Joan Hodges
Acting
Biography
Biography In 1965 Joan was chosen to be one of the six original Playboy Bunny Girls and went to Chicago to train in the Chicago Playboy Club. She returned to England in 1966 to audition and train British girls to open the London Playboy Club in Park Lane. Whilst there Frank Sinatra chose her to appear in his film The Naked Runner. In October 1966 Joan married Chas Hodges (of Chas & Dave). She then decided to become a full time Mum. They now have three children, Juliet, Kate, who is a singer/songwriter (kategarnermusic.com) and Nik, who is a musician and Film/tv composer (nikhodges.com). Joan and Chas also have a granddaughter fashion designer Charlie Hodges (saccharineshrine.com) and Grandson Harry Garner. In 1992 Joan fulfilled a lifetime ambition to become an actress, she enrolled and trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts as a mature student. Upon graduation she joined The Millfield Theatre Company in North London, where she appeared in several productions, making her professional acting debut as the Nurse in Romeo & Juliet. During the run she was spotted by a casting director, who cast her in London's Burning, her first TV appearance. Joan's big break came in 1997 when John Sullivan offered her the role of Marilyn in his new Comedy/Drama series Roger Roger for the BBC, in which she appeared as a regular for 3 series, working alongside Robert Daws, Philip Glenister and Pippa Guard. Joan has also played Georgia Mackenzies mother, Irene Hagger, in Hot Money for Granada, Mrs Meadows in Fierce for Channel 4 Films and Eileen Draper in The Bill for Thames Television. She was also Jimmy's Mum who 'made his sandwiches!' in the award winning Lucozade TV commercial. Another career highlight was playing Marion in the 2001 Christmas Special of Only Fools & Horses for the BBC. Joan is a member of The Actors' Guild of Great Britain and Women in Film & Television.
Known For
Lucy wakes every night at exactly 3:33am. Nothing in her life has made sense for a long time. But the answers are out there, somewhere, at the end of a trail of brutal murders.
The Devil's Hour
A chronicle of five friends during a decade in which everything changed, including the rise of AIDS.
It's a Sin
Catherine returns with one of her most beloved characters in a full comedy series following the life and hilarious antics of a potty-mouthed granny.
Catherine Tate's Nan
Lively Joyce Conway is happy with her life: her boyfriend Conor loves her, she enjoys her job behind the scenes at the local radio station and her relationship to father could not be better. But everything is turned upside down after she has an accident requiring a blood transfusion. She subsequently wakes up with memories that are not hers.
Thanks for the Memories
A group of Cockneys arm themselves to rescue their elderly relative and his retirement home friends who are trapped and fighting off a zombie attack during a zombie apocalypse in the East End of London.
Cockneys vs Zombies
Set against a backdrop of early '60s London, Telstar is the story of the world's first independent record producer, Joe Meek. A maverick genius who enjoyed phenomenal success with Telstar – the biggest selling record of it's time – before bad luck, depression, heartbreak and paranoia led to his downfall.
Telstar: The Joe Meek Story
A boy, a girl, and the worst football team in Britain. You can't choose who you're going to fall in love with.
The Bromley Boys
Three women, Bridget, Liz and Jackie, embark on a plan to steal thousands of pounds of banknotes that were due to be destroyed at the Bank of England's incinerating plant in Essex. Fictionalised account of a real-life case.
Hot Money
Prequel to Only Fools and Horses, set in the 1960s. Joan Trotter is in an unhappy marriage with the work-shy Reg, with whom she has a teenage son, Derek ('Del Boy'). However, the reappearance in Peckham of bank robber, 'art connoisseur' and womaniser Freddie Robdal, recently released after a ten year prison sentence, would bring about changes in her life.
Rock & Chips
The Grind is a modern urban drama, set in world of sex, drug dealers, dance nightclubs and loan sharks. Vince is the nightclub manager of The Grind in Hackney, East London and having fought his way to a decent living and respectable lifestyle he is determined to settle down and take life easier. Upon meeting and starting a relationship with Nancy, Vinces dream of running a casino for his Boss and getting married looks set. Bobby, Vinces best friend from school, is released from prison and their friendship soon falls apart, Bobbys addiction to cocaine and gambling spirals out of control and he now owes a huge amount of money to Vinces boss, Dave ; owner of The Grind and an East End loan shark. Vince's life takes a dramatic turn for the worse. Loyalties are tested and friendships are pushed to their limits.
The Grind
The Baseline is the centre of the East London grime club scene and the queue regularly stretches around the block. Danny works on the door - breaking up fights and managing drunk kids. However, when he rescues Terry, the club owner and local gang leader, from a hitman, Danny is suddenly plunged deep into an underworld he had tried so hard to avoid. Danny is promoted to manager, but only on the condition that he turns a blind eye to the shady goings on both on and off the dance-floor. Danny and his girlfriend Jessica dream of setting up their own club, but Danny is forced to make the ultimate sacrifice when he has to choose between loyalty, morality and his own dreams of escape
Baseline
With food prices soaring, Gregg Wallace investigates a controversial new lab-grown meat product that its makers claim could provide a solution to the cost-of-living crisis.
Gregg Wallace: The British Miracle Meat
A remarkably self-assured debut, this East London fairytale feels truthful throughout, due to the real-life experiences of the director, and using the same locations. Daisy Fairclough in particular shines as Anita, who sets out with her best friend to find her real father, after the death of her alcoholic mother.
Finding Dad
Sophie and Paul (an aspiring musician) can't pay their London rent and turn to friends and family for support. Over the course of a summer, things go from bad to worse: The couple lose everything and find themselves lost in the underbelly of life on the streets. Though frustrated, their good humour and positivity land them odd jobs and a temporary shelter.
Love Without Walls
A Cotswold village plagued by a dark secret.