Kate Robbins

Robbins is the older sister of fellow actress Amy Robbins, sculptor Jane Robbins and The Sheilas singer Emma Robbins. Her older brother is radio broadcaster Ted Robbins. Through her sister Emma she was the sister-in-law of Simon Shelton and through her sister Amy she is the sister-in-law of actor Robert Daws. Her father was Mike Robbins, who grew up in Hightown, Wrexham, the son of Ted, who served as the secretary of the Football Association of Wales for more than 35 years.[3] She attended Wirral Grammar School for Girls and won the Drama Prizes each year, notably with her monologue "All that glitters is not gold".

Robbins is a first cousin once removed of Paul McCartney as her mother Elizabeth "Bett" Robbins (née Danher) was McCartney's cousin. In 1960, McCartney and John Lennon performed as "The Nerk Twins" at the Fox and Hounds pub in Caversham, Reading, which was run by Bett and her husband Mike.[4][5]

Robbins' first released recording, in 1978, was of the song "Tomorrow", from the musical Annie. Robbins' first chart appearance was as a backing singer, along with her sister Jane, on the minor Top 40 hit "Lines" by Liverpool group the Planets,[6] a spin-off from Deaf School. Her profile was raised soon afterwards when both she and Jane represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1980 as part of the group Prima Donna. They finished third.

The following year, Robbins joined the cast of the ITV soap opera Crossroads, playing the part of a pop singer who was recording a single in the fictional motel's basement recording studio. The song, "More Than in Love", was released commercially in the UK (credited as Kate Robbins and Beyond) and gave Robbins a major hit single, reaching number 2 in the UK Singles Chart.[7] It was her only lead-vocal hit. The backing group Beyond had taken part in the UK's Song for Europe contest earlier in the year, losing to Bucks Fizz. In late 1982, Robbins provided backing vocals on the Top 3 single "Story of the Blues" by Wah!, but was replaced for the band's Top of the Pops appearance by London soul trio Sylvia and the Sapphires.

Robbins wrote the first theme tune to Surprise, Surprise and provided almost all the female voices on the television show Spitting Image in the late 1980s and early 1990s.[8] The 1986 Granada Television sketch show Robbins featured Kate, her brother Ted Robbins, and her sisters Amy Robbins, Jane Robbins and Emma Robbins, the last now best known as one of the singers with the Sheilas.

She participated in the 1989 Children's Royal Variety Performance on BBC TV, singing her own comic songs at the piano, and featured in the original series of Dead Ringers on BBC Radio 4 in 2000.

In 1995, Robbins provided all of the voices, including the male ones, in the children's television series Caribou Kitchen.

During the 1990s, Robbins performed a number of different roles as both an impersonator and a singer in the BBC Radio 4 satirical comedy series A Look Back at the Nineties and its sequel series A Look Back at the Future.

Robbins also provided the English language dubbing for Europeans, featured on the Channel 4 series Eurotrash and, in 2006, made two appearances on the BBC Radio 4 programme Just a Minute.

In 2007, Robbins was awarded an Honorary Bachelor of Arts degree from Bedfordshire University, for her lifetime contribution to the Performing Arts.

In December 2010, Robbins released her third album, a jazz based affair, entitled Soho Nights, which was written as a collaboration with the Italian saxophonist Alessandro Tomei, and recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London. Robbins also co-wrote the well-received easy listening album We're Just Passing Through[9] with broadcaster and journalist Nicky Campbell, which was released in 2014.

Robbins was one of the Grumpy Old Women on a sell-out tour in 2014 with comedian Jenny Eclair and actress Susie Blake.

Robbins appeared in British sitcom Citizen Khan in December 2014 [10] and toured again with Grumpy Old Women during spring 2015.

Robbins appeared in BBC One's Holby City in 2017 as mature expectant mother Stella Clark.[11] She then went on to play the lead role in Farrena Films' comedy-thriller short movie The Other Side With Valerie Hope.

Robbins acted in feature films. She was named Best Supporting Actress at the Angel Awards of the Monaco International Film Festival, for her role as Kathleen in the low-budget British film, Fated.[12] In 2005, she played Joan alongside Johnny Vegas in Sex Lives of the Potato Men. The following year she appeared with James Franco and Jean Reno in the film Flyboys, playing the role of Clarisse, a brothel Madame. She has been cast in the comedy film Lunchbox as a man-hungry teacher called Suzanne.[12]

Robbins appeared in two series of the BBC Television comedy series Dinnerladies, playing the character Babs, a friend of Petula Gordeno, played by Julie Walters. Robbins later appeared with the sitcom's writer Victoria Wood in the BBC TV special Victoria Wood with All the Trimmings.

Robbins has worked on many comedy TV shows including Last of the Summer Wine, Heartbeat (Series 15 episode 'Wine & Roses', first shown in 2006), The Harry Enfield Show, Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights and Shooting Stars. She has also appeared in Holby City, two series of Where the Heart Is, Doctors, Heartbeat and Casualty. She is currently working on the second series of The Legend of Dick and Dom for BBC One and worked on Soapington Way in 2010, which was written by Harry Hill.

Robbins can also be heard as a voice-over artist on many commercials. She was the Edith Piaf soundalike on a lager advert. She was the 'Doris Day' voice in a Waitrose supermarket commercial. Her singing can be heard on television advertisements for Clover, Debenhams, First Choice Holidays and many more. She also recorded the Capital Radio jingle package for Sue Manning Productions.

She also played the singing ring in the mini-series The 10th Kingdom, which aired in 2000.

Robbins divorced musician Keith Atack in 2008 after 19 years of marriage. The couple had three children: actress Emily Atack (born 1989); Martha Atack (born 1991), a PR consultant; and George Atack (born 1992), a musician and TV researcher.

• Kate Robbins at IMDb