Emma Fletcher

Emma Jane Fletcher was born in London, England. Her ancestry is Russian. She was raised by her maternal grandparents and occasionally found herself in the care of her baby-sitter, the popular Irish singer Dana. Her birth mother was a model for Christian Dior, whilst her father was a member of the band The Gobbledegooks. The band found success in the 60's with a number of chart hits and toured as support act to legendary soul singer Dusty Springfield and also to The Rolling Stones at The Royal Albert Hall. Born into a show-business dynasty (her cousins are the late actor Warren Mitchell "Till Death do us Part" and "In Sickness and in Health" and the late writer Ronald Wolfe, "On the Buses" and "The Rag Trade". Her uncle Martin Drew, was the drummer in Ronnie Scott's quintet and her great-uncle married legend Josephine Baker. Her cousins are Penny Lent, network executive and producer at London Weekend Television (LWT) and LBC deejay and entrepreneur Richard Jacobs. Her late uncle Mitch Wax, was a costume designer for The Rolling Stones and a student of Marc Chigall, whilst his daughter Jo Sigalov performed on stage with Ofra Haza. Relation Guy Sigalov, is the inventor of of a musical laser instrument called OptiMusic, housed in the British Museum. She is also a distant relation of Amy Irving.) Emma was bitten by the acting bug from a young age and became inspired by the art of performing early in life. From the age of five, she became actively involved with amateur dramatics, acting and singing and was later trained in piano. Emma's career in the public eye started as a teenager, modelling various shoots for Cosmopolitan magazine photographer Angelo Valentino and for the television show "The Clothes Show". She also appeared on the catwalk in the prestigious London department store Selfridges and at The Ministry of Sound, in conjunction with Flame Modes, Scene and OK! Magazines and Sky TV, alongside FHM's super-model, Lucy Becker. Emma later modelled for a calendar shoot for Breakthrough Breast Cancer and The Firefighters' Benevolent Fund. Emma went on to train at the prestigious acting school East 15, on their classical theatre course. Immediately after graduating, Emma understudied for both Sabina Franklyn ("Full House") and Sarah Manners ("Moving Wallpaper" and the "The Bill"), in a national tour of Ian Dickens' production of "The Decorator", starring Leslie Grantham ("EastEnders"). After "The Decorator", Emma was offered her first commercial, becoming the face of the advertising campaign for "Activia" yoghurt in the UK, alongside British presenter Nell McAndrew. On the back of this advert, she found herself being offered a number of acting and presenting roles and it wasn't long before she started carrying out many high-profile productions, both on stage and in film. Emma's singing credits include: "Friday Nights" at Bill and Tom Kenwright's restaurant Azzuro, singing her own compositions at the London Palladium, Tony Moore (Cutting Crew) and Marie Claire D'ubaldo (writer of Celine Dion's hit "Fallling into You") famous Kashmir Klub and also at the premiere of Drew Barrymore's film "Never Been Kissed". She also appeared again at the London Palladium in the charity performance Broadway Melodies. Emma soon found herself following her father's footsteps and treading the famous tiles of the Royal Albert Hall stage in 2011, for a charity performance in aid of MacMillan Cancer. The performance "For Dusty", was in memory of the late, great 'white lady of soul' Dusty Springfield. The show was directed by renowned musical director Matthew Jones and celebrated Dusty's work, with performances from a host of stars, ranging from both past and present alike, including: Mike Hurst and The Springfields, Joanna Marie, Lucie Silvas, Kenny Lynch, Mica Paris, Julie Felix, Rick Astley, Hazel O'Connor, Dennis Locorriere, Shelby Lynne, Carol Decker and Boy George. Other music work includes, producing studio recordings for the BBC and working with music producer and composer Roger Limb from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. She has also worked with prolific record producer Denis Ingoldsby (First Avenue Records) and Guy Sigalov (OptiMusic). In February 2011 Emma launched her autobiography "If the Shoe Fits", both in the UK and the USA. The book launch in the States took place at the "Doctor Who Catch 22, Gallifrey One Convention". She also appeared in the live game-show for TV and radio "Just a Minute", at the convention, alongside fellow actors Chase Masterson ("Star Trek" and "Deep Space") and Ian McNeice ("Doctor Who" and "Winston Churchill"), comic writers Richard Dinnick and Tony Lee ("Doctor Who") and Ken Deep.