Actress Kathryn Dow Blyton is known to generations of viewers as Harriet Finch in ITV soap Emmerdale.
But did you know that she has had roles in rival soaps, and is also related to a famous children’s author?
Dow Blyton was born on November 20 1964 in Jarrow, County Durham, and growing up, worked in a green grocers prior to becoming an actress.
Her first television appearance was in 1995, in an episode of television series Cracker, starring Robbie Coltrane, and since then, she has starred in programmes including Casualty, The Royal, Where the heart is and The Syndicate.
She also landed her first film role in the 1996 film Brassed off, starring Ewan McGregor and Tara Fitzgerald.
(Image: WireImage)
Dow Blyton also played Chrissy in Shane Meadow’s tv series This is England ’86 and This is England ’88, from 2010-2011.
However, she is best known for playing Harriet Finch in Emmerdale, a role she has played since 2013.
Her time as Vicar Harriet Finch has seen the character involved in some of the soap’s major plotlines, including one earlier this year that saw her and Dawn Taylor kill corrupt character DI Malone.
After the character wasn’t seen on screen for a while after the plotline, fans were delighted to see Dow Blyton back on screen as Harriet Finch in May.
Viewers are now waiting to see what will happen next to her character on the soap.
In an interview with The Sun earlier in the year, she described how much she loved playing the character in Emmerdale, saying, “I’ll stay for as long as they want me to stay. I love the show and the role; thank heavens for it.”
This wasn’t Dow Blyton’s first Emmerdale role however. She also featured as a doctor in a 1996 episode of the soap.
She has also had roles in rival soaps, including Coronation Street, as Niamh McQuillan in 2007, Liz Morrisey in 2001 and Nicola Owens 1996.
It is reported that for the 50th anniversary of Coronation Street, she also starred in a theatre production based on the history of the soap, in Salford.
(Image: WireImage)
Dow Blyton also played Sally Hunter, a secondary school science teacher, in Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks, from 2004-2005.
In her life outside of the soaps, Dow Blyton lives in London with her dog Dexter, who she regularly shares photos of on social media.
She also has a famous relative, the children’s author Enid Blyton, and speaking to Eamonn Holmes on ITV programme This Morning, she said, ““Enid Blyton was a cousin of my grandpa’s”.
It is reported that her current net worth is £8 million.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
