Shameless

Rebecca Ryan (Actor) .. Debbie Gallagher

Born: April 27, 1991 in Manchester, UK

Best Known For: Playing Debbie Gallagher in Shameless.

Early-life: Born on April 27, 1991 in Manchester. Her mother, Mairanna, was the first World Irish dancing champion. Rebecca was inspired by her mother to have Irish dancing lessons when she was three and competed in various competitions. She first acted on stage in a production of Tommy at Manchester Opera House, following her brother Charlie's example.

Career: Ryan was cast in State of Play after her brother, who was already cast in the TV series, recommended her to play his little sister. Following this, Ryan landed the role as Debbie Gallagher in Shameless. Her most notable television roles since then have included playing Vicki MacDonald in Waterloo Road, Ellie McCall in Doctors and Gemma Dean in Casualty. Ryan also performs in theatre productions. She starred in the UK tour of Beryl, which was written by her Shameless co-star Maxine Peake.

Quote: 'I was 11 when Shameless started and still too young to realise how unusual that was. It was only when people started recognising me that it became a bit weird.'

Trivia: She likes country music.

Gillian Kearney (Actor) .. Sue

Born: May 09, 1972 in Liverpool

Best Known For: Playing Debbie McGrath in Brookside.

Early-life: Born in 1972 in Liverpool. Her mum was a school secretary and her dad was a civil engineer. At the age of 12, she joined the Liverpool Playhouse Youth Theatre, where she was spotted two years later by the makers of Brookside. The actress was only supposed to appear in three episodes, but her character Debbie proved so popular that she stayed for a year and also appeared in the spin-off miniseries Damon and Debbie.

Career: In 1989, the 16-year-old Kearney starred in Shirley Valentine, but decided to put her career on the backburner so she could concentrate on her education. After taking her A-levels, she studied for a degree at the Rose Bruford drama school in north London. She was still in demand as an actress and her tutors marked her performance in the TV drama The Tides of Life as part of her final assessment. She has regularly acted on stage and in TV series including Liverpool One, Sex, Chips and Rock 'n' Roll, Hope and Glory and The Forsyte Saga. More recently, she has starred in Shameless, Casualty, Silent Witness and Suspects. In December 2014, it was announced that she was joining the cast of Emmerdale.

Quote: 'I must have a darkness about me which makes me look really tragic. I'd love to do a comedy.'

Trivia: She has appeared in the Radio 4 dramas Brief Lives and Bring Her Back.

Jody Latham (Actor) .. Lip Gallagher

Gerard Kearns (Actor) .. Ian Gallagher

Elliott Tittensor (Actor) .. Carl Gallagher

Jack Deam (Actor) .. Marty Fisher

David Threlfall (Actor) .. Frank Gallagher

Born: October 12, 1953 in Manchester

Best Known For: Playing foul-mouthed Frank Gallagher in Shameless.

Early-life: Born in Manchester on October 12, 1953. He has a brother; their father was a plumber. David never wanted to be an actor, his first love was football, but thanks to a little encouragement from teachers, he trod the boards in a school production of The Crucible. After a short stint at art college in Sheffield, and a few months labouring, he became a student at Manchester Polytechnic School of Drama. His breakthrough role came in the gritty 1977 drama Scum.

Career: Aside from a lean period at the back end of the 1990s, Threlfall has rarely been out of work. His small-screen work includes roles in Mike Leigh's Kiss of Death, a 1984 staging of King Lear (opposite Laurence Olivier), Conspiracy and The Queen's Sister. His most famous on-screen character is that of chain-smoking patriarch Frank Gallagher, a role he held in Channel 4 drama Shameless between 2004 and 2013. Other projects include The Russia House, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Housewife 49, Hot Fuzz, Nowhere Boy and The Ark. He was also made a surprisingly good Tommy Cooper in the ITV biopic Not Like That, Like This.

Quote: On acting: 'I just like getting up and pretending. It's the game of pretending you're other people, that's the liberating thing.'

Trivia: He supports Manchester City. He received an honorary doctorate from Manchester Metropolitan University in 2013.

Maggie O'Neill (Actor) .. Sheila Jackson

Born: November 15, 1962 in Buckinghamshire

Best Known For: EastEnders and Shameless.

Early-life: Margaret O'Neill was born in Buckinghamshire on November 15, 1962. She was educated at a convent school and was inspired by a sixth-form drama teacher to take up acting. She went on to train at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In 1985, she appeared in the video for Simply Red's Holding Back the Years, before making her stage debut in Moving Pictures at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds.

Career: O'Neill made her big-screen debut in Mona Lisa (1986) and two years later starred in Gorillas in the Mist. Better known for her TV work, she has made guest appearances in a number of programmes and had recurring roles in Take Me Home, Peak Practice, Shameless and EastEnders.

Quote: 'Some people feel guilty if they're not doing something with their day. Not me. I'm a slacker.'

Trivia: She enjoys pilates, yoga and reading.

Dean Lennox Kelly (Actor) .. Kev Ball

Maxine Peake (Actor) .. Veronica Fisher

Born: July 14, 1974 in Bolton

Best Known For: Playing Twinkle in dinnerladies and Martha Costello in Silk.

Early-life: Born on July 14, 1974, in Bolton, Greater Manchester, to Brian, a lorry driver father and Glynis, a careworker mother. Maxine studied at Westhoughton High School and Canon Slade School before joining Bolton's Octagon Youth Theatre at the age of 13. She also honed her craft at the Royal Exchange Manchester and the University of Salford before moving to London at 21 where she trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada). She claims comedienne Marti Caine was an inspiration to her.

Career: Early TV appearances included The Ward, Hetty Wainthropp Investigates and Picking Up The Pieces. Roles in Jonathan Creek and Coronation Street boosted her profile, but it was Victoria Wood's sitcom dinnerladies that really put her on the showbiz map. She also received acclaim for Clocking Off and sublime comedy Early Doors before landing the part of Veronica in Shameless. In recent years she's been much in demand, starring in Messiah, See No Evil: The Moors Murders, Little Dorrit, Red Riding and The Street. She is currently starring in the BBC legal drama Silk. Maxine has also enjoyed an extensive stage career, with roles in Hamlet, Robin Hood, Leaves of Glass, The Children's Hour, and The Deep Blue Sea. In 2012 she wrote her first radio play about Leeds cyclist Beryl Burton.

Quote: 'I remember feeling, at drama school, that if you were male and working class you were a bit of a poet, a working class hero. But if you were female, you were just a bit gobby and a bit brassy and common.'

Trivia: She provided vocals for 1612 Underture, the Eccentronic Research Council's 2012 concept album.

Johnny Bennett (Actor) .. Liam Gallagher

Paul Abbott (Executive producer)

George Faber (Executive producer)

Charlie Pattinson (Executive producer)

Matt Jones (Executive producer)

John Griffin (Producer)

Paul Walker (Director)

Amanda Coe (Writer)

9:55 pm - 11:00 pm, Wednesday, July 8 on That's TV (56)

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Season 3, Episode 7

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