Victoria O'Keefe
Victoria O'Keefe | |
|---|---|
| Born | 27 March 1969 Dewsbury, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, UK |
| Died | 17 April 1990 (aged 21) Lancashire, England, UK |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1983–1990 |
Victoria O'Keefe (27 March 1969 – 17 April 1990) was an English actress.
Early life
[edit]O'Keefe was educated at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School in Dewsbury, followed by the St John Fisher Catholic High School in the same town.[1] At the age of 11 she joined the Dewsbury Arts Group, and later studied at the Batley School of Art, which has since become part of Kirklees College.
Acting roles
[edit]O’Keefe began her television career in 1983, playing Nicola Brooke in the series Nanny.[2] The following year she appeared as Letty Boot in the miniseries Letty[2] and gained wider recognition for her performance as Jane in the BBC nuclear docudrama Threads.[3]
In 1987 she played Christine in the youth drama Y.E.S. in the episode Hook, Line and Sinker[4] and Sally Newman in four episodes of Emmerdale Farm.[2]
Her later credits included appearances in the soap opera Hollywood Sports (1988)[2] and as Anne Bamforth, the BBC television film The Luddites (1988), which depicted the uprising of 18th-century textile workers.[2]
Her final role before her death was as Tracey in the 15-minute short "Positively Negative".[5][2]
Stage
[edit]In 1989 O’Keefe appeared on stage with the Dewsbury Arts Group, where she played Sybyl Burlington in a production of Daisy Pulls It Off, a play set in a 1920s girls’ boarding school.[1] Later that year she took the role of Ann Deever in Arthur Miller’s All My Sons.[1] In November she appeared as the Beauty in the group’s production of Beauty and the Beast.[1]
Death
[edit]On 17 April 1990, O'Keefe was killed in a car accident on the M62 motorway near Bold, St Helens, Lancashire.[1][6] She had recently celebrated her 21st birthday and was returning from an Easter outing with friends, Sharon Hickling (19) and Paul Hollis (20), of Liversedge, and their 11-month-old daughter, Jade. All four were pronounced dead on arrival at hospital.[1]
The car, an eight-year-old Ford Escort, driven by O'Keefe's 22-year-old boyfriend, lost control on a contraflow system, crossed into the westbound lane, and collided with a lorry. Her boyfriend sustained serious internal and facial injuries, while the lorry driver was treated for shock. Her funeral service was held at St Joseph's Church in Batley Carr, which she had attended as a child, and she was interred in St Paul's Churchyard, Hanging Heaton, Kirklees, West Yorkshire.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g "Articles at VictoriaOKeefe.co.uk". VictoriaOKeefe.co.uk. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f "Victoria O'Keefe (1969–1990)". IMDb. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
- ^ "Victoria O'Keefe". British Film Institute. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
- ^ "Hook, Line and Sinker". IMDb. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
- ^ "Victoria O'Keefe". British Film Institute. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
- ^ Profile, IMDb.com; accessed 18 April 2015.
External links
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