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Kathy Burke

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Actress

The Resume

    (June 13, 1964- )
    Born in London, United Kingdom
    Regular in the sketch comedy shows ‘French and Saunders’ (1988-99), ‘Harry Enfield’s Television Programme’ (1990-92), and ‘Harry Enfield and Chums’ (1994-98)
    Portrayed Magda in Absolutely Fabulous (1992-96) and Linda La Hughes in ‘Gimme Gimme Gimme’ (1999-2001)
    Appeared in the films ‘Scrubbers’ (1982), ‘Sid and Nancy’ (1986), ‘Straight to Hell’ (1987), ‘Walker’ (1987), ‘Nil by Mouth’ (1997), ‘Elizabeth’ (1998), ‘Dancing at Lughnasa’ (1998), ‘Once Upon a Time in the Midlands’ (2002), ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’ (2011), ‘Pan’ (2015), and ‘Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie’ (2016)
    Directed several plays, including ‘Out in the Open’ (2001), ‘The Quare Fellow’ (2004), ‘Blue/Orange’ (2005), ‘The God of Hell’ (2005), ‘Once a Catholic’ (2014), and ‘Lady Windemere’s Fan’ (2016)

Why she might be annoying:

    She did voiceovers for ads for Ski yogurt.
    She is a chain smoker.
    She said, ‘When you are called a character actress, it is because you are too ugly to be called a leading lady.’
    When Helena Bonham Carter complained that people did not take her seriously because she was pretty, she responded with an open letter in ‘Time Out’ telling Bonham Carter, ‘Shut up you stupid cunt.’ (1996)
    She said about her decision to largely give up acting and turn to directing, ‘People think it’s such a glamorous job, but for me acting became drudgery.’

Why she might not be annoying:

    She was two when her mother died of cancer, after which she was raised by neighbors for four years before returning to her father and two brothers.
    Her father was an alcoholic who became abusive when drunk.
    She wrote and directed her first play, ‘Mr. Thomas,’ when she was 22.
    She appeared with French and Saunders on two Comic Relief charity singles, parodying Bananarama (1989) and the Spice Girls (1998).
    Although best known as a comedian, she has also been successful in dramatic roles, such as Queen Mary I in ‘Elizabeth.’
    She won best actress at the Cannes Film Festival and the British Independent Film Awards for ‘Nil by Mouth.’

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 23 Votes: 26.09% Annoying