Sally Hawkins

Born : Sally Cecilia Hawkins, 27 April 1976 (1976-04-27) (age 32), Dulwich, England
Years active : 1998 – present

Sally Cecilia Hawkins (born 27 April 1976) is a British Golden Globe Award-winning actress, known mainly for her performances as Susan in Vera Drake (2004), as Sue Trinder in the BBC's Fingersmith (2005), as Anne in Persuasion (2007), and as Poppy in Happy-Go-Lucky (2008), a role for which she has won several international awards, including Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Early life
The daughter of well known authors and illustrators of children's books, Jacqui and Colin Hawkins, she was raised in Dulwich, south-east London where she attended James Allen's Girls' School (JAGS), leaving in 1994. Hawkins then went on to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA), graduating in 1998.
Career
Her theatre appearances include Much Ado About Nothing (2000), A Midsummer Night's Dream (2000), Misconceptions (2001), Country Music (2004) and as Adela in David Hare's version of Federico García Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba in 2005.
Hawkins made her first notable big screen performance as Samantha in another Mike Leigh film, All or Nothing in 2002. She also appeared as Slasher in the 2004 production of Layer Cake. Her first major television role came in 2005 when she played Susan Trinder in the BAFTA-nominated BBC drama Fingersmith, an adaptation of Sarah Waters' novel of the same name; she co-starred with Imelda Staunton, as she had in Vera Drake. Since then she has gone on to star in another BBC adaptation, Patrick Hamilton's Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky.
Professing a love for comedy, Hawkins has appeared in three episodes of the hit BBC comedy series Little Britain, plus Ed Reardon's Week on BBC Radio 4. She has also contributed her writing skills and voice to the BBC Radio 4 series Concrete Cow.
In 2006, Hawkins returned to the theatre, appearing at the Royal Court Theatre in Jez Butterworth's play The Winterling. In 2007, she played the lead in a new film of Jane Austen's Persuasion. And in 2008, she gave a Golden Globe-winning performance as the star of the film Happy-Go-Lucky.
Hawkins' 2009 films include Desert Flower and Happy Ever Afters. Her next project, playing Bernadette Devlin in The Roaring Girl, has been announced.
Personal life
In 2006, Hawkins mentioned to The Independent that she had been diagnosed with a "chronic condition" (which she did not disclose) that required treatment and which seemed to be responding to treatment.
Awards
At the 2007 Monte-Carlo TV Festival, she won the 'Golden Nymph' award in the 'Best Performance by an Actress' category for her role as Anne Elliot in Persuasion.
For the 2008/09 Award Season, she received many awards for her portrayal as Poppy in the film Happy-Go-Lucky.
Source : en.wikipedia.org