| abstract | - Sue Devaney (real name Susan Barber) was born on 2nd July 1967 in Ashton-under-Lyne, Cheshire. She left school with "O" levels in Drama and English and joined the Oldham Theatre Workshop. She gained her equity card by singing in pubs and clubs around Manchester and then at the age of sixteen she formed a band called The Dam Buskers that toured the north in street theatre. Sue changed her name to Devaney and made her television debut as an usherette in Mating Call followed by a small appearance on the children's show Rainbow. She then played Mildred Bailey, an orphan girl in the comedy series In Loving Memory alongside Christopher Beeney, Sherrie Hewson and Thora Hird. Sue made her Coronation Street debut on 11th June 1984 as Kevin Webster's little sister Debbie, a role she played until January 1985. She then played Rita Briggs in the BBC children's series Johnny Briggs, Amanda in the comedy Exclusive Yarns and Janice in The Index Has Gone Fishing. Sue's stage work has been extensive and includes productions such as A Taste of Honey, It's A Madhouse, Me Mam Sez, Alice In Wonderland, Beggars Opera, The Wizard of Oz, Breezeblock Park, Love's Labours Lost, Postcards From Rome and The Doctor Of Honour. Her West End roles include Karen in The Land Of The Living at the Royal Court, Gaoler's Daughter in Wind In The Willows at the National Theatre and Ruby in When We Are Married at the Whitehall Theatre. Sue's television career continued with the role of Sandra in Flying Lady, Ruby in When We Are Married, Mad Bastard in The Real Eddy English, Betsey in Mrs Worthington's Daughter, About Face, Betty Bouncer in Haggard and Zoe in Gordon The Gopher. She then played Jo Collins in the children's series Spatz and presented But First This and Paramount City. Other TV appearances include Exclusive Yarns. In 1992 she played Jennifer in Heartbeat and the following year played Ruth Harcourt in The Bill and Trendy Wendy in Model Millie. She also played Abba, Madonna and Linda McCartney in the children's series Fan TC., and appeared in the first series of Common as Muck. In 1995 she began a three year run in Casualty as paramedic Liz Harker. She went on to a regular part in Victoria Wood's Dinnerladies (BBC, 1998-1999) as Jane. When not acting, Sue loves travelling the world and has performed in many countries. She has also formed a band called The Dunky Dobbers with former Coronation Street and Emmerdale actress Michelle Holmes and they recorded a record with the band The Art of Noise. Sue is single and lives in Rochdale and London.
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