Frances Tomelty

Frances Tomelty
Born	(1948-10-06)6 October 1948 Belfast,Northern Ireland
Occupation	Actress
Spouse	Gordon "Sting" Sumner ​ ​ (m.1976;div.1984)​
Children	2, includingJoe Sumner
Parent	Joseph Tomelty

Frances Tomelty(born 6 October 1948) is a Northern Irish actress whose numerous television credits includeStrangers(1978–1979),Testament of Youth(1979),Inspector Morse(1988),Cracker(1993),The Amazing Mrs Pritchard(2006),The White Queen(2013) andUnforgotten(2015). Her theatre roles include playing Kate in the original production ofDancing at Lughnasain Dublin (1990). She was married to the musicianStingfrom 1976 to 1984.

Early life

Tomelty was born inBelfast,Northern Ireland,the daughter of actorJoseph Tomelty(1911–1995) and Lena Milligan.She had an older sister, Roma (1945-2020), also an actress.

Career

Tomelty's television work has includedSurvivors,Bergerac,Blue Money,Inspector Morse,Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married,Strangers,Midsomer Murders,Coronation Street,Cracker,Spooks,Casualty,The Amazing Mrs Pritchard,Holby City,Law & Order: UK,The Royal,Waking the Dead,Silent Witness,Unforgotten,Catastrophe,Death in Paradiseas well as big-budget adaptationsAtlantis,Merlin,The White Queen,andA Perfect Spy.

On film, she has acted inBellman and True,Monk Dawson,Bullshot,The Field,andChéri.

Tomelty's theatre roles include Elaine Navazio inLast of the Red Hot LoversbyNeil Simon(1979 British premiere directed byEric Thompsonat theRoyal Exchange, Manchester); Mia Schuurman inIn the Talking DarkbyDolores Walshe(1989) (directed byBraham Murrayat theRoyal Exchange, Manchester); Kate inDancing at LughnasabyBrian Friel(1990) (directed byPatrick Masonat theAbbey Theatre,Dublin); Momma inDoctor Heartby Peter Muller (1991 British premiere directed byBraham Murrayat theRoyal Exchange, Manchester); and Mrs Alving inGhostsbyHenrik Ibsen(2000) (directed byBraham Murrayat theRoyal Exchange, Manchester).Tomelty also portrayed Lady Macbeth in the Old Vic's disastrous 1980 production ofMacbeth,withPeter O'Toolein the title role.

Personal life

On 1 May 1976, Tomelty married musicianSting– best known as the lead singer and bassist for the rock bandThe Police– after knowing him for two years. They met on the set of arock-musicalcalledRock Nativity.She played theVirgin Mary;he played in the band. They have two children together,Josephand Fuschia Katherine “Kate” Sumner.Tomelty and Sting divorced in 1984, a casualty of Sting and Trudie Styler’s affair which actually began in 1981 when they were close neighbors.

External links

• Frances TomeltyatIMDb