Linda Davidson
Born
Linda Davidson

(1964-06-18) 18 June 1964
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
OccupationActress • writer
Years active1984–1998, 2019, 2022
Known forRole of Mary Smith in EastEnders (1985–1988, 2019, 2022)
Children1

Linda Davidson (born 18 June 1964 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian-British former actress and writer. She played the wayward punk Mary Smith in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders. Mary was one of the serial's original characters; Davidson played her from March 1985 to May 1988 and again for one episode in 2019. Away from EastEnders, Davidson appeared in various television programmes and on stage. However, she stopped performing in the late 1990s. She went on to work in digital media for the BBC and Channel 4, and later joined Discovery Communications.[1]

Career

Performing

Davidson began as an actress and dancer. She attended drama school, the Italia Conti Academy in London, and moved into television acting.[2]

Her big television break came in 1984, when she secured the role of Mary Smith, in the fledgling BBC serial drama, EastEnders; she first appeared on-screen as Mary in March 1985. During Davidson's time on the show her character was involved in storylines about prostitution, unemployment, drugs and the taking into care of her child, Annie, by social services. She quit EastEnders in 1988, when she was offered a Steven Berkoff play.[3]

Davidson went on to act in First of the Summer Wine (1988); Bulman; Casualty (1990); The House of Eliott (1992); Maria's Child (1992); The Bill (1993); and 10 x 10: The Guinea Pig (1998). She also appeared in various theatre productions; notably, she played the role of Columbia in the first West End revival of The Rocky Horror Show (1990).[4][5]

Despite retiring from acting, Davidson agreed to reprise her role of Mary Smith in EastEnders for a single episode in 2019,[6] and then for the funeral of Dot Branning (June Brown) in 2022.[7]

Media career

Davidson developed an interest in writing and worked as a TV sit-com writer, director and voiceover actress.[4][8] Some of her stories were published and she had several scripts for film and television optioned, but ultimately the projects did not go ahead.[3]

Her interest in writing and the internet signified the next stage of her career.[3] She wrote for BBC Online, making contributions to Tomorrow's World and Good Homes online.[3] In the mid 90s she was in charge of all the BBC's drama websites, including the EastEnders website. She also worked as the editor of E4 Interactive in the 2000s.[9]

Personal life

Davidson, daughter of Alan Davidson, emigrated from Canada to Southport, Lancashire, England as a child. She now resides in London.[8] During the 1980s, she dated Nejdet Salih/Adamson, her co-star on EastEnders who played Ali Osman.[2] She now has a partner with whom she has a son.[4]

Filmography

YearTitleRole
1985–1988, 2019, 2022 EastEnders Mary Smith (241 episodes)
1988–1989 First of the Summer Wine Anita Pillsworth
1990 Casualty Melissa
1992 Screen Two Danielle
1993 The Bill Sarah Wallace

References

  1. ↑ Rowney, Jo-Anne (7 March 2018). "Who was Mary the Punk? Sharon says Louise looks like iconic EastEnders original character". Daily Mirror. Reach plc. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  2. 1 2 Kingsley, Hilary (1990). The EastEnders Handbook. BBC books. ISBN 9780563362920.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "EastEnders stars - where are they now?". What's on TV. 9 February 2010. Retrieved 10 March 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 Latchem, Tom (2006-07-16). "SQUARE ARE THEY NOW?". Sunday Mirror. Retrieved 2007-09-12.
  5. ↑ "Richard O'Brien's THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW The Whole Gory Story:1990 London Revival Cast". Sanityfortoday.com. Archived from the original on 2007-09-08. Retrieved 2007-09-12.
  6. ↑ Dainty, Sophie (17 December 2018). "EastEnders IS bringing back Lofty and Mary the Punk for Doctor Legg's funeral". Digital Spy. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  7. ↑ "EastEnders stars return for Dot Branning's emotional funeral". BBC. 11 October 2022. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
  8. 1 2 "SQUARE ARE THEY NOW?". The People. 2006-02-19. Retrieved 2007-09-12.
  9. ↑ "Whatever Happened To...? Linda Davidson; Nicola Methven goes behind the scenes". Daily Mirror. 27 October 2007. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
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