Ruth Madeley

Ruth Madeley is a British actress known for her roles in Years and Years and The Rook. Madeley was born with spina bifida and has worked with the charity Whizz-Kidz for much of her life. Madeley was nominated for a television BAFTA in 2016 for her work in Don't Take My Baby.

Ruth Madeley
Born1987 (age 33–34)
Westhoughton, England
NationalityBritish
Alma materEdge Hill University
OccupationActor
Known forYears and Years
The Rook

Early life

Madeley was born in Westhoughton and was diagnosed with spina bifida six weeks before she was born.[1][2]

When Madeley was 5 years old, the charity Whizz-Kidz provided funding for a custom wheelchair for her.[3] Madeley actively volunteered for Whizz-Kidz throughout her childhood and was part of the Kidz Board youth panel.[4][5] As part of her work with Whizz-Kidz, at age 13 Madeley visited Cherie Blair at 10 Downing Street to discuss fundraising and awareness.[6] At age 14, Madeley received another wheelchair from the charity.[5]

At age 13, while a student at Mount St. Joseph, Farnworth, Madeley was awarded the Princess Diana Memorial Award for young people.[7][8][9] In 2004, at age 17, Madeley was awarded the first Bolton Wanderers’ Community Hero award.[10][11]

Madeley attended Thornleigh Salesian College for high school and later studied English and creative writing with a focus in scriptwriting at Edge Hill University.[12][13][14]

Career

In 2012, Madeley wrote and starred in the Lime Pictures TV movie Scrims.[15] Madeley has had several supporting roles in television, including in Fresh Meat and The Level.[16]

Madeley starred as Anna in the TV movie Don't Take My Baby which was about a disabled couple's fight to prevent their baby from being taken away.[2] Madeley was nominated for a Best Actress TV BAFTA for her portrayal of Anna.[17] The next year, Madeley was listed as one of BAFTA's 18 Breakthrough Brits.[18]

In Russel T. Davies' HBO miniseries, Years and Years, Madeley plays Rosie Lyons. The role of Rosie was not originally written for a wheelchair user, but after Madeley's audition Davies decided to work with Madeley to reshape the role around Madeley's spina bifida.[14] Madeley plays Ingrid Woodhouse in the television adaptation of Daniel O'Malley's The Rook.[19][20]

Madeley's first theatre role was in The Greatest Wealth at the Old Vic. The Greatest Wealth consisted of seven monologues and was put together in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the NHS. Madeley's monologue, "Choice & Control" was written by Matilda Ibini.[21] In late 2019 and early 2020, Madeley played Barbara 'Buck' Buckingham in Teenage Dick at the Donmar Warehouse directed by Michael Longhurst. The play, written by Mike Lew, was inspired by Shakespeare's Richard III and the character of Buck was based on the character of the Duke of Buckingham. The role of Buck is explicitly written to be played by a disabled actor.[22]

In 2019, Madeley signed an open letter urging Hollywood executives to normalize disability by casting disabled actors to play disabled characters.[23] She appeared in the 2020 Christmas special episode of Would I Lie to You?.[24] In 2021, Madeley competed on Celebrity Best Home Cook.[25]

Madeley has been cast as Throat in the upcoming television adaptation of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, The Watch.[26][21] She has also been cast as Laura in the upcoming disaster drama The Light.[27][28] Madeley will appear in BBC America's upcoming collection of short films, Disability Monologues (working title), curated by Mat Fraser.[29]

Personal life

Madeley continues her work with Whizz-Kidz as a fundraiser and, in 2019, was recognized as a patron for the charity.[5][30]

Madeley has been with her partner, Joe, since 2012.[31] The two have known each other since they were young.[21]

Filmography

Film
  • 2018 - Herself in Spina Bifida and Me (documentary)
  • 2018 - Erica in Ashes (short)[32]
  • 2020 - Bella in Verisimilitude (short)[33]

Television
  • 2009 - Fran in Half Moon Investigations ("Sick Note" - Season 1, episode 8)[34]
  • 2011 - Sal in Fresh Meat (Season 1, episode 5)[17]
  • 2012 - Jak Scrims (TV Movie)[16][28]
  • 2015 - Anna Watson in Don’t Take My Baby  (TV Movie)[2]
  • 2016-2017 - Julie in The Level[17]
  • 2016 - Jill in Outnumbered ("Christmas Special")[35][36]
  • 2017 - Janine in Five by Five (Season 1, episodes 3 and 4)
  • 2017 - Tracey McHarrie in Cold Feet (Season 7)
  • 2017 - Helen in Katy (Episodes 1 and 2)
  • 2019 - Abby in Pure (Episode 6)[37][28]
  • 2019 - Rosie Lyons in Years and Years[38][14]
  • 2019 - Ingrid Woodhouse in The Rook[19][20]
  • 2019 - Laura Tucker in The Accident (Episodes 2-4)[39][40][41]
  • 2020 - Self on Would I Lie To You? (Christmas Special)[24]
  • 2021 - Self on Celebrity Best Home Cook[25]
  • 2021 - Throat in The Watch[21][26]
  • no set release date - Laura in The Light[27][28][14]

Theatre
  • 2018 - Performed "Choice & Control" monologue in The Greatest Wealth[42][43][44]
  • 2019-2020 - Barbara ‘Buck’ Buckingham in Teenage Dick[45][22]

Awards
Year Award Category Work Result Refs
2016 BAFTA TV Awards Best actress Don't Take My Baby Nominated [46]

