Cathy Shipton

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Catherine Ellen Shipton, known as Cathy Shipton, was born on 27 March 1957 in Lewisham, London. She is an English actress best known for playing Lisa “Duffy” Duffin in the BBC medical drama Casualty. After leaving Casualty in 2020, she joined Channel 4’s Hollyoaks as Lydia Smith. She has one child and is partnered with actor Christopher Guard.

Early life
Shipton was raised by Irish-English parents and grew up Roman Catholic in south London, attending a convent school. She studied two languages and journalism, but a drama teacher encouraged her to act. She trained at Rose Bruford College from 1977 to 1980.

Career highlights
She was cast as Duffy in Casualty in 1986, joining the original cast after initially being considered for a receptionist role. She stayed with the show until 1993, then returned for a guest appearance in 1998 and again from 1998 to 2003. During her second run, she also appeared in Holby City as Duffy. Shipton returned for anniversary specials in 2006 and 2015 and guest appearances in 2016 for the thousandth episode before returning as a regular later that year. Her character Duffy was killed off on 1 February 2020.

Later work
In August 2021, Shipton joined Hollyoaks as Lydia Smith. In 2024, she appeared in an episode of Doctors as Melissa Horner.