Tracy-Ann Oberman
Born	15 September 1969 (1969-09-15) (age 40) London, England
Spouse(s)	Rob Cowan

Tracy-Ann Oberman (born 15 August 1969(1969-08-15) in London) is an English television, theatre and radio actress, possibly best known for her role as Chrissie Watts in the popular BBC soap opera Eastenders.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Education 1.2 Early work 1.3 Eastenders 1.4 After Eastenders 1.5 Other work 2 Personal life 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Education

Oberman is a former student of Heathfield School for Girls, Manchester University and the Central School of Speech and Drama.

[edit] Early work

Oberman has acted extensively in radio drama and radio comedy, appearing regularly on BBC Radio 4 as a member of the station's unofficial "repertory" company, including; The Way It Is (1998–2001), the leading role in The Attractive Young Rabbi (1999–2002), The Sunday Format (1999–2004), and Getting Nowhere Fast.

She has appeared in many TV programmes including; The Way It Is (2000), Bob Martin (2000–2001) opposite Michael Barrymore, Lenny Henry in Pieces (2000-2001), Big Train (2002), SuperTex (2003) and in episodes of Doctors, The Last Detective, Where the Heart Is, The Bill, Casualty. She played the previously unseen character of Marion in a special half-hour episode of the monologue series Marion and Geoff in 2001.

She has also written comedy sketches and an award-winning sitcom for BBC Three, The Harringham Harker.

She also worked at the Royal Shakespeare Company for four years and also the National Theatre.

In 2004, Oberman was runner up on a celebrity edition of Mastermind (her specialist subject being the "Imperial Roman family"), and scored the highest IQ when she appeared on Test The Nation

[edit] Eastenders

In 2004-2005 Oberman played the character of Chrissie Watts in Eastenders for almost two years, and won acclaim for both her portrayal and bringing back some light to the show which had become a little lacklustre, after her tough character murdered cheating husband Den Watts and tried to frame two other people who were there at the killing. She left the show in November 2005 after her character was arrested for Den's murder. Oberman has since been quoted as saying that although she loved the character some of Chrissie Watts's ' volte-face personality changes, were unbelievable" and "illogical" and that she often used Bette Davis, her heroine, as a role model when approaching some of the huge melodramatic scenes she sometimes played.^[1]

In 2004, Oberman was nominated for a National Television Award for "Most Popular Newcomer" for her work on Eastenders.

In 2009, Oberman said she would like to return to Eastenders to finish off Chrissie Watts' story. She also revealed a trial for Den Watts' murder was planned but later shelved owing to the characters of Zoe Slater and Sam Mitchell no longer being in the programme.^[2]

Tracy gave interviews for EastEnders Revealed: The Return of Sam Mitchell in September 2009. The programme marked Danniella Westbrook's return to the BBC Soap, and looked back at the character, when Westbrook and Medcalf played the character.

[edit] After Eastenders

Since departing Eastenders, Oberman has provided the voice of "Miss Dickson" in the adult-themed cartoon series Bromwell High for Channel 4 (2005), appeared in the BBC One comedy drama series Sorted (2006) She has also featured as Yvonne Hartman, head of the Torchwood Institute, in "Army of Ghosts" and "Doomsday", the two-part finale of the 2006 series of Doctor Who. She played Alice James in the CBBC series Summerhill (2008).

She had a role in the BBC One drama Robin Hood, as the wife of the Sherriff of York.

In 2009, she had a guest starring role in Mistresses as an owner of a sex-toy company.

In the theatre, she has worked on an adaptation of Chekhov's Three Sisters at the National Theatre. Her original idea led to a co-written play Three Sisters on Hope Street at the Hampstead Theatre (2008) which garnered critical acclaim.^{[citation needed]} She has also played Gretchen in the West End hit Boeing Boeing at the Comedy Theatre in London (2007-2008). In 2008 she played Frieda Lawrence in the world premiere of On the Rocks, also at the Hampstead Theatre.

In 2009, she will appear as a Police Detective in upcoming Internet Crime Thriller Girl Number Nine, also starring Gareth David Lloyd ^[3]

[edit] Other work

She has recently^[when?] been a regular columnist for The Guardian, appeared as a guest reviewer on an episode of Film 2007 with Jonathan Ross, as a contestant on a Doctor Who special of The Weakest Link and as a special guest performer in Tim Crouch's two-hander The Oak Tree at the Soho Theatre. In 2004 she came a close second place on Celebrity Mastermind, specialist subject being The Imperial Roman Family Augustus to Claudius Caesar.

In September 2005 she was a guest on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross In 2006 she was the guest on Nigel Slater's A Taste of My Life and in 2007 Oberman appeared on BBC One's Saturday Kitchen.

She is currently starring in the BBC Radio 4 show Rudy's Rare Records.

Tracey-Ann is also known for her narration of advertisements and documentaries such as Five's I'm A Celebrity: Who Really Won!.

She is featured in the video for The Yeah You's debut single "15 Minutes", hosting her own fictional chat show, interviewing the rock band.

She made it through to the quarter-finals of Celebrity Masterchef in 2009.

She is a keen Science Fiction buff.

Is a regular panelist on The Wright Stuff

She is to play Shirley Porter in the explosive 'Shirleymander" for BBC Radio 4 in NOvember 2009

[edit] Personal life

In 2005, Oberman was cast in Mike Leigh's play Two Thousand Years at the National Theatre but had to drop out when she became ill. In August 2006, Oberman gave birth to a girl, Anoushka India, at a Central London hospital with her husband Rob Cowan by her side.

In December 2004 whilst on her honeymoon, Oberman was amongst those injured in the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Tracy-Ann Oberman at the Internet Movie Database
• Guardian "Life & Health Expert"
• EastEnders was just the start Telegraph.co.uk (17 June 2006)