References
  1. "Years & Years star Ruth Madeley talks about spina bifida". Stylist. 2019-05-14. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  2. Brandwood, Neil (May 20, 2019). "Bolton actress Ruth Madeley tells of her new role in hit TV drama Years and Years". The Bolton News. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  3. Wallwork, Melanie (February 26, 2014). "Westhoughton dad's thanks after daughter's life-changing pink wheelchair gift". The Bolton News. Retrieved 2020-02-11.
  4. "HEALTH MATTERS: Ruth, 12, is a campaigning Whizz Kid!". The Bolton News. May 25, 1999. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  5. "Years and Years actress Ruth Madeley becomes Whizz-Kidz patron". Whizz-Kidz. July 16, 2019. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  6. "Ruth's top level board meeting". The Bolton News. March 20, 2000. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  7. "Disabled schoolgirl's Princess Di honour". The Bolton News. March 13, 2000. Retrieved 2020-02-11.
  8. "Doctor's tonic for disabled children". The Bolton News. April 13, 2000. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  9. "Mount St Joseph Alumni - Ruth Madeley". Mount St Joseph. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  10. "Brave Ruth is just champion!". The Bolton News. February 20, 2004. Retrieved 2020-02-11.
  11. "Brave Ruth is just champion!". The Bolton News. February 20, 2004. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  12. Chaudhari, Saiqa (July 27, 2008). "Student Ruth proves herself better by degree". The Bolton News. Retrieved 2020-02-11.
  13. "Little Ruth is a good role model". The Bolton News. February 5, 2004. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  14. Nicolaou, Kelly (August 29, 2019). Dawson, Elena (ed.). "Ruth Madeley Wants To Be The First Avenger In A Wheelchair". www.refinery29.com. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  15. "2016 BAFTA Breakthrough Brits, in partnership with Burberry" (PDF). BAFTA. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  16. "Ruth Madeley | Actress". www.bafta.org. 2016-10-19. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  17. Masters, Tim (2016-10-26). "Bafta unveils its 'Breakthrough Brits'". BBC News. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  18. "Ruth Madeley makes BAFTA's Breakthrough Brits 2016 list". Whizz-Kidz. October 27, 2016. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  19. Gilbert, Sophie (2019-07-02). "A Supernatural Spy Story Goes Dark in 'The Rook'". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  20. "5 Reasons Why You Should Watch Starz's "The Rook" -". fangirlish.com. 2019-06-28. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  21. Curtis, Nick (2019-12-10). "Ruth Madeley: 'It's exciting if a disabled character is horrible too'". Evening Standard. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  22. Davies, Paul T (2019-12-15). "REVIEW: Teenage Dick, Donmar Warehouse ✭✭✭✭". British Theatre. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  23. Harrison, Ellie (2019-12-20). "Bryan Cranston and Danny DeVito call out Hollywood for ignoring disabled actors". The Independent. Retrieved 2021-01-31.
  24. Warner, Matt (2020-11-24). "Here's our pick of the Top Ten Christmas specials on the BBC this Christmas". The Leader. Retrieved 2020-12-06.
  25. Hopkins, Daniel (2021-01-28). "Bolton's Ruth Madeley cooking up a storm on Celebrity Best Home Cook". The Bolton News. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
  26. "BBC - BBC Studios' The Watch enlists Anna Chancellor and James Fleet - Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk. November 19, 2019. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  27. White, Peter (2019-06-21). "'Westworld's Sidse Babett Knudsen Joins Jack Thorne's C4/Hulu Disaster Drama 'The Light'". Deadline. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  28. "Ruth Madeley CV". www.curtisbrown.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  29. White, Peter (2020-01-16). "'Disability Monologues': BBC America Orders Series Of Short Films Curated By 'His Dark Materials' Mat Fraser – TCA". Deadline. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  30. "BAFTA Nominee Ruth Madeley a 'role model' for disabled youth". Whizz-Kidz. May 9, 2016. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  31. Glaviano, Di Alesssia (November 26, 2019). "Ruth Madeley". Vogue Italia. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  32. "Prissy People". www.prissyproductions.com. Retrieved 2020-02-13. Ruth Madeley will perform the part of Erica. A very talented actress who was nominated for a BAFTA for 'Don't Take My Baby' in 2016, with the film taking home the award.
  33. "British Council Film: Verisimilitude". film-directory.britishcouncil.org. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  34. "CBBC - Half Moon Investigations, Sick Note". BBC. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  35. "What did you think of the Outnumbered Christmas special?". Radio Times. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  36. "BBC One - Outnumbered, Christmas Special 2016". BBC. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  37. "Pure - S1 - Episode 6". Radio Times. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  38. Smith, Josh (June 18, 2019). "'There are plenty of people with invisible disabilities on screen & no one cares!' Years & Years' Ruth Madeley on why we NEED more disabled characters on screen". Glamour UK. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  39. "Who are the next generation of UK film awards contenders?". Screen. December 13, 2019. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  40. Weston, Christopher (2019-11-08). "The Accident: Who is actress Ruth Madeley? Age, Instagram and previous roles!". HITC. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  41. Tilley, Joanna (October 22, 2019). "'His Dark Materials' Writer Jack Thorne: TV is Failing Disabled Actors". Screen Daily. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  42. Desk, BWW News. "The Old Vic Announces Casting for THE GREATEST WEALTH". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  43. Ian (2018-07-01). "Review: The Greatest Wealth, Old Vic". There Ought To Be Clowns. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  44. Clements, Carry-Anne (June 13, 2018). "Casting for The Greatest Wealth announced". Official London Theatre. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  45. Billington, Michael (2019-12-13). "Teenage Dick review – Daniel Monks is a dazzling high-school Richard III". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  46. "BAFTA Television Awards 2016 – winners in full". Radio Times. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
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