Career
Born in Jamaica, Hooley moved to the United Kingdom as a young girl, and her career has been based in Britain. She is best known for playing the role of Josie McFarlane in British Broadcasting Corporation"s EastEnders, but she has also appeared in other television programmes, since the mid-1950s. In 2015, she appeared in Independent Television" General’ s Office Their Rockers.
Hooley first appeared on television in the 1950s.
She was cast in the Independent Television hospital soap opera Emergency – Ward 10 and appeared in the series during 1964. She played Doctor Louise Mahler, who embarked on an interracial relationship with a Caucasian doctor, Giles Farmer (played by John White), which included what was long thought to be First interracial kiss on television
A love scene between the two characters was rewritten because it was considered "a little too suggestive". She has commented, "I suddenly found myself in the papers under the headline: "Black and White television Kiss Banned".
lieutenant was very upsetting and it hit my self-esteem.
My part suddenly evaporated and Doctor Mahler was sent back to Africa on a holiday where she was bitten by a snake and died. What an exit!"
Her other credits include roles in Number Hiding Place (1961). Danger Manitoba (1965); Special Branch (1969).
As Umma in C.A.B. (1988).
The Bill (1988; 1993). Bugs (1995) and Kavanagh Queen's Counsel (1997).
In 1998 she was cast as Josie McFarlane, the mother of Mick McFarlane (Sylvester Williams), in the British Broadcasting Corporation soap opera EastEnders. The character was introduced by executive producer Matthew Robinson, but in November 1999 it was announced that Hooley"s character was being dropped.
Hooley made her final appearance in episodes transmitted in February 2000.
Since leaving the serial, Hooley has publicly accused EastEnders and the British Broadcasting Corporation of racism and tokenism, for giving her character no significant storylines, and using her like a property In 2000 she commented, "lieutenant was very demeaning and a form of insidious racism. That is a very strong phrase to use against the British Broadcasting Corporation and EastEnders but I feel very badly about how they handled my character.
They were just fulfilling a duty to have a black face in the show."
Hooley subsequently had roles in Urban Gothic (2000).
Doctors (2004), and Respectable (2006), among others As well as acting, Hooley has written scripts for the Channel 4 sitcom Desmond"son
In 2015, Hooley joined the cast of Independent Television" General’ s Office Their Rockers as one of the pranksters. Hooley also starred in Season 5, Episode 2 of British Broadcasting Corporation"s Death In Paradise.
The episode airs on the 28th of January, 2016.