---
name: "Cathy Tyson"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/cathy-tyson"
fi1m_id: "cathy-tyson"
imdb_id: "nm0879154"
tmdb_id: 61840
wikidata_id: "Q445755"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "12 June 1965"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 5
average_fi1m_score: 76
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 5
updated: "2026-10-07T12:11:19.112005+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Cathy Tyson

## Identity

Cathy Tyson

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/cathy-tyson
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** cathy-tyson
- **IMDb ID:** nm0879154
- **TMDB ID:** 61840
- **Wikidata ID:** Q445755
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathy_Tyson, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q445755, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0879154/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/61840

Actor. Born 12 June 1965 in London, England, UK.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 12 June 1965, London, England, UK
- **Active:** 1986–present
- **BAFTA Film Awards:** 1 BAFTA nomination
- **Average Fi1m score:** 76, as actor, over 5 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1980s 83 (1), 1990s 72 (1), 2020s 74 (3)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 76 to 74 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 3 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 2 of 4 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Drama 5, Crime 3, Romance 2, Comedy 1, Fantasy 1, Sci-Fi & Fantasy 1
- **Screen time:** 4 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $6m across 1 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathy_Tyson, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q445755, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0879154/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/61840

## Streaming the US now

- **Apple TV:** [*Criminal Record*](https://film.one/tv/criminal-record.md) (81), [*Hoard*](https://film.one/film/hoard.md) (75)
- **HBO Max:** [*Mona Lisa*](https://film.one/film/mona-lisa.md) (83)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Band of Gold*](https://film.one/tv/band-of-gold.md) (72)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Cathy Tyson

> Cathy Tyson can keep a character’s feelings private without making her seem empty. *Mona Lisa* remains the clearest reason to value that restraint: beside Bob Hoskins’s open longing, she makes us notice how much he cannot see.

In *Mona Lisa* (1986), Cathy Tyson lets Bob Hoskins’s George fall in love without giving us permission to assume Simone feels the same. He is the ex-convict hired to drive her; she is the sex worker whose detachment he cannot quite understand. Hoskins makes George’s need for affection visible, while Tyson keeps Simone’s feelings harder to read. We were moved by their scenes together because her restraint makes his hopefulness seem painfully exposed.

Neil Jordan gives her a difficult task, and the writing by Jordan and David Leland does not always help. So much attention goes to George’s feelings that Simone has less room to express her own. Tyson suggests a life beyond his understanding, but the screenplay sometimes relies too heavily on our uncertainty about her. Her reserve sustains their uneasy attachment; it cannot supply everything the writers have left out. The later thriller plotting is less persuasive, too, though neither reservation spoils the pleasure of watching the pair.

It was her film debut, but leading film opportunities remained limited afterwards. Antonia Bird’s *Priest* (1994) was followed by a prominent television role as Carol Johnson in *Band of Gold* (1995–97), again playing a sex worker. Simone and Carol share a composure that gives both women dignity. As she put it when discussing gaps in her career: “I just didn’t get the work. That’s part of being an actor.”

*Help* (2021), with Tyson as Polly, brought her renewed prominence, and television has given her substantial work. In *Criminal Record* (2024), she plays Doris Mathis in the tense police drama led by Peter Capaldi and Cush Jumbo. Its secondary stories sometimes weaken the pressure, but the central contest is worth staying for. Start with *Mona Lisa*, though, and resist the temptation to let the more demonstrative actor have all the attention.

## Biography

Cathy Tyson is a British actress. She was born on 12 June 1965 in Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey. She began her career in the 1980s with stage work, including a leading role with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1984, and made her screen debut in the film *Mona Lisa* (1986).

Tyson is known for roles in *The Serpent and the Rainbow* (1988), *Priest* (1995), the series *Band of Gold* (1995–1997), and more recent appearances in *Death in Paradise* (2011), *Vera* (2011), *Help* (2021), *Bank of Dave* (2023), *KAOS* (2024) and *Dune: Prophecy* (2024). She won the BAFTA Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2022 for her performance in *Help*.

