windsor. In 2013, she narrated some episodes of the BBC genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are?.[9]

Strictly Come Dancing

In 2008, she competed in the sixth series of BBC television's Strictly Come Dancing (14-week run), partnered by James Jordan.[10] After her first dance, the Foxtrot on the Ladies Night in week two, she scored the highest points of the first two weeks (33). She beat this score with another series-best score of 35/40 for the rumba to finish week four atop the remaining 12 contestants with an average score of 34/40. The score for her third dance, the American Smooth, was an impressive 34 to maintain her average, though she slipped to 31/40 for the Paso Doble, and further to 26/40 on her fifth outing, in the Salsa. She returned to form the following week with a Waltz, scoring 36/40, and was joint first on the leaderboard.

She was voted off the competition on 16 November 2008 (week nine), losing by three votes to one in the dance-off against model Lisa Snowdon after performing a Cha-Cha-Cha.[11] In the January/February 2009 Strictly Tour, she danced an American Smooth and a rumba with James Jordan.

Personal life

Lunghi was briefly married to South African student Ralph Lawson after the pair met while studying at London's Central School of Speech and Drama.[4] The 1975 marriage was one of convenience so that Lawson could remain in the UK. The couple never lived together as husband and wife, instead staying in separate homes in Newcastle. Lawson moved back to South Africa two years later to take a new job.[12] She has a daughter, Nathalie Lunghi (b. 1986), with the director Roland Joffé.

Filmography

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Television

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Radio

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Theatre

Her stage credits include:[52]

