Elaine Constance Smith (born 2 August 1958) is a Scottish actress, comedian, and political activist. She has starred in the BBC Scotland sitcoms City Lights (1984–91), Rab C. Nesbitt (1988–2014) and Two Doors Down (2016–), for which she won a BAFTA Scotland award. Her stage credits include the original productions of The Steamie (1987) and I Dreamed a Dream (2012). She has actively campaigned for Scottish independence. Biography Born and raised in Glasgow, Smith attended the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and then completed a teacher training course at the Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, where she then worked as a drama teacher at Firrhill High School for three years. She made her first TV debut on the BBC Scotland's Laugh??? I Nearly Paid My Licence Fee in 1984. She then went on to star in sketch show Naked Video and the sitcom City Lights for seven years. Smith made her breakthrough, becoming a household name, after starring as Mary Doll Nesbitt in the BBC sitcom Rab C. Nesbitt. The show ran for nine years and three festive shows were made. After Rab C. Nesbitt, she starred in various BBC dramas, including Two Thousand Acres of Sky and 55 Degrees North, and starred as Irene O'Brien in the film Women Talking Dirty. In 2015, she played Valerie Hardcastle in third series of The Syndicate. Smith has starred as Christine in the BBC Scotland's Two Doors Down since 2016. She won the BAFTA Scotland award for Best Actress - Television in 2018 for her performance. A former member of the Scottish Labour Party, Smith has been an active member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), having declared her support for Scottish Independence. Early life Elaine Constance Smith was born on 2 August 1958 in Newarthill, Lanarkshire, to Jim Smith. She attended Braidhurst High School in Motherwell. Smith auditioned for the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, at the age of 16 and was enrolled to complete a teaching course. She moved to Edinburgh and finished her teacher training at the Moray House College. In the late 1970s, Smith began working as a drama teacher at Firhill High School in Edinburgh. At University she was involved in student politics and after becoming a teacher she became active in trade union politics. Career Television In 1984, she made her TV debut on the BBC