Angela Bruce was born in Leeds in 1951, to a white mother and West Indian father, but was adopted at age three by the Bruces, and raised in Craghead, a small mining village in County Durham.
She made her screen debut in the 1973 film Man at the Top
That same year, she replaced Patricia Quinn as Magenta in the Original London production of The Rocky Horror Show
She has played regular or recurring roles in a number of TV series -Angels (as Sandra Ling), Coronation Street (as Janice Stubbs) and Press Gang (as reporter Chrissie Stuart). She also appeared in the "Charlie Boy" episode of Hammer House of Horror in 1980. She is also recognisable to sci-fi fans for her performance asBrigadier Winifred Bambera in the 1989 Doctor Who serial, Battlefield, as well as her portrayal of Dayna Mellanby in the Blake's 7 audio dramaThe Syndeton Experiment.
Dr. Who
Red Dwarf
Other notable credits include: Red Dwarf (as "Debb Lister" a female counterpart of Dave Lister's in a parallel universe), Prime Suspect and Only Fools and Horses where she played Councillor Murray.
Councillor Murray
She also appeared as lesbian Prison Officer Mandy Goodhue in the popular ITV1 prison drama series, Bad Girls, the second time she appeared in a British women's prison drama series; having played tough inmate Bobbie in an episode of Within These Walls in an episode from series 2 called "The Good Life". Another notable role was (fictional) British Foreign Secretary Ruth Chambers in the BAFTA award-winning BBC One series, Spooks. In addition she had a part in one episode of "Waiting For God".
In 2000 Angela was made an Ambassador of Derwentside, an honour bestowed upon people local to the North East of England considered outstanding in their chosen field.
In 2002 she played Gina in Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War.
Fittingly for an actress who began her television career playing a nurse, in 2005 she took the title role in TV film Mary Seacole: The Real Angel of the Crimea (2005), Mary Seacole being a West Indian woman whose nursing skills were considered unorthodox by the far more famous Florence Nightingale but who was equally respected by the soldiers she tended in the Crimean War.
In 2008, she guest starred in the Sapphire and Steel audio dramas Second Sight and Zero.
