 Charlotte Coleman's small stature and elfin looks meant that she was cast as
waifs and troubled teens well into her twenties, but there was nothing childish
about her talent, and by the time of her unexpected and untimely death at the
age of 33 she had successfully made the leap into more adult roles without
sacrificing her distinctive edgy charm.
Born Charlotte Ninon Coleman, she was the eldest of two daughters to actress
Ann Beach and television producer Francis Coleman. She later claimed that she
only attended Anna Scher's evening acting classes because she was "too cool for
Brownies", but was quickly talent-spotted. Following her role in Two People
(ITV, 1979) she spent three years as Sue, level-headed sidekick to Jon Pertwee's
eponymous scarecrow in Worzel Gummidge (ITV, 1979-81). By her early teens she
was beginning to show signs of the rebellious nature that would characterise
most of her roles over the next decade, notably the 'schoolgirl from hell'
Marmalade Atkins. Originally created by Andrew Davies for a one-off children's
comedy, Marmalade Atkins in Space (ITV, tx 2/11/1981), the teen terror was a
surprise hit, and two series followed: Educating Marmalade (ITV, 1982-83) and
Danger: Marmalade at Work (ITV, 1984).
Having frittered her Marmalade earnings on an abortive secondary education at
Dartington School ("you didn't have to go to any lessons, so I didn't"), she
impressed as a psychopathic adolescent in another Davies script, 'Inappropriate
Behaviour' (Screen Two, BBC, tx 8/3/1987). However, her promising career
suffered a major setback with the death of her boyfriend in a cycling accident,
leaving her struggling with severe depression. A low-key film debut in Bearskin:
An Urban Fairytale (d. Anne and Eduardo Guedes, 1989), was followed by her
breakthrough role, as teenager Jess, whose sexual awakening brings her into
conflict with her strict religious mother in the acclaimed adaptation of
Jeanette Winterson's Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (BBC, 1990). Her
astonishingly performance won her a Royal Television Society Best Actress
Award.
After starring opposite Anne Bancroft in short-lived sitcom Freddie & Max
(ITV, 1990) she made an impressive stage debut at the Bush Theatre in Roy
MacGregor's 'Our Own Kind', prompting one critic to beg: "Will someone please
rescue her from television?" But her next standout role was in a feature film,
playing Hugh Grant's memorably offbeat flatmate Scarlett in one of Britain's
biggest hits of the 1990s, Four Weddings and a Funeral (d. Mike Newell, 1994).
Despite a BAFTA nomination, she did not make the transition to Hollywood in the
manner of her co-star; about which she remained characteristically phlegmatic:
"I didn't know you could."
A sharp performance as lesbian huntswoman Barb Gale in the political satire
Giving Tongue (d. Stefan Schwartz, 1996) showed that she was more than capable
of playing grown-ups, but it was not until Simon Nye's sitcom How Do You Want
Me? (BBC, 1998-99) that she finally had the chance to play someone "of my own
age who is sensible, ordinary and heterosexual": her role, as country-born wife
to Dylan Moran's fish-out-of-water citydweller, for once downplayed the
eccentricity and showcased her engaging, unforced acting. It looked as if her
career was entering a new, more mature phase, making her death in 2001 following
an asthma attack all the more tragic.
Richard Hewett
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FILM & TV CREDITS
