Born:
May 18, 1958
in
Birmingham
Best Known For:
Her singing and acting careers.
Early-life:
Born Toyah Ann Willcox on May 18, 1958, in King's Heath, Birmingham. Her father ran his own joinery business. Toyah suffered numerous health issues as a child and spent a lot of time having physiotherapy. She always wanted to be a performer and has been a big fan of Doctor Who from an early age. She was a rebellious teenager who had a difficult relationship with her mother but, after leaving school, she gained a place at the Old Rep Drama School in her home city.
Career:
Willcox's first film was 1977's Jubilee, the year she formed her band. Acting projects such as Quadrophenia, The Tempest and Quatermass followed as her musical career took off. She had chart success in the early 1980s with such songs as It's a Mystery and I Want to be Free, but always maintained a discreet distance from the excesses of the punk scene. Since that era, she's juggled her theatre, TV, film and music careers. Other notable productions include TV movie The Ebony Tower, and stage hits Cabaret and Calamity Jane. Willcox also lent her voice to The Teletubbies and appeared in the second series of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! She continues to perform on stage, and has been a panellist on Loose Women. In January 2014, she was a contestant on ITV reality series Splash!
Quote:
"It wasn't that I saw Sex Pistols and thought: 'Oh, that changed my life'. I saw them and my reaction was: 'I can do better, I'll go to London to do it'. From then on I knew I didn't have to behave in a social norm. Because I wasn't alone."
Trivia:
In 2008, Willcox took part in the Great Walk to Beijing alongside other celebrities to raise money for Olivia Newton-John's cancer charity.