Caroline Aherne
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Caroline Aherne (born December 24, 1963 in Wythenshawe, Manchester, England) is an English comedian.
As a result of her marriage to musician Peter Hook, she was known for a time as Caroline Hook, but reverted to her maiden name when the marriage broke up. Having appeared in comedy shows such as Shooting Stars and The Fast Show, she rose to prominence as the character Mrs Merton on the mock talk show, The Mrs Merton Show.
Her most famous and popular creation is, however, the Manchester set comedy, The Royle Family, which she co-created and wrote with Craig Cash and directed in the third season. The show would go on to win her BAFTA's for best comedy performance and best situation comedy as well as a British Comedy Award for Best TV Comedy Actress. In between the first and second series, Aherne and Cash created and starred in a Mrs. Merton spin off, Mrs. Merton and Malcolm, for which Aherne shared her comedy award.
Her private life has been well publicised, especially her depressions and struggles with both drink and drugs. Before The Royle Family began she suffered from depression and when her former boyfriend, BBC technician Matt Bowers, succumbed to stomach cancer, it was the catalyst for her problems to manifest in a failed suicide attempt. The day after she checked into the Priory clinic and was diagnosed as a binge alcoholic. It was after these events that she began 'The Royle Family'.
After a documentary with writing partner Craig Cash called Back Passage to India in May 2000, Aherne announced that The Royle Family would end in December 2000 after a Christmas special, and that she would not appear on television again, although she would continue to write. To ensure that this happened, the show's star Ricky Tomlinson also announced that he would not be returning. (However, on April 7, 2006, the BBC announced that Caroline Aherne and Craig Cash are developing a script for a new, one-off special to be broadcast in the UK later in the year. Ricky Tomlinson is reportedly "keen" to be involved [1].)
She then moved to Australia, again retreating from the press, and a new series, Dossa and Joe was written by her, shown on BBC Two in 2002. Although critics applauded it, the show did not attract a significant number of viewers and so did not return for a second series. She then began work on another sitcom with Cash but pulled out early on, leaving Cash to write alone. The show, Early Doors, was shown in 2003 and proved a hit. It was subsequently commissioned for a second series which was screened in August 2004. Since Dossa and Joe finished she has become virtually anonymous. When The Fast Show was featured on the BBC One show Comedy Connections, Aherne was the only cast member not featured, although her co-stars remembered her fondly.
In 2003, she was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy.