Biography
Maxine Peake is an English actress. She was born on 14 July 1974 in Westhoughton, Lancashire. She trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
Peake first gained recognition for her role as Twinkle in the BBC sitcom dinnerladies (1998–2000). She later played Veronica Ball in the Channel 4 series Shameless (2004–2007), barrister Martha Costello in the BBC drama Silk (2011–2014) and Grace Middleton in The Village (2013–2014).
Her film roles include Elaine Mason in The Theory of Everything (2014) and appearances in Peterloo (2018) and Funny Cow (2018). She has also performed the title role in a stage production of Hamlet. In 2026 she appeared as Helen in the series Bait.
