Background
Burton was born in Derry, Northern Ireland, the youngest of four sisters. Her father was a primary school headmaster.
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Amanda Burton
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During her career, Burton was best known for her television roles as Heather Black in the Channel 4 soap opera Brookside, Beth Glover in Peak Practice, Sam Ryan in the British Broadcasting Corporation crime drama series Silent Witness, Clare Blake in The Commander and Karen Fisher in Waterloo Road. After attending Londonderry High School, a girls-only secondary school in the city of Derry, she moved to England at the age of 18, where she spent three years studying drama at the Manchester Metropolitan School of Theatre. While there she met theatre technician Jonathan Hartley, whom she married in 1976.
The couple divorced in 1982.
She remarried, to Sven Arnstein in 1989. The couple had two children before divorcing in 2004.
Although best known for her television roles, Burton had worked almost exclusively in the theatre prior to landing the role of Heather Black in Channel 4"s Liverpool-based flagship drama series Brookside. After nearly four years in the role, during which time Heather had become one of the show"s most-popular residents of Brookside Close, she began to lose sympathy with her character and decided to leave.
Following her departure her television work consisted mainly of guest appearances, with parts in a number of peak-time drama series including Minder, Inspector Morse, Boon, Medics, Van Der Valk, Stay Lucky and Lovejoy.
In 1993 Burton starred alongside Kevin Whately in Peak Practice. She played the role of Doctor Beth Glover in the medical drama series, based in Derbyshire"s Peak District, for three series until her departure in 1995. In 1996 she then took the main role of Professor Sam Ryan in the highly acclaimed British Broadcasting Corporation drama Silent Witness.
She held this role until 2004.
After Silent Witness, she took on the role of Prosecutor Helen West in a series based on Frances Fyfield"s novels. She also played Aunt Polly in a 2003 remake of Pollyanna.
One of her most recent roles is as Commander Clare Blake in Lynda Louisiana Plante"s drama, The Commander. She recently starred in BBC1"s Celebrity Masterchef and made it through to the semi-finals.
