Diane Margaret "Deena" Payne (born 29 August 1954) is an English actress and former singer. She is best known for playing Viv Hope in the long-running ITV soap opera Emmerdale.

Deena Payne
Payne in 2010
Born
Diane Margaret Payne

(1954-08-29) 29 August 1954 (age 70)
Orpington, Kent, England
Occupations
  • Actress
  • singer
Years active1976–present
Known forEmmerdale (1993–2011)

Life and career

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Payne was born in Orpington, Kent. She used to tour with ex-Animals keyboard player Alan Price as a backing singer and she was a member of the novelty girl band Cats U.K., who scored a UK top 30 hit with "Luton Airport" in October 1979. She was also one of the dancers in Rock Follies of '77. Before Emmerdale, Payne had acted in episodes of Tales of Sherwood Forest and The Bill. She has also appeared in Lily Savage's Blankety Blank.[1]

Her Emmerdale character was written out of the series in 2011 after 18 years, dying in her sleep during a fire, as the bosses felt the character had run its course. Since leaving Emmerdale, Deena has returned to the stage, appearing in Calendar Girls and various pantomimes. Most recently, she featured on the television show True Crime as the character Irene. In 2020, she appeared in an episode of the BBC soap opera Doctors as Patricia Taymount.[2]

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Result Ref.
2003 The British Soap Awards Best Actress Nominated [3]
2005 The British Soap Awards Best Comedy Performance Nominated [4]
2006 The British Soap Awards Best On-Screen Partnership (shared with Tony Audenshaw) Nominated [5]
2007 Inside Soap Awards Best Couple (shared with Audenshaw) Nominated [6]
2008 Digital Spy Soap Awards Best On-Screen Partnership (shared with Audenshaw) Nominated [7]

References

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  1. ^ "ITV Series 1, Episode 3". Lily Savage's Blankety Blank. 21 January 2001. ITV. Repeated 23 August 2016 on Challenge TV.
  2. ^ Writer: Sarah Moyle; Director: Piotr Szkopiak; Producer: Dawn Coulson-Beckett (2 December 2020). "Targeted Individual". Doctors. BBC. BBC One.
  3. ^ "The British Soap Awards 2003". Celebrities Worldwide. 10 May 2003. Archived from the original on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
  4. ^ "British Television Soap Awards". thecustard.tv. Archived from the original on 2 February 2008. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  5. ^ "British Soap Awards: The Winners". Sky Showbiz. Sky TV. 22 May 2006. Archived from the original on 19 May 2009. Retrieved 30 January 2011.
  6. ^ Green, Kris (3 July 2007). "Inside Soap Awards 2007: The Nominations". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi (UK) Ltd. Archived from the original on 21 June 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  7. ^ Green, Kris (21 March 2008). "Digital Spy Soap Awards 2008: The Winners". Digital Spy. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
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