Rebecca Louise Front (born 16 May 1964) is an English actress, writer and comedian. She won the 2010 BAFTA TV Award for Best Female Comedy Performance for The Thick of It (2009–2012). She is also known for her work in numerous other British comedies, including the radio show On The Hour (1992), The Day Today (1994), Knowing Me, Knowing You… with Alan Partridge (1994), Time Gentlemen Please (2000–2002), sketch show Big Train (2002), and Nighty Night (2004–2005).
Front has also been seen in a number of dramatic roles, including Chief Superintendent Jean Innocent in Lewis (2006–2014), Mrs. Bennet in Death Comes to Pemberley (2013), Mrs. Landau in The Eichmann Show (2015), Vera in Humans (2015), and Death in Paradise (2019). Her theatre credits include the musicals Company and The Fix at the Donmar Warehouse, directed by Sam Mendes.
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Early life and education
Front was born in Stoke Newington, London, to Sheila and Charles Front. Her mother wrote children's books, which her father illustrated. Her father also designed the title-logo on the cover of The Beatles' album Rubber Soul. Her father is Jewish and her mother is of Jewish and Welsh descent. Front was brought up in Reform Judaism.
Front gained admission to Ilford County High School for Girls, which converted to a comprehensive school during her time there.
Front became involved in comedy while at St Hugh's College at the University of Oxford, where she studied English and became the first female president of The Oxford Revue. She also trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art.
Career
1980s: Career beginnings
While at Oxford in 1984, Front took part in the revue Stop the Weak. The tour played in Oxford itself, the Gate Theatre, Notting Hill, Edinburgh, Salisbury, and Romsey. In 1985, Front teamed up with Sioned Wiliam and Jon Magnusson to take the show The Bobo Girls go BOO to Edinburgh.
In the late 1980s, Front made a short promotional video on energy conservation with Michael Simkins.
1990s: On the Hour, Alan Partridge
Front achieved a higher profile as a result of her work with Stewart Lee and Richard Herring on the radio shows Lionel Nimrod's Inexplicable World and On the Hour, and the television and radio series Fist of Fun. She went on to form a close professional association with Chris Morris, Armando Iannucci, Doon Mackichan and Steve Coogan, who all transferred with Front to The Day Today, the television version of On the Hour. Working on The Day Today was Patrick Marber, who was part of the 1984 Oxford University revue with Front and David Schneider, and who took part in the 1985 revue. This cast continued to contribute to the Alan Partridge comedy canon throughout the 1990s.
In 1994, Front was the first guest on Alan Partridge (Steve Coogan)'s chat show Knowing Me, Knowing You. She played the role of Sue Lewis, a show jumper. She later played a different character in each episode.
2000s
In recent years Front has also become a fixture on comedy panel shows on British television and radio including The News Quiz, Have I Got News for You and If I Ruled The World. She has also had minor roles in The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer, Absolute Power and Absolutely Fabulous and she has also played straight acting roles in television drama, including You Can Choose Your Friends, The Rotters' Club, Kavanagh QC, Lewis and Jonathan Creek.
In 2003, Front was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy.
In 2004 (series one) and 2005 (series two), Front starred in Julia Davis' Nighty Night. She played Cathy, who has MS and a neglectful husband, Don.
From 2006, Front has written columns for The Guardian.
In 2007, Front guest-starred in the Doctor Who audio drama The Mind's Eye.
Between 2006 until 2014, Front had a recurring role as Chief Superintendent Jean Innocent on the detective drama series Lewis, the successor to Inspector Morse on ITV.
In 2009 and 2012, Front starred in the third and fourth series of political satire The Thick of It. She playing Nicola Murray MP, Secretary of State for Citizenship and Social Affairs and in charge of the dysfunctional Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship (DoSAC), and later, Leader of the Opposition.
Front featured in the 2010 BBC comedy series Grandma's House playing the part of Simon Amstell's mother Tanya, and Just William, as the mother of William Brown and also starred in the 2011 live-action 3D family comedy film Horrid Henry: The Movie as Henry's headmistress, Miss Oddbod.
In 2012, Front starred as the psychiatrist in the Sky Arts sketch series Psychobitches, where Front's character offers therapy to notable women of history and the present day, including Anne Boleyn, Mary Queen of Scots, Mary Shelley, Enid Blyton, Eva Braun, Mary Pickford, Edith Piaf, and Anna Nicole Smith. The series aired on the British television channel Sky Arts 1. The first episode of a second series was broadcast on 25 November 2014.
Personal life
Front is married to Phil Clymer, previously a radio producer at the BBC World Service; they have two children. Front was part of the BBC English/World Service rep company.
Front's book Curious: True Stories and Loose Connections (published 2014) is a collection of autobiographical stories. A second book, Impossible Things Before Breakfast: Adventures in the Ordinary (published 2018), is a collection of true stories about surprising turns of events, bizarre misunderstandings and improbable life lessons. Jeremy Front, her brother, is a writer and comic actor. They have collaborated on writing and performance projects. The most recent is a series of spoof documentaries, Incredible Women, for BBC Radio 4.
