Jo Coffey
{{Short description|English actress (born 1976)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jo Coffey
| birth_name = Joanna Coffey
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1976|08|01|df=y}}
| birth_place = Solihull, West Midlands, England
| occupation = {{hlist|Comedian|actress|writer}}
| years_active = 2007–present
| television = Waterloo Road
}}
Jo (Joanna) Coffey (born August 1976) is an English comedian, actress and writer. After beginning her career in stand-up comedy and performing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, she has since gone on to appear in various television shows including EastEnders, Avoidance, The Witcher: Blood Origin and Extraordinary. Since 2023, she has portrayed the role of Wendy Whitwell in the BBC school drama Waterloo Road.
Life and career
Joanna Coffey was born in August 1976 in Solihull, West Midlands.{{cite web |title=Jo Coffey {{!}} Ingenious Fools |url=https://ingeniousfools.co.uk/project/jocoffey/ |access-date=12 March 2025}}{{cite web |title=Jo Coffey – Finding the Funny |url=https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/jo-coffey/id1518867893?i=1000647347794 |website=Apple Podcasts |access-date=12 March 2025}} She began her career in stand-up comedy and has performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe several times since 2007. Her shows include My Dad's Caravan Is Rubbish and Not 25.{{cite web |title=Jo Coffey, comedian tour dates : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide |url=https://www.chortle.co.uk/comics/j/265/jo_coffey |website=www.chortle.co.uk |access-date=12 March 2025 |language=en |archive-date=18 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240918054436/https://www.chortle.co.uk/comics/j/265/jo_coffey |url-status=live }} Coffey has dwarfism and describes herself as "the comedy circuit's fourth shortest comic".{{cite web |title=Jo Coffey: Not 25 |url=https://archive.festmag.com/edinburgh/comedy/jo-coffey-not-25 |website=Fest Magazine |access-date=12 March 2025 |date=18 August 2016}} Coffey subsequently embarked on a career as an actress and appeared in the BBC soap opera EastEnders as Elspeth, a probationary officer overseeing Lucas Johnson in January 2021.{{cite web |title=Who did Jo Coffey play in EastEnders and where is she now? |url=https://www.heart.co.uk/showbiz/tv-movies/eastenders/who-jo-coffey-play-where-now/ |website=Heart |access-date=12 March 2025 |language=en |archive-date=6 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241206193410/https://www.heart.co.uk/showbiz/tv-movies/eastenders/who-jo-coffey-play-where-now/ |url-status=live }} In 2022, she took part in the Channel 4 comedy programme Jokes Only A...Can Tell in an episode featuring jokes told by disabled comedians.{{cite web |title=Channel 4 launches new digital comedy series 'Jokes Only A... Can Tell' |url=https://www.channel4.com/press/news/channel-4-launches-new-digital-comedy-series-jokes-only-acan-tell |website=Channel 4 |access-date=12 March 2025}} She also appeared in the BBC comedy series Avoidance as Deena, as well as portraying a dwarf in an episode of the Netflix fantasy series The Witcher: Blood Origin.{{cite web |last1=Guide |first1=British Comedy |title=Avoidance: Series 1, Episode 5 |url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/avoidance/episodes/1/5/ |website=British Comedy Guide |access-date=12 March 2025 |language=en |archive-date=8 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241208054156/https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/avoidance/episodes/1/5/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |title=Jo Coffey |url=https://watch.plex.tv/en-GB/person/jo-coffey |website=Plex.tv |access-date=12 March 2025}}
In 2023, Coffey was cast in the BBC school drama Waterloo Road as Wendy Whitwell.{{cite web |title=Waterloo Road 2024 cast: Meet the old and new characters in BBC drama {{!}} Radio Times |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/waterloo-road-full-cast/ |website=Radio Times |access-date=12 March 2025}}{{cite web |title=Waterloo Road's cast of staff, parents and students reveal all about the new series |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/mediapacks/waterloo-road-meet-the-cast |website=BBC |access-date=12 March 2025 |language=en |archive-date=23 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323160927/https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/mediapacks/waterloo-road-meet-the-cast |url-status=live }} Her character has served as the personal assistant of headteachers Kim Campbell (Angela Griffin), Steve Savage (Jason Manford) and Stella Drake (Lindsey Coulson) respectively.{{cite web |title=Waterloo Road season 14 release date and latest news {{!}} Radio Times |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/waterloo-road-season-14-release-date/ |website=Radio Times |access-date=12 March 2025}}{{cite web |title=Waterloo Road season 15 release date, news and updates {{!}} Radio Times |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/waterloo-road-season-15-release-date/ |website=Radio Times |access-date=12 March 2025 |archive-date=26 February 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250226103319/https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/waterloo-road-season-15-release-date/ |url-status=live }} The same year, she appeared in an episode of the comedy series Extraordinary as Denise, a chemist.{{cite web |last1=Guide |first1=British Comedy |title=Extraordinary: Series 1, Episode 3 - Dead End Jobs |url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/extraordinary/episodes/1/3/ |website=British Comedy Guide |access-date=12 March 2025 |language=en |archive-date=15 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240615051716/https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/extraordinary/episodes/1/3/ |url-status=live }} She also appeared on Rosie Jones's Disability Comedy Extravaganza, and was a contestant on an episode of Celebrity Mastermind in which she answered questions on the Dallas character J. R. Ewing.{{cite web |last1=Creamer |first1=Jon |title=Rosie Jones’s Disability Comedy Extravaganza returns for a third |url=https://www.televisual.com/news/rosie-joness-disability-comedy-extravaganza-returns-for-a-third/ |website=Televisual |access-date=12 March 2025 |date=20 June 2024 |archive-date=10 November 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241110025419/https://www.televisual.com/news/rosie-joness-disability-comedy-extravaganza-returns-for-a-third/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |title=Jo Coffey, comedian news : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide |url=https://www.chortle.co.uk/comics/j/265/jo_coffey/news |website=Chortle |access-date=12 March 2025 |language=en}}{{cite web |title=BBC One - Celebrity Mastermind, 2023/24, Episode 5 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001tlht |website=BBC |access-date=12 March 2025 |archive-date=21 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231221211150/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001tlht |url-status=live }} In 2024, Coffey appeared in an episode of the spy thriller series Alex Rider as churchwarden Lisa Torrence.
Filmography
class="wikitable" |
Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes ! {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}} |
---|
2021
| Elspeth | Guest role |
2022
| Jokes Only A...Can Tell | Herself | Episode: "Disabled People" |
2022
| Deena | Guest role |
2022
| Dwarf | Episode: "Of Ballads, Brawlers and Bloodied Blades" |
2023–present
| Main role | align="center" | {{cite web |title=Waterloo Road teases first-look images as series is confirmed to return to the BBC in January |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2022/waterloo-road-2023-first-look |website=BBC |access-date=12 March 2025 |language=en |archive-date=23 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423024526/https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2022/waterloo-road-2023-first-look |url-status=live }} |
2023
| Denise the Chemist | Episode: "Dead End Job" |
2023
| Rosie Jones's Disability Comedy Extravaganza | Herself | Guest |
2023
| Denise the Chemist | Episode: "Dead End Job" |
2024
| Lisa Torrence | Episode: "Shot" |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|3182104}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coffey, Jo}}
Category:21st-century English actresses
Category:English actors with disabilities
Category:English soap opera actresses
Category:English women comedians