Birthday
1943/12/07 (81 years old)
Gender
Female
Place of Birth
Warrington, Cheshire, England, UK
Also know as
Susan Wright, Susan Johnston, OBE
Susan Johnston, OBE (née Wright; born 7 December 1943) is an English actress known for playing Sheila Grant in the Channel 4 soap opera Brookside (1982–1990), Barbara Royle in the BBC comedy The Royle Family (1998–2000, 2006, 2008–2010, 2012), Grace Foley in the BBC drama Waking the Dead (2000–2011), Gloria Price in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street (2012–2014) and Miss Denker in the ITV drama Downton Abbey (2014–2015). She won the 2000 British Comedy Award for Best TV Comedy Actress and was nominated for the 2000 BAFTA TV Award for Best Comedy Performance for The Royle Family.
(2006) Imagine Me & You
as Ella
(2021) Help
as Gloria
(1997) Preaching to the Perverted
as Esmeralda
(2020) David Jason: Britain's Favourite TV Star
as Narrator
(1996) Brassed Off
as Vera
(1997) Face
as Alice
(2021) Robbo: The Bryan Robson Story
as Self
(2009) The Turn of the Screw
as Sarah Grose
(2022) Downton Abbey: A New Era
as Gladys Denker
Bilby
as Nancy
(2023) Caroline Aherne: Queen of Comedy
as Self
(2024) The Big Snow of '47
as Self - Narrator (voice)
(2009) Tourettes: I Swear I Can't Help It
as Narrator (voice)
(2014) 500 Miles North
as Stein
(1999) Sex, Chips & Rock n' Roll
as ---
(2011) Lapland
as Eileen Lewis
(1997) Brookside: The Lost Weekend
as Sheila Grant
(1998) Brookside: Friday the 13th
as Sheila Grant
(2016) Golden Years
as Nancy
(2017) Shannon Matthews: What Happened Next
as Self - Narrator
(2014) Caring for the Recently Deceased
as Marjoram Bryon
(2025) Downton Abbey 3
as Gladys Denker
(1994) Measure for Measure
as Mistress Overdone
The Cockfields Christmas Special
as ---
(2000) New Year's Day
as Mrs. Fisher
(2016) British Sitcom: 60 Years of Laughing at Ourselves
as Barbara Royle (archive footage) (uncredited)
(2018) Walk Like a Panther
as Gladys
(2001) Score
as Maggie
(2018) Death on the Tyne
as Colleen
(1992) Bitter Harvest
as Miriam Johnson
(2017) Diana and the Paparazzi
as Narrator (voice)
(2012) Barbara's Old Ring
as Barbara Royle
(2008) The New Sofa
as Barbara Royle
(2019) The Cure
as Bella Bailey
(2016) World Cup 1966: Alfie's Boys
as Self
(2015) The Nation's Favourite Beatles Number One
as Self
(2006) The Queen of Sheba
as Barbara Royle
(1998) The Things You Do for Love: Against the Odds
as Pat Phoenix
(2010) Joe's Crackers
as Barbara
(2009) The Golden Egg Cup
as Barbara Royle
(2010) The Royle Family: Behind the Sofa
as Self
(2002) The Virgin Mary
as Self - Presenter
(2005) Liverpool FC: One Night in May
as ---
(2006) Jam and Jerusalem
as Sal Vine
(2006) The One Show
as Self - Guest
(1982) Brookside
as Sheila Grant
(2004) Strictly Come Dancing
as Self
(1952) Today
as Self
(1999) Sex, Chips & Rock n' Roll
as Irma
(1992) A Touch of Frost
as Phyllis Bowman
(1997) Crime Traveller
as ---
(2004) The Paul O'Grady Show
as ---
(1987) Inspector Morse
as Mrs. Bailey
(2004) Who Do You Think You Are?
as Self
(1998) The Royle Family
as Barbara Royle
(2001) Waking the Dead
as Dr. Grace Foley
(1993) Luv
as ---
(2008) Little Dorrit
as ---
(2007) The Alan Titchmarsh Show
as Self
(2006) The Street
as ---
(1990) Medics
as ---
(2002) Cutting It
as Caroline Ferraday
(1998) Duck Patrol
as Val Rutland
(2010) A Passionate Woman
as Betty (1980s)
(2011) Baby Hospital
as ---
(2002) Timeshift
as Self - Narrator
(2011) Sugartown
as ---
(1998) The Jump
as Maeve Brunos
(1991) Performance
as Mistress Overdone
(2007) Would I Lie to You?
as Self
(2017) Harry Hill's Alien Fun Capsule
as Self
(2016) Rovers
as Doreen
(1996) Hetty Wainthropp Investigates
as Helga Allowby
(2010) Downton Abbey
as Miss Denker
(2012) Gates
as Miss Hunter
(2024) Generation Z
as Cecily
(2013) Being Eileen
as Eileen Lewis
(2018) Age Before Beauty
as Ivy-Rae Regan
(2021) Kensington Palace: Behind Closed Doors
as Narrator
(2011) Celebrity Antiques Road Trip
as Self - Participant
(2001) My Uncle Silas
as Mrs. Betts
(2024) Ricky, Sue & a Trip or Two
as Herself
(1993) Full Stretch
as Grace Robbins
(2019) The Cockfields
as Sue
(2024) Truelove
as Marion
(1999) Loose Women
as Self
(2022) The Responder
as Madge
(2021) Time
as June Cobden
(1998) Parkinson
as Self
(2019) DNA Journey
as Self
(2015) Taskmaster
as Self