Julie May Peasgood (born 28 May 1956 in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire) is an English actress, television presenter, author and voiceover artist known for her distinctive voice. She is best known for her role as Fran Pearson in the television soap Brookside (1991–93). She later played Jo Steadman in Emmerdale in 1997 and Jacqui Hudson in Hollyoaks from 2001 to 2002. Biography Peasgood was born to working-class parents from Northern England. Her mother had started work as a tightrope walker and juggler in Bertram Mills Circus. There she had met her father, who was a welfare officer for the Grimsby Dock Labour Board. Peasgood was educated at Grimsby's Wintringham School. After leaving school she worked in a fish and chip shop in Cleethorpes before training at the Arts Educational School in Golden Lane, London. She left the school shortly before her course finished to take the title role in 'Cherryripe and the Lugworm Digger', which was the first in the series 'Seven Faces of Woman' for ITV. She is the mother of the actress Kate McEnery by her first marriage to Peter McEnery, whom she acted opposite in Ron Daniel's Royal Shakespeare Company production of Pericles in 1979. She has been married since 1998 to actor Patrick Pearson. Her niece, Emily Peasgood, is an Ivors Composers Awards winning composer and sound artist. Acting career Peasgood was with the RSC for five years, where she played the role of Tilda (Matilda) Price in the original production of Nicholas Nickleby directed by Trevor Nunn. She was also in the production of Inadmissible Evidence, directed by John Osborne at the Royal Court, and has performed at the Old Vic, the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, the Orange Tree and the West End. On television she is probably most recognised for the roles of Fran Pearson in Brookside and Jo Steadman in Emmerdale. However, she has appeared in numerous other television series. Among her other credits include appearances in Hollyoaks where she played Jacqui Hudson, First Born, September Song, Taggart, A Woman's Guide to Adultery, Cherryripe and the Lugworm Digger, Carla Lane's Luv, Doctors, The Bill, Holby City, 4 Play, Spender, Ruth Rendell's Simisola, Dancers, This Year, Next Year, the original 1970s series of Survivors, Boon and Small World. She appeared in the 1983 horror film House of the Long Shadows, which starred Peter Cushing, Vincent Price and Christopher Lee. In 1985 she featured in the dialogue-free