Gillian Taylforth is a 64- year old, England born BBC sensation. She is one of the most recognized classic soap opera actresses in the UK. She is most commonly known for her role as the face of Kath on the BBC soap; EastEnders.
As it is with almost every star, fans of Gillian have always been curious about her net worth. Gillian Taylforth has a net approximately $1M USD. However, there’s a lot more to her story than simply her wealth.
Walk Through the Article
Birthdate and Birthplace
Gillian Taylforth was born in the 1950s, a period of time that was known as the happy days for TV sitcoms. She was born on Sunday, August 14, 1955, in England which puts her birth right in the middle of the Baby Boomer Generation. Her zodiac sign is Leo, represented by a Lion.
Early Childhood
Taylforth attended William Tyndale Junior School in her early years. She then proceeded to attend Barnsbury secondary school for girls. For further education, she attended Kingsway College. She got her acting education from Anna Scher Theater School in London. Back before she ever got recognised in the acting scene, Gillian Taylforth worked as secretary between very minor roles.
Career
Taylforth started pursuing an acting career back in the 1970s. In the early 1980s, she landed a role in the movie; The Long Good Friday. She played the character of Sherry and the movie was a hit that year in the box office.
In February 1985, Taylforth debuted her role as Kathy Beale in the BBC Soap Opera EastEnders with a co-star June Brown. Her role as Kathy gathered most of her public recognition a she is still remembered for her role in the show. In 1998, Taylforth chose to leave the show. She came back for a short period of one year from 1999 to 2000. In the soap, her character, Kathy; was going through a rough patch and so, Gillian had to cover serious issues like rape, domestic violence, teenage pregnancy, divorce and alcoholism. At the end of her return, Taylforth’s character, Kathy died. Fans were completely surprised by Taylforth’s return as Kathy in a live segment of anEastEnders Episode. Later in the show, in classic soap opera style, it was revealed that Kathy’s death was faked and soon after, BBC officially announced that Taylforth would be reprising her usual role as Kathy.
Other TV Appearances
Immediately after she left EastEnders in 1998, Taylforth took up the role of Jackie Pascoe-Webb in Footballers’ Wives, a popular ITV televised drama. She kept up the role in all five seasons of the series. This made her the only cast member to keep her role throughout the entire series without taking a break. At one point, in a Channel 4 poll for the 100 Greatest Sexy Moments, a scene where Taylforth’s character, Jackie, ends up having sex with Cristian Solimeno placed 49th on the polls. She also appeared on Lily Savage’s Blankety Blank in 2001.
In 2006, Taylforth took up the role of Mandy Searle in the comedy/drama; Jane Hall. Taylforth has also appeared as a generally recurring panellist on Loose Women an ITV topical chat-show. She appeared on the panel in 2000, 2006 and 2008. Again, Taylforth was cast for a role in ITV’s police drama; The Bill. She played Sergeant Nikki Wright and was a regular character. Taylforth made her first screen appearance in the role in November, 2006. She left in 2008.
She competed “Strictly Come Dancing” (the precursor to America’s Dancing with the Stars) in 2008. During this time, she was partnered with Anton Du Beke. While training for the live show, she suffered torn knee ligaments, but still chose to continue participating. She was voted off in Week 2 after a dance-off with Jodie Kidd.
In February 2013, Taylforth joined the cast of British soap opera; Hollyoaks. She took up the role of Sandy Roscoe, a matriarch of the Roscoe family. The next year, Taylforth announced that she had decided to leave the role of Sandy in order to spend more time with her family. She left the on screen role on 22 August 2014. Taylforth briefly took back the role of Sandy in December 2014, but she left again shortly afterwards.
She participated in the celebrity version of Big Brother in January 2013. She was the fourth person to be evicted from the house after fifteen days
Physical Appearance
Gillian is a voluptuous Lady and sports a height of 5 feet, 7 inches (1.70 m) with an average weight physique. She has Blue eyes and her beautiful dark brown hair casts a spell to the viewers on screen.
Personality traits:
She was born in Chinese year of the Goat, as with the people who are born in this Chinese Zodiac, Taylforth is kind-hearted, tender, filial and polite. She is super sensitive to art and beauty. As you can tell from her numerous endeavours, Taylforth is hardworking, gentle, considerate, attractive and soft-hearted.
Her Hall of fame
She is most famous for her role in the famous TV shows, aired on BBC Eastenders. She is also very well known for her roles Footballers Wives and The Bill that aired on ITV. All these are, no doubt, a major source of her revenue. However, Eastenders became an unforgettable experience for actress, where she played Kathy Beale. She completed two long tenures at Eastenders. This BBC play opened new horizons towards her fame and fan following.
Family:
Her relationship with Geoff Knights began in 1988 and attained a lot of public scrutiny. She has two children with Geoff Knights. Taylforth gave birth to her daughter in 1992 and became a mother for the second time in 1992. Taylforth and Geoff parted their ways in 2009, after spending 23 years together. Taylforth has one sister, Kim Taylforth who is an actress as well.
In 2013, Gillian started dating Dave Fairbairn and they were expected to tie the knot soon. The pair allegedly parted ways in 2017 when the Dave was found guilty of cheating on the soap actress but the couple despite of being separated declared that they have parted but are on their best terms.
The SUN caused Gillian’s Downfall
In 1994, Taylforth and Knights sued The Sun newspaper, which gained massive media attention. The Sun newspaper published a story that claimed that they both carried out sexual acts in their range rover on a slip road. Taylforth claimed that the story The Sun published was completely different from what happened at that time. However, the verdict came against Taylforth, which was quite a downfall for Taylforth.
A Book about her life:
Her sister, Kim Taylforth who is also an actress, wrote an autobiography in 1955 by the name of “Kathy and Me” which discusses her childhood, her teenage years and her later endeavours of acting and lifestyle.
Find out about other EastEnders stars:
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