Sophie Ward

Sophie Anna Ward (born 30 December 1964) is an English actress and novelist. Early in her career she played Elizabeth Hardy, the love interest of Sherlock Holmes in the 1985 film Young Sherlock Holmes. She played Dr Helen Trent/Walker in British television police drama series Heartbeat in 40 episodes from 2004 to 2006. Ward's first novel, Love and Other Thought Experiments, was published in 2020.

This article is about the English actress. For the Australian model, see Sophie Ward (model).

Sophie Ward
Born
Sophie Anna Ward

(1964-12-30) 30 December 1964
Hammersmith, London, England
OccupationActress and novelist
Years active1974–present
Spouse(s)
Paul Hobson
​
​
(m. 1988; div. 1996)​

Rena Brannan
​
(m. 2014)​
Children2
Parent(s)Alexandra Malcolm and Simon Ward

Career

Born in Hammersmith, London, Ward is the eldest of the three daughters of Alexandra (née Malcolm) and actor Simon Ward.[1]

Ward started work as an actress when she was aged 10,[2] and has worked in film, television and theatre.[3][4] She trained as a dancer under ballerina Merle Park. In 1983, at the age of 19, she had a brief, non-speaking role at the very end of the Tony Scott vampire movie The Hunger; in the credits, her character is listed as "Girl In London House".[3] Another of Ward's early film roles was in the film Young Sherlock Holmes (1985), directed by Barry Levinson.[3] Other early films included Full Circle (1977), Return to Oz (1985) playing beautiful princess Mombi II, Little Dorrit (1987) and A Summer Story (1988), and she also portrayed a dancer in Roxy Music's 1982 music video "Avalon".[5][6]

She has appeared in several Glasgow Citizens' Theatre productions including Private Lives (as Amanda), Don Carlos (as Queen Elizabeth) and most strikingly in Hamlet as Ophelia.[7]

Her most recent films are Out of Bounds (2003), in which she co-stars with Sophia Myles and Celia Imrie, and Book of Blood (2008), co-starring Jonas Armstrong and Reg Fuller.[5] She also recently appeared in Cary Fukunaga's Jane Eyre (2011).[8] She has worked with Susan Sarandon in The Hunger directed by Tony Scott, Liv Ullmann in A Time of Indifference, directed by Mauro Bolognini, and Elizabeth Taylor in Young Toscanini (1988), directed by Franco Zeffirelli.[3]

Her television work includes the mini-series A Dark-Adapted Eye with Helena Bonham Carter and the fantasy Dinotopia.[9] More recently, Sophie had the recurring role of Helen Trent in long-running ITV drama Heartbeat.[10] In 2008, Ward joined the cast of Holby City in a recurring role as Sophia Byrne.[11][12]

For the past four years, Ward has hosted the European Diversity Awards.[13]

In 2020 her first novel, Love and Other Thought Experiments, was published by Corsair[14] and was longlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize.[15]

Personal life

Ward has a degree in Literature and Philosophy from the Open University.[16]

She married veterinary surgeon Paul Hobson in 1988, and the couple have two sons, Nathanial (b. 1989) and Joshua (b. 1993).[17] They divorced in 1996 after Ward became involved with Korean-American writer Rena Brannan, and came out as a lesbian.[18] Ward and Brannan had a civil partnership ceremony in 2005, followed by marriage after it was legalised in 2014.[19][20]

Ward had long been considered a "Face of the 1980s" as a Vogue model.[21]

Ward's sister, Kitty, is married to stand-up comedian Michael McIntyre.[22]

Filmography

Film

Television

* Winner Best Actor (Female)

Guest appearances

Short films
  • "Avalon" – 1982, music video for Roxy Music
  • A Shocking Accident* – 1982
  • Rock-a-bye Baby – 1983
  • A Prayer for the Dying – 1984
  • The Malady – 1985
  • Chinese Whispers – 1998
  • Bubblegum – 2004
  • Missing Link – 2009
  • David Rose – 2011

* Oscar Best Short Film

Child performances
  • The Chester Mysteries – 1974
  • Shadows (The Other Window) – 1975
  • Full Circle (The Haunting of Julia US) – 1975
  • The Copter Kids – 1976
  • Ibsen: The Wild Duck – 1977
  • The Brensham People – 1977
  • Too Old to Fight – 1980
  • The Lords of Discipline – 1983
  • The Hunger – 1983

Bibliography
  • Love and Other Thought Experiments - 2020

References



  1. "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  2. "Actress Sophie Ward on Go Back for Murder at Oxford Playhouse". Oxford Times. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  3. "Sophie Ward". BFI.
  4. "Sophie Ward | Theatricalia". theatricalia.com.
  5. "Sophie Ward" at AllMovie.
  6. Arnold, Gina; Cookney, Daniel; Fairclough, Kirsty; Goddard, Michael (30 August 2017). Music/Video: Histories, Aesthetics, Media. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 9781501313936 – via Google Books.
  7. "Sophie Ward Stars in World Premiere of The Paradise Circus". 10 September 2018.
  8. "Jane Eyre | TV Guide". TVGuide.com.
  9. "Sophie Ward". www.aveleyman.com.
  10. Rees, Caroline (25 September 2015). "Heartbeat actress Sophie Ward: My six best books". Express.co.uk.
  11. "BBC One - Holby City, Series 12, For the Greater Good". BBC.
  12. "Leading actress and LGBT-campaigner Sophie Ward speaks at Chichester". University of Chichester. 18 November 2015.
  13. "SHORTLIST 2018". EUROPEAN DIVERSITY AWARDS 2020.
  14. Ward, Sophie. (2020). Love and other thought experiments. London. ISBN 978-1-4721-5460-6. OCLC 1085164094.
  15. Flood, Alison (27 July 2020). "Hilary Mantel up for third Booker prize as 2020 longlist announced". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  16. Whetstone, David (29 July 2017). "Actress Sophie Ward chats about the Ruth Rendell thriller coming to the Theatre Royal". nechronicle.
  17. "Through to the private Ward". Evening Standard. 14 March 2001.
  18. "Sophie Ward: Our kids have two mums". The Guardian. 5 June 2017.
  19. "Gay marriage: In the pink". BBC News. 18 September 2000.
  20. Woods, Judith. "Sophie Ward: How I raised my children with my wife". The Telegraph.
  21. Pogorzelski, Janina (1 September 2009). "Sophie Ward on mind-expanding sci-fi, adventure travel and why it's fabulous being in your 40s" (PDF). The Lady. p. 82. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
  22. McIntyre speaks of his devastation at the death of his dad, mirror.co.uk. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
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