Melanie Walters


Melanie Walters is a Welsh actress who has worked frequently in television. She is best known for playing List of [Gavin & Stacey characters#Gwen West|Gwen West] in the BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey and Emma, a vampire in the third series of Being Human.

Early life

Walters was born on 30 January 1962 and raised in the Mumbles, near Swansea. Her father died when she was very young, leaving her mother to raise four children under four years old. In 1973, aged 11, she took over her brother's paper round, covering Mumbles Head every day, an experience she described at length on BBC Radio 4 in January 2012. When she was 14 she qualified as a lifeguard, working on the local beaches.

Career

Walters has worked frequently in television, but is best known for playing Gwen West in the BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey between 2007 and 2010, before returning for Christmas special episode in 2019 and for one final Christmas special episode in 2024. She was one of eight celebrities chosen to participate in an intense week learning Welsh in an eco-friendly chic campsite in Pembrokeshire in the series cariad@iaith:love4language shown on S4C in July 2011, and emerged winner of the series. Walters made a guest appearance in Casualty as Carrie on 3 February 2018.
In December 2011 she appeared in the pantomime Cinderella at the Riverfront Arts Centre in Newport.
In July 2020, it was announced that she would be taking on a lead character in the feature film Faulty Roots, directed by Ella Greenwood.

Filmography

Film

Tan ar y Comin – Mrs. EvansSubmarine – Judie BevanResistanceHelen RobertsHigh Tide – BethanBurn Burn Burn – ShelleSay My Name – Aurelie StrohfeldtLa Cha Cha – IrisSave the Cinema – Mrs. Pritchard

Television

The District Nurse – Milwen Parry Ballroom – Ann We are Seven – Helen Powell Coronation Street – Valerie Jennings TelltaleJean Herbert Christmas Reunion – Mrs Evans The Healer – Gill Major The Bill – Ellen Reynolds Dangerfield – Beverley Groves Backup – Sally Vaughan A Mind to Kill – Ruth Barra Jack of Hearts – Silvie Casualty – Bev Lewis Dirty Work – Megan Belonging – Delyth Holby City – Melanie Hooper Stopping Distance – Lisa's mother Gavin & StaceyGwen West HollyoaksList of minor [Hollyoaks characters (2007)#Bonnie Bevan|Bonnie Bevan] Being Human – Emma StellaSonographer, Series 2 Episode 2Under Milk Wood – "A Neighbour" Doc Martin – Heather Merchant Casualty – Carrie Gillespie Pitching In – Kitty The Snow SpiderBiff & Chip – Gran Father Brown – Dotty Finglesham Death Valley – Yvonne

Theatre

Personal life

Walters lives with her son in the Mumbles, Swansea, where she also runs a business teaching Pilates.