Caroline Harker (born 1966 as Caroline Anne Owens) is an English stage and television actress.

Career

Harker is known for her roles as Celia in the BBC's Middlemarch, and as Woman Police Constable (WPC) (later Detective Sgt.) Hazel Wallace in the ITV police drama A Touch of Frost (1992-2003).^[1] She also played Alicia Davenport in Coronation Street for four episodes in 2012.^[1]

Harker played the role of 'mother' in the Mike Kenny's adaptation of The Railway Children, directed by Damian Cruden and staged at the Waterloo International railway station. Harker is married to fellow actor Anthony Calf, with whom she appeared in The Madness of King George^[2] and in a TV adaptation of Jilly Cooper's Riders^[3] They have three daughters.

From January 2023, Harker starred as Clairee in a production of Steel Magnolias at the Richmond Theatre, London. Harker appeared alongside Lucy Speed, Diana Vickers, and Elizabeth Ayodele.^[4][5] The production, going on to tour the UK, was rated 2/5 stars by What's on Stage.^[6]

Personal life

Harker was born in London, a daughter of actress Polly Adams and actor, Richard Owens. She and her sisters, Nelly and Susannah, were brought up as Catholics and educated at a "strict" independent convent boarding school run by nuns in Sussex, and at the Central School of Speech and Drama in North London.^[7]

She and her sisters are descended from theatrical designer Joseph Harker.^[8]

Filmography