Amanda Donohoe is an English film and television actress.
Background
Donohoe was born in London, the daughter of Ted and Joanna Donohoe. Her father worked for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, which led to the family moving a great deal, with a base in London but also living for periods overseas. After her father"s retirement, he joined her mother in her antique dealing business.
Education
Central School of Speech and Drama.
Career
She is known for her 1980s relationship with popstar Adam Ant and her later work on television – including Los Angeles Law and Emmerdale – and her roles in successful films including Universal"s Liar, Liar. She has an older sister, Cordelia. She is of Irish, Russian and Swiss ancestry.
Educated at the Francis Holland School, aged 15 she met Adam Ant.
In 1981, Donohoe appeared in the video clips for the songs "Antmusic" and "Stand & Deliver" by Adam and the Ants, when the band were at the height of their fame. Shortly before the band began their 1981 world tour, Donohoe was offered a place at the Central School of Speech and Drama.
She left Ant and went off to drama college. After graduation, she came to the attention of worldwide audiences in 1986, when she was cast opposite Oliver Reed as Lucy Irvine in Nicolas Roeg"s Castaway.
She followed this up with roles in two Ken Russell films The Lair of the White Worm, based on a Bram Stoker novel, and The Rainbow, based on a Doctorate.H. Lawrence novel.
Another major film role for her was Liar, Liar (1997) starring Jim Carrey. After relocating to Los Angeles, in February 1991, Donohoe took part in the first of the so-called "lesbian kiss episodes" on American television when her character Chief Justice Lamb on Los Angeles Law kissed Abbie Perkins, played by Michele Greene. Donohoe appeared in Los Angeles Law for two seasons.
Some of her other television roles include Murder City, Bad Girls and a guest appearance in Ally McBeal.
On her return to the United Kingdom, Donohoe undertook stage work, including replacing Jerry Hall in the stage version of The Graduate. In 2009 she joined the cast of Independent Television soap opera Emmerdale as businesswoman Natasha Wylde, opposite her on-screen husband Maxwell Caulfield.
On 25 July 2010 it was announced that Donohoe would be leaving Emmerdale, with her last screen date was 24 November 2010. On 18 and 19 February 2010, she was a guest panelist on Loose Women.
The pair live in Suffolk.