In 2024 she played Doris Mathis in the series *Criminal Record*.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, deadline.com, screenrant.com.*

## On Fi1m (5)

- *Criminal Record* (2024), Fi1m 81, as Doris Mathis — [page](https://film.one/tv/criminal-record.md)
- *Hoard* (2024), Fi1m 75, as Sam — [page](https://film.one/film/hoard.md)
- *KAOS* (2024), Fi1m 67, as Alecto — [page](https://film.one/tv/kaos.md)
- *Band of Gold* (1995), Fi1m 72, as Carol Johnson — [page](https://film.one/tv/band-of-gold.md)
- *Mona Lisa* (1986), Fi1m 83, as Simone — [page](https://film.one/film/mona-lisa.md)

## Complete filmography (60)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Ride or Die* (2026), series, as Mrs. Williams
- *Truckload* (2025), as Tenant
- *Dune: Prophecy* (2024), series, as Raquella Berto-Anirul
- *KAOS* (2024), series, as Alecto — Fi1m 67, [page](https://film.one/tv/kaos.md)
- *Hoard* (2024), as Sam — Fi1m 75, [page](https://film.one/film/hoard.md)
- *Criminal Record* (2024), series, as Doris Mathis — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/tv/criminal-record.md)
- *Boiling Point* (2023), series, as Vivian
- *Black Ops* (2023), series, as Fischer
- *Blue Lights* (2023), series, as Dana Morgan — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/tv/blue-lights.md)
- *Bank of Dave* (2023), as Maureen
- *National Theatre Live: Rockets and Blue Lights* (2021), as Danby / Mary / Meg / Shona
- *Help* (2021), as Polly
- *Wolfe* (2021), series, as Fay
- *Whitstable Pearl* (2021), series, as Tina Rowe
- *CBeebies Presents: Christmas in Storyland* (2020), Actor
- *The Loss Adjuster* (2020), as Lorna Fitzgerald
- *My Beautiful Laundrette* (2020), as Rachel / Cherry
- *The Importance of Being Earnest* (2020), as Lady Bracknell
- *JoJo & Gran Gran* (2020), series, as Gran Gran
- *McDonald & Dodds* (2020), series, as Jackie Somner
- *The Fight* (2019), as Viv Best
- *Together* (2018), Actor
- *Two Graves* (2018), as Margaret Powers
- *The Marker* (2017), as Maura
- *ChickLit* (2016), as Diana
- *Ollie Kepler's Expanding Purple World* (2013), as Jackie
- *Death in Paradise* (2011), series, as Jacqueline StClair
- *Vera* (2011), series, as Kath Olivier — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/tv/vera.md)
- *Drama Trails* (2010), series, Actor
- *Liverpool Nativity* (2007), as Herodia
- *Forgiven* (2007), as Therapist
- *Lewis* (2007), series, as Dr Patterson
- *Bonkers* (2007), series, as DI Short
- *A Thing Called Love* (2004), series, as Theresa Staple
- *Working Shakespeare* (2003), series, Actor
- *Night and Day* (2001), series, Actor
- *Perfect* (2001), series, as Marie
- *The Old Man Who Read Love Stories* (2001), as Josefina
- *A Son of Africa: The Autobiography of a Slave* (1996), as Narrator
- *Priest* (1995), as Maria Kerrigan
- *Band of Gold* (1995), series, as Carol Johnson — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/tv/band-of-gold.md)
- *Modern Times* (1995), series, Actor
- *Tasting Freedom* (1994), as Narrator
- *Remember* (1993), as Patty
- *Harry* (1993), series, as Jenny Wilson
- *Angels* (1992), as Frances
- *The Lost Language of Cranes* (1992), as Jerene
- *Out of the Blue* (1991), as Julie
- *Turbulence* (1991), as Melissa
- *Rules of Engagement* (1989), series, as Annie McPhee
- *The Serpent and the Rainbow* (1988), as Marielle Duchamp
- *The Play on One* (1988), series, as Julie
- *On the Palm* (1987), as Celia
- *Business as Usual* (1987), as Josie Patterson
- *Casualty* (1986), series, as Cider Anne — Fi1m 68, [page](https://film.one/tv/casualty.md)
- *Mona Lisa* (1986), as Simone — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/film/mona-lisa.md)
- *Screen Two* (1985), series, as Celia, Maria Kerrigan
- *Scully* (1984), series, as Joanna
- *Black Samphire*, Actor
- *Unauthorised Absence*, as Headteacher

## Awards

### BAFTA Film Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated

- 2022: BAFTA's Children & Young People Award - Performer (nominated), for *JoJo & Gran Gran*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/cathy-tyson