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References

  1. [1]
    "Cherie Lunghi". Debrett's. Archived from the original on 15 September 2014. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  2. [2]
    Midgley, Neil (18 September 2008). "Cherie Lunghi: Strictly Come Dancing". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 11 November 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  3. [3]
    General Registry Office (GRO) birth records
  4. [4]
    "Cherie Lunghi: I have 'seduced' so many men". Daily Express. 14 October 2008. Archived from the original on 14 January 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2008.
  5. [5]
    Paul Stenning (24 November 2013). "Success – By Those Who've Made It". In Flight Books. ISBN 978-1628475869
  6. [6]
    Butler, Robert (14 November 1993). "Show People: Scoring a different goal: Cherie Lunghi". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 30 January 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  7. [7]
    The Wild Duck – BBC Radio Times
  8. [8]
    Alice's Adventures in Wonderland – BBC Radio Times
  9. [9]
    Mullin, Cheryl (24 July 2013). "What's on TV tonight: Who Do You Think You Are?, The Café and Love/Hate". Birmingham Mail; Trinity Mirror. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
  10. [10]
    "Strictly Come Dancing stars unveiled". Daily Mirror. 28 August 2008. Archived from the original on 3 February 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2008.
  11. [11]
    "Cherie No More!". Daily Express. 17 November 2008. Archived from the original on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2008.
  12. [12]
    "Strictly Come Dancing's Cherie Lunghi had sham marriage". Daily Mirror. 11 October 2008. Archived from the original on 2 February 2009. Retrieved 19 November 2008.
  13. [13]
    The Valiant Varneys – BBC – Radio Times
  14. [14]
    A Pretty Row of Pretty Ribbons – BBC Radio Times
  15. [15]
    Dr. Finlay's Casebook: The Visitation – BBC Radio Times
  16. [16]
    The Brontës of Haworth Yorkshire Television – Theatricalia
  17. [17]
    Peter and the Princess – BBC – Radio Times
  18. [18]
    Play of the Month: Kean – BBC – Radio Times
  19. [19]
    Prince Regent: 7: Milk and Honey – BBC – Radio Times
  20. [20]
    Festival: The Misanthrope – BBC – Radio Times
  21. [21]
    'Tis Pity She's a Whore – BBC – Radio Times
  22. [22]
    ""Tales of the Unexpected" Death in the Morning (TV Episode 1982) - IMDb". IMDb.
  23. [23]
    If Winter Comes – BBC – Radio Times
  24. [24]
    Playhouse: Preview – BBC – Radio Times
  25. [25]
    Jackanory: Puss in Boots – BBC – Radio Times
  26. [26]
    Jackanory: Jack and the Beanstalk – BBC – Radio Times
  27. [27]
    Jackanory: Cinderella – BBC – Radio Times
  28. [28]
    The Misanthrope – BBC – Radio Times
  29. [29]
    Play for Today: Desert of Lies – BBC – Radio Times
  30. [30]
    Vicious Circle – BBC – Radio Times
  31. [31]
    The Daughter-in-Law – BBC – Radio Times
  32. [32]
    Screen Two: Coast to Coast – BBC – Radio Times
  33. [33]
    A Question of Guilt – BBC Radio Times
  34. [34]
    The Raft of the Medusa – BBC – Radio Times
  35. [35]
    Afternoon Theatre: The Long Childhood – BBC – Radio Times
  36. [36]
    A Day Like Sunday – BBC – Radio Times
  37. [37]
    Midweek Theatre: Quiet Wedding – BBC – Radio Times
  38. [38]
    The Turn of the Screw – BBC – Radio Times
  39. [39]
    The Monument – BBC – Radio Times
  40. [40]
    International Couriers: The Kidnappers – BBC – Radio Times
  41. [41]
    The Dark Rising – BBC – Radio Times
  42. [42]
    Ye Daughters of Jerusalem – BBC – Radio Times
  43. [43]
    Saturday-Night Theatre: When Sam was King – BBC – Radio Times
  44. [44]
    Kittens Are Brave – BBC – Radio Times
  45. [45]
    Golden Ring on my Finger – BBC – Radio Times
  46. [46]
    Saturday-Night Theatre: Blood Sport – BBC – Radio Times
  47. [47]
    Blood Sport – BBC Saturday-Night Theatre – Dick Francis – YouTube
  48. [48]
    Drama Now: Lost Yer Tongue? – BBC – Radio Times
  49. [49]
    Joyous Days in the Desert – BBC – Radio Times
  50. [50]
    Globe Theatre: Six Characters in Search of an Author – BBC – Radio Times
  51. [51]
    Saturday-Night Theatre: Peter Ibbetson – BBC – Radio Times
  52. [52]
    Cherie Lunghi – Theatricalia
  53. [53]
    The Country Wife – Theatricalia
  54. [54]
    Reviewed in The Stage, 9 November 1972, page 19.
  55. [55]
    Canterbury Tales – Theatricalia
  56. [56]
    She Stoops to Conquer – Theatricalia
  57. [57]
    Major Barbara – Theatricalia
  58. [58]
    Much Ado About Nothing – Theatricalia
  59. [59]
    Much Ado About Nothing – Theatricalia
  60. [60]
    Much Ado About Nothing – Theatricalia
  61. [61]
    Destiny – Theatricalia
  62. [62]
    Destiny – Theatricalia
  63. [63]
    Destiny – Theatricalia
  64. [64]
    The Boy Friend – Theatricalia
  65. [65]
    The Phoenix and the Turtle – Theatricalia
  66. [66]
    The Winter's Tale – Theatricalia
  67. [67]
    The Days of the Commune – Theatricalia
  68. [68]
    That Good Between Us – Theatricalia
  69. [69]
    Bandits – Theatricalia
  70. [70]
    King Lear – Theatricalia
  71. [71]
    As You Like It – Theatricalia
  72. [72]
    Saratoga, or Pistols for Seven – Theatricalia
  73. [73]
    Twelfth Night – Theatricalia
  74. [74]
    Twelfth Night – Theatricalia
  75. [75]
    Twelfth Night – Theatricalia
  76. [76]
    Uncle Vanya – Theatricalia
  77. [77]
    Holiday – Theatricalia
  78. [78]
    The Homecoming – Theatricalia
  79. [79]
    Passion Play – Theatricalia
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