Born:
April 22, 1968
in
London
Best Known For:
Playing Connie Beauchamp in Holby City and Casualty.
Early-life:
Amanda Jane Mealing was born in London on April 22, 1968 and grew up in Dulwich, South London. The youngest of four children, she is the only adopted member of her family. Her older brother, who was 14 years her senior, died after using heroin when she was 15. At the age of six, Amanda made her professional debut in a Julie Andrews TV special. She started taking Saturday classes at the Italia Conti Academy, before enrolling full-time when she was nine. As a child star, she went on to land roles in Just William, The Morecambe & Wise Show, and Grange Hill.
Career:
Mealing went on to appear G.B.H., Anglo Saxon Attitudes, The House of Eliott, The Darling Buds of May and The Detectives. She had recurring roles in Jake's Progress, The Grand, and The Lakes. She joined the cast of Holby City in 2004, playing cardiothoracic consultant Connie Beauchamp. During a break from the series, she appeared in Strike Back: Project Dawn, Death in Paradise, and Law and Order: UK. In 2014, she reprised her role as Connie Beauchamp in Holby City sister show Casualty.
Quote:
On her Connie Beauchamp character: "She's on a mission to take over, and she doesn't care whose toes she has to step on to do it."
Trivia:
Mealing discovered that her birth mother modelled for Biba in London during the 1960s and her biological father was a half-Sierra Leonean poet and activist. The day after giving birth to her second son, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She made a full recovery.