Jane Horrocks was born in 1964 in Rawtenstall, Lancashire. She was educated at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and began her acting career by joining the Royal Shakespeare Company. Some of her early work which earned her notice was her award-winning theatre performance in The Rise and Fall of Little Voices, for which she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress. She won a host of awards for reprising this role in a screen adaptation in 1998. She became a household name thanks to the TV series, Absolutely Fabulous (1992-2012), playing the role of Bubble.
Horrocks appeared on stage in a number of productions during the 1980s and 1990s including Cabaret in 1994 at the Donmar Warehouse, and Ask for the Moon, at Hampstead Theatre in 1986. She appeared at the Garrick Theatre in Absurd Person Singular in 2007. The following year, she starred in Richard Jones’s The Good Soul of Szechuan at the Young Vic, which won critical acclaim. She reunited with Jones for the musical Annie Get Your Gun, also at the Young Vic, in 2009.
Outside of theatre, she has had roles in numerous television series and British films, such as King Henry IV, Life is Sweet, The Witches and Deadly Advice. She also appeared on The Great Sport Relief Bake Off in 2014.
In May 2016, it was announced that Horrocks would star alongside double Academy Award-winner Glenda Jackson in King Lear, playing the role of Regan, which would play from October 2016 at the Old Vic.
| Show | Role | Theatre | Year | Link |
| King Lear | Regan | Old Vic | 2016 | News |
| If You Kiss Me, Kiss Me | Herself | Young Vic | 2016 | Review |
| East is East | Ella Khan | Trafalgar Studio 1 | 2014 | Review |
| Annie Get Your Gun | Annie | Young Vic | 2009 | |
| Aunt Dan and Lemon | Lemon | Royal Court | 2009 | Review |
| The Good Soul of Szechuan | Shen Te | Young Vic | 2008 | |
| Absurd Person Singular | Jane | Garrick | 2007 | Review |
| Cabaret | Sally Bowles | Donmar Warehouse | 1994 | |
| The Rise and Fall of Little Voice | LV | National / Aldwych | 1992 |
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