Josie Lawrence

Josie Lawrence (born 6 June 1959) is a British comedienne and actress best known for her work with Comedy Store Players improvisational troupe and the television series Whose Line Is It Anyway?.

She was born Wendy Lawrence in Old Hill, Sandwell. She has a brother, John, and sister, Janet, 10 years older who are twins. They were brought up in nearby Cradley Heath, where her father worked for British Leyland and her mother as a dinner lady. She says everyone in her family has a wicked, dry, sense of humour.

She trained at Dartington College of Arts from 1978 to 1981, receiving a Bachelor of Arts Honours degree. In 1996, Dartington awarded her an Honorary Doctorate of Arts, and has since been awarded a further two- the second an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of Wolverhampton in 2004 and the third in 2006 awarded by Aston University for her services to the entertainment industry. She currently lives in Bethnal Green, East London, and has never married. She has two cats, the long haired ginger Aynuk and the black and white Ayli, both named after the Black Country characters Aynuk and Ayli who feature prominently in jokes about Black Country dialect. In addition to performing she also paints watercolors.

Josie will join the cast of Eastenders from March 2009. She will play an old flame of Phil Mitchell called Amanda Best.

She featured in a celebrity special of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? special with Meera Syal, which aired on 31 January 2009.