- Personal Appearances
Topics:
- Soap Stars
Letitia Dean
Letitia Dean is an English actress, probably best known for her role as Sharon Rickman in the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders.
Grange Hill, Brookside and Eastenders
Dean's first notable television appearance came when she was just 11, playing a student named Lucinda in the BBC children's series Grange Hill, in 1978. At the age of twelve Dean was in the hit stage musical Annie at London's Victoria Palace Theatre.
Her next television role was a part in the Channel 4 soap opera Brookside in 1984. Soon after, Dean was cast as one of the original members of the new BBC1 soap opera EastEnders. Dean played Sharon Watts, the troubled and spoilt adoptive daughter of landlords 'Dirty' Den (Leslie Grantham) and Angie Watts (Anita Dobson). Dean featured in some of the soap's most renowned storylines, including the infamous love triangle with her then on-screen husband Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp) and his brother Phil (Steve McFadden). The plot, nicknamed 'Sharongate', gave the soap one of its highest episode ratings and was watched by over 18.4 million viewers. After a series of deaprtures and returns from Albert Square Dean left the series in 2006.
Away from Eastenders
Away from EastEnders Dean has had various theatre and television roles. She starred in two series of the BBC drama The Hello Girls, medical dramas Casualty and Doctors, ITV police drama The Bill and romantic comedy Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married as well as the Channel 4 sitcom Drop The Dead Donkey. She also starred in the 1995 film England, My England.
In 2004 Dean was nominated for the Best Actress Award at the British Soap Awards. At the 2005 Inside Soap awards, Dean was presented with the coveted award for outstanding achievement as homage to her work in EastEnders.
