Early life

Redman was born in Brighton. Her father, Ronald, was from Yorkshire and her mother, Joan, was born in India. Redman's father died in 1980, when she was in her early twenties.

Redman is badly scarred on her upper left arm as a result of an accident when she was 15 months old. She was scalded with a pan of boiling turkey-and-vegetable soup and suffered burns to 75 per cent of her body. Her arm was the only part of her body permanently affected, but the trauma was so severe that she was pronounced clinically dead at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, Sussex.

Career

Redman trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

In 1984 she appeared as Marina in the BBC Shakespeare production of Pericles, Prince of Tyre opposite Mike Gwilym. She also played Maxine in Oxbridge Blues, a British television mini-series, produced by the BBC and first shown in 1984 written by Frederick Raphael. In 1985 she played Janet in the touring version of The Rocky Horror Show.

In 1986 she played Miss Fairfax (Gwendolen) in the BBC Drama production of The Importance Of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde.

She played opposite Liv Ullmann in Richard's Things (1981), took over from Alfred Molina in the 1990s comedy drama El C.I.D., playing a new female lead in the series, and played Diana Dors in the TV film The Blonde Bombshell (1999). She presented an MTV show on satellite TV in the 1990s. She co-starred in the first two series of Dangerfield in 1995, playing Dr Joanna Stevens, and played a role in Taggart the same year. In 2000 she played Deedee Dove in the feature film Sexy Beast. From 2000 until 2003 she played Alison Braithwaite, a woman whose life is turned upside down after she wins the lottery, in ITV's At Home with the Braithwaites. Beginning in 2003, Redman took the role of DSI Sandra Pullman in the BBC's New Tricks.

In June 2006 Redman performed in Children's Party at the Palace as Cruella DeVil for the Queen's 80th birthday, and was the subject of an episode of the BBC documentary series Who Do You Think You Are?, a programme that explored her family history.

In July 2013, she announced that she would be leaving New Tricks, Tamzin Outhwaite replaced her. In 2015, she played the role of Jackie Rose in the 3-part ITV drama The Trials of Jimmy Rose, starring alongside Ray Winstone.

Redman is the founder and principal of the Artists Theatre School.

Awards and nominations

• 2001 - Nominated - BAFTA TV Award - Best Actress for At Home with the Braithwaites
• 2003 - Nominated - National Television Award - Most Popular Actress for At Home with the Braithwaites
• 2007 - Nominated - TV Quick Award - Best Actress for New Tricks
• 2015 - Nominated - BAFTA TV Award - Best Supporting Actress for Tommy Cooper: Not Like That, Like This

Personal life

Redman is the mother of Emily from her marriage to the actor Robert Glenister. She is credited with having encouraged her then-brother-in-law, Philip Glenister, who played DCI Gene Hunt in Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes, to go to drama school and to pursue acting. She once desired more children, but after nine miscarriages and two ectopic pregnancies her hopes ended with menopause.

Having been together since 1999, Redman married the Virgin designer Damian Schnabel in September 2010. She is a supporter of Coventry City FC.

Redman was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to drama and charity.

Notable roles

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1980	Richard's Things	Josie
1982	The Agatha Christie Hour	Pauline, Grand Duchess of Ostravia	Episode: "Jane in Search of a Job"
1984	Give My Regards to Broad Street	Office receptionist
1986	To Have and to Hold	Viv Meadows	TV Mini-Series. Episodes 1.1-1.8
1988	For Queen & Country	Stacey
1988	Theatre Night	Gwendolen Fairfax	Episode: "The Importance of Being Earnest "
1988-1989	Streets Apart	Sylvia Grant	Episodes 1.1-2.6
1991	Spender	Bobby Montgomerey	TV Police Action Drama, Spender, Series. Episode 1.4
1991	The Men's Room	Sally	TV Mini-Series. Episodes 1.1-1.5
1992	El C.I.D.	Rosie Bromley
1993	Casualty	Olivia Purcell	Episode: "The Ties That Bind"
1993	Body & Soul	Lynn Gibson	TV Mini-Series. Episodes 1.1-1.6
1993	Demob	Janet Deasey	Episodes 1.1-1.6
1995	Taggart	Julie Carson	Episode: "Black Orchid"
1995	Dangerfield	Dr. Joanna Stevens	18 Episodes
1996	Ruth Rendell Mysteries	Susan Townsend	Episodes: "The Secret House of Death: Part 1" and "The Secret House of Death: Part 2"
1996	Beck	Beck	Episodes 1.1-1.6
1998	Performance	Regan	Episode: "King Lear"
1998	Close Relations	Prudence Hammond	TV Mini-Series. Episodes 1.1-1.5
1999	The Blonde Bombshell	Diana Dors	TV Movie
1999-2000	Hope And Glory	Debbie Bryan	Episodes 1.1-2.4
2000	Sexy Beast	Deedee Dove
2000-2003	At Home with the Braithwaites	Alison Braithwaite	TV Mini-Series. Episodes 1.1-4.6
2001	Mike Bassett: England Manager	Karine Bassett
2003-2013, 2015	New Tricks	Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman	84 episodes
2005	Mike Bassett: Manager	Karine Bassett	6 Episodes
2006	The Children's Party at the Palace	Cruella de Vil (The 101 Dalmatians)	TV Special
2008	Honest	Lindsay Carter	Episodes 1.1-1.6
2008	Little Dorrit	Mrs. Merdle	TV Mini-Series. Episodes 1.5-1.14
2014	Tommy Cooper: Not Like That, Like This	Gwen 'Dove' Cooper	TV Movie
2015	The Trials of Jimmy Rose	Jackie Rose	Series 1; 3 episodes

[ Source: Wikipedia ]