Helen Baxendale Wiki Bio
Helen Victoria Baxendale was born in Pontefract, Yorkshire, England, on 7 June 1970 – her zodiac sign is Gemini, and she holds British nationality. She’s an actress and a producer, perhaps known best for her roles in popular TV series “Cold Feet” and “Friends”.
Early life and education
Helen grew up in Shenstone in rural England, alongside her older sister Katie. She attended King Edward VI School in Lichfield, England. When she was younger, she had aspirations to become a ballet dancer, and trained at the prestigious Elmhurst School for Dance in Birmingham.
However, she eventually dropped out at the age of 17 to pursue an acting career, and enrolled at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, from which she graduated in 1991. She then started working at the Glasgow Citizens’ Theatre, where she stayed until 1995.
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Roles in TV series
Helen made her TV series debut in 1993, when she appeared in an episode of the British comedy drama “The Good Guys”. In the following year, she landed her first starring role, in the hospital comedy “Cardiac Arrest”, playing the character of Dr. Calire Maitland through 1996, and was nominated for the 1995 Scottish BAFTA Award for her performance in the series.
Between 1997 and 2003, Helen starred in the romantic comedy drama “Cold Feet”, created by Mike Bullen, as a follow-up to his award-winning comedy special of the same name. It originally aired on ITV between 1997 and 2003, while its revival series started airing on 5 September 2016.
In the series, Helen played the character of Rachel Bradley, the marketing executive caught in an affair. She was one of the six main characters who appeared in the pilot episode, however, she didn’t make an appearance in the revival series. Helen’s portrayal of Rachel landed her another nomination, for the 1997 British Comedy Award.
In 1998 and 1999, Helen played the role of Emily Waltham, the fiancée of David Schwimmer’s character Ross Geller, in 14 episodes of the popular American sitcom “Friends”. In the episode “The One With Ross’ Wedding pt.2”, he accidentally said the wrong name when they were exchanging vows, which is today considered to be one of the most iconic scenes from the series.
In 2011 and 2012, we saw Helen star in the crime thriller drama “Kidnap and Ransom”, created by Patrick Harbinson, and which also starred Trevor Eve and Natasha Little. In the following years, she made appearances in several other TV crime series, such as “Midsomer Murders”, “Poirot”, and “Law & Order: UK”.
Another notable role for Helen was in the British sitcom “Cuckoo”, in which she played one of the main characters, Lorna Thompson, between 2012 and 2019. Her most recent TV series role, was in the 2020 sci-fi romantic drama “Noughts + Crosses”, set in an alternate world where racism divides society.
Roles in movies
Helen made her film debut in the 1993 made-for-TV drama “The Marshal”, based on the eponymous novel by Magdalen Nabb, directed by Alan Clayton. Four years later, she played the role of Lady Macbeth in a movie adaptation of the Shakespearean tragedy “Macbeth”, directed by Jeremy Freeston, and which also starred Jason Connery and Graham McTavish.
In 2000, Helen appeared alongside Kevin Spacey and Linda Fiorentino in the comedy “Ordinary Decent Criminal”, centered on the life of one of the most notorious Irish criminals, who is on the run from the police after he stole an original Caravaggio painting, “The Taking of Christ”. In the following year, Helen played the female lead in the award-winning romantic comedy “Dead by Monday”.
In 2009, she had a role in the quirky comedy drama about conquering the North Pole, entitled “Beyond the Pole”, and two years later she appeared in the Oscar-nominated period drama “Anonymous”, written by John Orloff and directed by Roland Emmerich. The film follows the life of Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, poet and patron of the arts, suggesting that he was the actual writer of William Shakespeare’s plays.
Her most recent film role was in the 2020 TV mystery drama “Agatha and the Midnight Murders”, in which she played the title role of the British writer Agatha Christie. We’re expecting to see her star in “Heidi, Queen of the Mountain”, an adaptation of the classic children’s novel by Johanna Spyri, in late 2021.
Love life and boyfriend
Helen has been in the relationship with fellow actor David L. Williams since the two worked together at the Glasgow Citizens’ Theatre. Although they’ve never married, they have been living together for more than 25 years, and have three children together, sons Vincent Elliott and Eric, and a daughter named Nell.
Prior to her first pregnancy, Helen was actively working as an actress on TV series “An Unsuitable Job for a Woman” and “Friends”. When she announced that she was pregnant, her character from “Friends” was written out of the series earlier than intended, while her pregnancy was written into “An Unstable Job for a Woman”. A similar thing happened during her second pregnancy, when she was written into the fourth season of “Cold Feet”.
The family currently resides in their mansion in London, England.
Interesting facts
Helen’s children all have unusual middle names – Marmalade, Mustard and Mash. According to her, the names were an ‘act of stupidity on the way to the registry office’.
Although her role in “Friends” gave her international recognition, she has recently revealed that at one point she actually hated how famous she had become. ‘Those people in “Friends” could not go out without being hounded, shouted at or followed. Who wants that? I don’t want that’, she proclaimed in an interview she gave for the British tabloid Daily Mirror.
As of late-2021, Helen and her husband made headlines in Britain after two property owners claimed that they offered them more than $1.9 million for their house in Devon, England, but suddenly stopped replying to correspondence for unknown reasons.
Apparently, they offered to pay $200,000 more than the original price, and Helen even wrote a personal note to say how much she liked the eight-bedroom house, so the couple’s sudden and unannounced change of mind came as a shock to the owners.
She is a big fan of the traditional British cuisine, with some of her favorite foods being Yorkshire Pudding, Shepherd’s Pie and Eton mess.
Appearance, age and net worth
Helen is 51 years old. She has long brown hair and brown eyes, is 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall, and weighs around 120lbs (55kgs).
As of October 2021, her net worth is estimated at more than $3 million.
