Heather Craney

Heather Craney (born 1971) is an English actress, known for portraying Joyce Drake in Vera Drake, Alison Weaver in Life of Riley and Emily Holroyd in Torchwood. Background Craney was born in Stapleford, Cambridgeshire. Her family lived in Darlington for two years during the 1980s, where Craney attended Hummersknott School. She attended Stapleford Community Primary School, Sawston Village College and Long Road Sixth Form College in Cambridgeshire, and went on to study English and drama at Liverpool Hope University, graduating in 1992. She trained in Acting and Musical Theatre at the Central School of Speech and Drama, graduating in 1995. Career Craney has appeared in the Mike Leigh films Topsy-Turvy (1999), All or Nothing (2002) and Vera Drake (2004), for which she was nominated for the 2005 BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Her other film credits include Drinking Crude (1997), Loop (1997) and Dangerous Parking (2007).